According to Google Trends, Glenn Beck has inspired much of America to start looking up "caliphate" and "caliphate definition" in order to find out what will happen next in Egypt. For those wondering the term generally means a sort of world government in which many nations of the world would be ruled by one Muslim leader under the principles of Islamic law. What does a caliphate have to do with what is happening in Egypt? Nothing if you ask most analysts, but according to Glenn Beck the Egyptian revolution is just the first step in a larger conspiracy involving the establishment of a caliphate. Beck evidently has so much influence over his listeners that he now has them all running to Google to find out what exactly he is talking about.
According to Beck, the Egyptian revolution is not about the citizens of the country fighting for their political rights or better economic conditions. Instead, the Egyptian people are being "played" by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is also part of larger movement by progressives and Marxist to take over much of the world in the pursuit of "social justice." Under Beck theory the Egyptian revolution will not only spread to other countries the Middle East, but also to India and Europe. The caliphate will consist of India and much of Southeast Asia, in addition to Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom.
Most analysts agree that the Egyptian revolution has a good chance of spreading to other countries in the Middle East, but needless to say Beck's critics would take issue with many of his other claims.
First, there has been no credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the Egyptian uprising. The Muslim Brotherhood did not officially join the protests until days after the uprising began. There is also little chance of the Muslim Brotherhood taking over Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has never shown the ability to gain widespread support in Egypt, as their agenda is considered too radical for much of the relatively moderate population. Many of the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as limiting the presidency in Egypt to males only, have been strongly rejected by the Egyptian population.
Secondly, Beck simply assumes that Arab nations are all the same, and that they will all quickly be unified by one caliph. In fact, any scholar of Middle East would know that there is very strong split in the Muslim world between Sunnis and Shiites which would likely prevent any kind of unification. Many wars between nations and civil wars have been fought over the Sunni-Shiite split. In addition each country in the Middle East is unique. Countries like Egypt, which suffer from a high poverty rate and rising food prices, are more likely to be susceptible to revolution. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which has oil revenue to pacify their population, are generally seen as less susceptible to revolution.
Finally, Beck entirely neglects important facts in countries like India, France, and the United Kingdom. In these countries Muslims are actually distinct minorities. The non-Muslim majority in France, for example, recently passed a law which outlawed burqas, a traditional head garment worn by some Muslim women. The French law has actually been criticized by much of the world for discriminating against Muslims, yet in Beck's world Muslims will somehow be able to take over France. India is dominated by Hindus who make up 80% of the population, yet Beck simply assumes that India will submit to being ruled under a caliphate.
Hopefully some of Beck's audience bothers to look up some of these crucial facts after researching a "caliphate."
Comments
Glenn also thinks that we're going to live as Pilgrims again in this country.
Great article Ryan. Before reading this, I had no idea what the word "caliphate" meant. Because I have too much time on my hands I decided to create a new definition for the word (hint, it involves Mel Gibson). If you're looking for a fun read, then check out http://TrendDefender.com.
I think you missed glenn's point. He is saying that this may gain steam in middle east because many Muslims will join or perpetuate riots because they believe in a future caliphate.
You are also not an avid watcher because he talked yesterday about a future clash between Sunni and shiites.
The social justice element is no doubt in play and to deny that is denying history and fact. Since the beginning of time, revolution has been fueled by the powerful motivating the underprivileged with promises of equality. Social justice is ruse used to manage useful idiots into action.
The truth... The only true equality is equality of opportunity and the founding fathers in America were the only honest revolutionary leaders who were not looking to better themselves by promising equality while they plunder tax revenue to build palaces.
Beck is pushing people to think and examine the world and history. If you prefer to look at everything through one point of view, stick to the propaganda on CNN and main stream media
As beck says, question with boldness.
Glenn Beck's understanding of Islam is poor. It is good that he encourages people to question with boldness; I hope people watching his show do so. Those who do not delve further into his "facts", and who rely solely on Mr. Beck for information (and not for entertainment) condemn themselves to ignorance.
ROLFLMAO
Glen Beck has a "bat phone" -- why doesn't this writer just contact him directly with his questions so Glen can address everything. I'd love to hear his answers. :-)
Ryan Witt You are wasting your time reporting non-news.
Glenn Beck is an idiot, your giving him free air time, hope people don't waste thier time with glenn beck $hit
Beck is the only person in the media with the courage to speak the truth. But, I guess for some of you the truth is hard to accept.
extremist Muslims are killing non-Muslims all over the world...name one other religious sect that is currently participating in such savagery. And, this trend is only growing with every passing day.
I would bet a month's salary that Beck checks for boogymen under his bed before going to sleep.
He is a fear monger.
He's an alcoholic comedian turned ideologue turned Televangelist.
He's constantly linking together disparate historical events to try to prove that the liberals are on the verge of taking over the government..
He has ADHD and appears manic many times on his show. He desperately wants recognition but his followers are the dregs of undereducated, paranoid, Americans- Freaking nuts....
It is amazing that Fox labels his show as news. At best it is entertainment- bad entertainment at that.
