Glenn made some shifts in tone and direction over the spring and summer, and some fans didn't exactly embrace what he was trying to do. After all, his focus on culture and love may not seem to be related to exposing Van Jones and corruption in the White House. During a special "Ask Glenn Anything" this week, he addressed these changes and spoke with the studio audience about how it all connects back to what he has been talking about on radio and TV for the past five years.
"In 1999, I was talking about Osama bin Laden and saying he’s going to do something very, very bad, wake up. And I was telling it to the people of New York, and they wouldn’t listen. After September 11, you know, things started to change, and I missed some of the big speed bumps. And I also missed a lot of things," Glenn explained.
"I was a madman for the caliphate, and look at it now. And I'm amazed at how many people are not willing to give me the benefit of the doubt on the love side, how many people were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt on yes, this is going to happen, the caliphate is going to happen, you know, we are going to have real economic peril, you will see the government start to spy on you, all of these things that were mad, but when I say we need to get control of our own anger, and we need to release it, and we have to be leaders of love, for some reason people aren't willing to do that," he said.
One fan spoke up and said that if you look back at the time of Christ, many were expecting a messiah who would finally bring vengeance on those who inflicted suffering on God's people.
"I think like in the time of Christ that people wanted to stick it to the Romans, and so they thought they were looking for this person that was going to come with pitchforks and torches and lead them to this stick it to the Romans. And we are in that cycle. We have a very Roman-like situation going on with the government, and the people are I think again making the same mistake, they want pitchforks, and they want those torches," the guest said.
"And in the beginning maybe some of those people identified with you, they liked the things that you were saying, and they were waiting for the pitchforks and the torches to come out, and when that didn’t happen, they’re making the same mistakes. Let’s not make that same mistake again. Let’s follow the love path," he continued.
Glenn was really impressed with this observation, and decided to expand upon it.
"We have been whipped up and in many cases by people, just use me, with best intent, best intent, didn't realize all of the pieces that were falling into place and screwed it up, whipped a lot of people up into a frenzy," Glenn explained. "There are others that also did it intentionally for political purposes, and there are even others that are now on a global scale as well that are doing it I believe for actual evil purposes. We can’t play a role in that."
We have to say 'I can’t solve those people, I can't stop them, I can't change them, I can change me, and all the things around me possibly will change.' All we all have to do is live our life in such a way that when chaos comes, and chaos is coming, that there is enough of us standing around in our own communities saying, 'Don’t go that way. Don’t go that way. I respect you. I love you. You love me. You know, look me in the eye. Are you not angry? I know that viscerally might feel like the thing to do, but you know that’s wrong. Please, come this way.'"