Glenn Beck is usually correct. GB didn't say the Caliphate was going to happen in the next 12 hours. His critics, usually delusional, make swift mocking jabs at his keen insight. 2 to 4 years later when his predictions based upon historical observations become manifest you never hear a retraction from his critics.
The progressives will do anything they can to become Boss and make you subservient. Keeping you ignorant and confiscating your liberty is their most powerful tool.
Progressive politics is evil.
if you really believe any of what you said.....you should " go back to school" or "read a book" or just dig a whole and be afraid of people by yourself.....open your mind....!
Beck truely does site correct facts and is usually right i agree. I wish he would come out and State that the nation of islam is really a HATE ORGANIZATION the same as the KKK and Skinheads. They should not be given constitutional protections because their motto is for the infidel to convert to islam and think as they do or DIE. This is nothing but pure hate. Their society will never prosper. after thousands of years they are still eating mud pies and throwing rocks at each other. The capitalist democracy in america has created the greatest country in all of history and we did it in less that 200 years. Long live free market capitalism!!! Proud to be a infidel (christian)
Since when is an Islamic 'caliphate' a conspiracy theory?
Only a dhimmi would believe such a thing in the face of a thousand years of history and written word.
see there are many dhimmis that have already succumbed to the force. How sad.
YOu want to explain to people what you mean by Dhimmi?
Ryan, you should really thank Glenn. How many people looked up caliphate and to what other searches did that lead to. You are assuming that everyone who searched for that word may have come away with a negative impression, some may come away with different view or had their curiosity tweaked to explore the history of Islam and the Muslim cultures.
As much as many of you hate Glenn Beck don't so quickly dismiss anyone who watches his program as stupid or lacking in intellect; people by nature are curious and it can take many paths.
Clearly there are clouds ahead and there is nothing wrong with a little caution and skepticism with every one in media.
He is obviously making a sort of charicature of himself because it attracts attention - viewers - ad $#. But it can't be bad when folks start looking up more than pr0n.
I simply cannot hear the word "conspiracy" without thinking of Bill and Hillary, the parents of modern day conspiracies.
Oh, godchildren at best, Kersey. You too young to remember all the conspiracy theories about the assassinations in the '60s and about the Vietnam War? The 50s were pretty good time too, but I was too young to really get them at the time.
Got a chance to listen to Beck's reasoning last night. He was sharp and not off the cuff as you would suggest. In fact he was very careful to indicate statements of facts versus highlighting areas of opinions. Actually what he did was give you a number of alternatives to think about and challenge you to enetertain possibilities. He was respectful and careful the entire time in his presentations and summutions on the events, evidence and realities on-the ground and interjected possibilities.
It was refreshing to "hear" things that is not main-stream media and challenged you to entertain the possibilities.
I suspect, Mr. Beck's view is audible by "enlightened ears" - as the scriptures says: let those with ears hear what the spirit is saying. I say thanks Mr. Beck for being willing to make yourself vulnerable to such "hardened ears". Selah
You must remember, these freaks never listen to what he ACTUALLY says but what they want to hear as long as they can bash him.
I guess Alex Jones was right: Glenn Beck really does have five people listening to Alex Jones every day, taking notes and stealing ideas and material, twisting it by injecting neocon B.S.
Glenn Beck is usually correct? About what?
1) Beck says health care reform is designed as a system of backdoor reparations for slavery
Beck says all of Obama's policies rooted in "reparations." Beck said, "Everything that is getting pushed through Congress, including this health care bill, are transforming America. And they are all driven by President Obama's thinking on one idea: reparations." Beck later added that Obama's "goal is creating a new America, a new model, a model that will settle old racial scores through new social justice." [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 7/23/09]
Exploited people in this world want fairness, well they actually want to be left alone. The biggest problem is ruthless economic groups via governments invade areas rich in natural resources and steal anything they want, laying waste whatever is in their path while leaving the mess and bogus debt for the people. All this marketed under mass deception disseminated to their own people and military personnel who actually implement their psychotic strategies. This is nothing new, it is the disgusting norm.
The so called western or economic groups have no business stealing from and murdering innocent people (not even ONE!) while hypocritically installing fake Democracy (a mask for other more insidious political systems) and Christianity while systematically denigrating indigenous culture.
What business does Democracy have in a Muslim country? None. So called "western" countries have been demonising Muslim people and their religion, their nations, disseminating lies for generations. This is one reason why the majority of people in the "west" have not rebelled against the atrocities their own governents have been committing against others under the false pretext of security.
Islam already has a system being the Caliphate. They do not want to be controlled by systems that are contrary to Allah. They do not want fanancial control systems setup to move wealth from the majority to the few lunatic world rulers for example that falsly reference god have no desire for truth and true spirituality for the well being of all life.
Conspiracy theory? When the system hits you in every which way, it is a reality.
Well said. I don't know about any Muslim organization which actually want to expand the concept of Caliphate to Europe (Britain, France, Portugal etc). The groups which are trying to establish Caliphate want the world of Islam under unified leadership for better social life and establishing Islamic statehood under sharia law. The system would be open for the world to be witnessed and whosoever wants to adopt it, its their freewill and anyone who consider it out of step with the modern values, surely its their choice. No one is talking about bringing Europe or United States under the banner of Caliphate. It is not the mandate given in Islam. The mandate in Islam is to give the message and let the other chose or reject it at his own will.
In near future, however there doesn't seems to be a Caliphate emerging. There is not enough support amongst Muslim but this trend may change overtime with the failure of Muslim governments. Shams Zaman Pakistan (smszmn72@yahoo.com)
Nice job Ryan. I happened to see the brief clipping of Glenn Beck while watching CNN. I was shocked and dumbfounded to see that Glenn predicts that India amongst other countries will be swept away by this wave of Caliphate. Its total ignorance on his part like a commentator pointed out in CNN. India, a country of over 1.2 billion has majority (80% or more probably like you pointed out) Hindus. Its a vibrant democracy with all religions coexisting, other than some religious fanatics on few sides, for the most part, peacefully. The focus should be on improving the freedom of speech, encourage democracy and make sure youth has enough opportunities to contribute to the economy and lead a meaningful life. Its the unemployment, lack of economic opportunities for youth that leads them to fall into the hands of pervert interpreters of certain religion. unfortunately the radical views like this only plays into the hands of extreme views on other side. we can be rest assured that India will not succumb to any of these scenarios, you cant trample over 1 billion Hindus!
New word for the tin foil crowd. "Caliphate" I'd love a running count on how many times the Beck/Hannity/O'Reilly/Limbaugh Olympic Crazy Team repeats that word for their fearful viewers!
The incivility of many of the comments here is very discouraging. It reflects the manipulative brainwashing sponsored by both camps. I am a thoughtful, well educated moderate and watch news programs on several channels and a variety of op/ed talk shows, both conservative and liberal. You'll find valuable news and thought-provoking ideas and opinions everywhere if you are willing to listen.
You only need to look in your own backyard for evidence of how we are all exploited daily by our governments and the corporations they support and work for. The mainstream media, education system, coorporate propaganda and so on focus on programming minds in favour of ruling classes - period.
They act only with illusionary tacticts, through words without action, through superficial and ludicrous television shows and such mechanisms as to appease and suppress people's emotions without a single positive act in favour of those being exploited.
Look at how they have destroyed the public sector. Look at how they demonise and dehumanise anything that is contrary to their economic progress - not OUR progress but THEIRS.
Look at how wages are frozen while the cost of living increases. Look at how so called "choices" are limited to the choices they program into humans from the cradle to the grave. There is no democracy where people are programmed to choose a limited set instilled by governing classes.
It goes on and on...
BTW, just because it appears as though there are many views on different TV programs falsely attributed as news, documentaries, interactive discussions or other, does not mean that they discuss the full truth of issues across them - far from it. This is part of the illusion of what they consider "choice" but only within the parameters and ranges they allow. You know who they represent by their affiliates, line of discussion, what they omit...
We want 'caliphate' we want the unification of the Muslim world!
Ryan, you're a damned idiot and so is Beck.
Wow, It is amazing the reaction to Mr. Beck's warning. True, there may never be a Caliphate as such due to the deep divisions between Shia and Sunni Muslims. The two sides could never agree on one "Supreme Leader" no matter how they tried.
However, the warning to America is that the basic goals of both sides is to convert the entire population of the world to Islam, either peacefully or by force. Europe is innundated with Muslims and if they aren't careful, the French and English may be the frst to fall. Mr Beck is warning everyone of what could happen. He isn't saying it is going to happen but if we aren't alert to the danger, it could. Remember Neville Chamberlin's comments to Parliment about Hitler prior to WWII. If not, look them up.
Remember to br forewarned is to be forearmed.
Glenn Beck is an idiot. And those who follow him are even bigger idiots. The man is ignorant and delusional. The fact that such an ill informed moron has a show and is able to broadcast his garbage to a wide audience is really, really sad at best and dangerous at worst. His audience is made up of the ignorant, ethno centrists, nativists, tea baggers, and the other refuse that swells the benighted mid section of the country.
Best regards
The true warning is that people are being exploited daily by the ruling classes. They are driven into debt by theivery of public moneys, theivery of wages and time, of human rights and slave labour. So called Democracies, which are masks for other sinister political systems, are numbing and dividing people with systematic lies through media, education and so on.
The text "All the world's a stage" has rung true for ages because the real battle is forged and won in the minds of the "players" by constant br@inwa$hing. Keep in mind that not all of us are dumb "players".
Hitler was a friend of the US, he did plenty of work for the ruling classes. Without the pr0paganda delivered by him, he and his cronies they would not have driven the world into the new realms of fear, poverty and domination of lower classes through restructure.
Regurgitation of the lies disseminated through a box in the corner is evidence enough of dogs eating their own vomit...
This article is pretty superficial and has many illogical assumptions. The one that I will point out is that the Muslim Brotherhood does not have to be the origin of the problems in Egypt in order for it to end up as the controlling group.
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