The truth will set you free. Tuesday on The Glenn Beck Program, listener Josh called from North Carolina to tell Glenn about the transformation he experienced after reading Liars: How Progressives Exploit Our Fears for Power and Control.
"I was a very, very progressive liberal, almost to the point of communism," Josh explained.
WATCH: Alternate Trailer for Glenn’s New Book Shows Wild Side of ‘Liars’
Glenn's latest book opened Josh's eyes and set him on a course of exploration that led to reading the U.S. Constitution, the Bible and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
It also prompted him to learn more about this Glenn Beck guy.
On YouTube, Josh found a video from TheBlaze in which Glenn quoted one of his favorite phrases, found in a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to Peter Carr:
Fix reason firmly in her seat, and question with boldness the very existence of God. For if there is a God, he must rather honest questioning over blindfolded fear.
"I will never forget that statement. Because that statement brought me to Christ. I was an atheist before that," Josh said.
Josh's remarkable transformation, his willingness to open-mindly explore new ideas and his discipline to do the actual research inspired Glenn.
"That gives me a lot of hope," he said.
Read below or watch the clip for answers to these powerful questions:
• Which story in Liars made Josh's jaw hit the floor?
• How vigorously would Josh have voted for Hillary Clinton this year?
• What about Josh's transformation made Glenn say Holy Cow?
• How many books has Josh read since August 15th?
• What book did Glenn advise Josh to read next?
Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:
GLENN: Let me go to Josh in North Carolina.
Hi, Josh, you're on the Glenn Beck Program.
CALLER: Good morning, Glenn.
GLENN: How are you, sir?
CALLER: I'm doing great.
I wanted to tell you a little -- I'll make it quick, but a little story.
GLENN: Okay.
CALLER: I -- a buddy of mine -- I -- let me start it this way: I was a very, very progressive liberal, almost to the point of communism.
GLENN: Wow.
CALLER: I believed everybody should be -- in the wage gap and all that kind of stuff. So a buddy of mine that I've known since I got out of the Army, he came to me one day and gave me your book -- one of your books.
GLENN: Which one?
CALLER: And he says -- he said, "You got to read this."
Liars.
GLENN: Okay.
CALLER: And he said, "You've got to read this book." And I said, "Oh, come on. Really?"
"No, you've got to read this book. You'll never believe some of the stuff that's in it."
So he told me the first chapter to go to. And it was in August. I can't remember to be honest, what chapter it was. But it was the part of the book where it talked about how they -- with Prohibition, and how they put --
GLENN: Oh, yeah.
CALLER: -- poison in the alcohol to find out the tracking routes of where it was going.
JEFFY: That's an amazing story.
GLENN: Yes.
CALLER: So I read that, and my jaw hit the floor. And I --
GLENN: You looked it up too, didn't you? You didn't believe me.
CALLER: I did. And I finished that book in three days. It was the most -- it was the most amazing book I've ever read. And I said, "I've got to do more research on this, and I've got to find out who this Glenn Beck guy is." So I went to YouTube.
GLENN: Oh, boy.
CALLER: And I searched your name and I found a video that you did on TheBlaze. I don't know how long it was. But you spoke to a guy that was an alcoholic, and you talked to him about some -- I forget who said it. It was to Peter Carr.
GLENN: Oh, yeah.
CALLER: And the statement was, "Set reason firmly in her seat, and question with boldness the very existence of God. For if there is a God, he must rather honest questioning over blind-folded fear." I will never forget that statement. Because that statement brought me to Christ. I was an atheist before that.
GLENN: Holy cow.
CALLER: And I will never, ever, ever --
GLENN: So you were a communist, an atheist?
CALLER: Yeah.
PAT: And how long ago was this, Josh?
GLENN: He said August.
CALLER: I got that book on August 15th of this year.
PAT: Of this year? Wow. That's --
CALLER: Yes. I voted for Barack Obama twice. I'm sorry, but I did.
PAT: Wow.
GLENN: Holy cow.
CALLER: And I would have voted for Hillary Clinton with vigor. However, I -- I pulled the lever for Evan McMullin this year.
PAT: Wow.
GLENN: You didn't even go --
CALLER: And I have never ever, ever --
GLENN: Oh, my gosh.
CALLER: I'm telling you -- I want to be as serious as I can with you, Glenn, because this is a dream of mine, to speak to you, since August. I have never, ever realized the difference -- I thought all conservatives hated me. I thought conservatism was complete hate, until I listened to you. Because I read that book, and I did research and I found out what the Blaze was. I don't go anywhere else for my news. I listen to TheBlaze every morning. I found out who Doc Thompson is. I listen to Doc Thompson.
PAT: That's great.
CALLER: I listen to you every single day. I got a subscription on TheBlaze now. I turned my life around because of your book.
GLENN: Wow. Josh. Josh, I want you to hang on for just a second.
JEFFY: That's fantastic.
PAT: Yeah, that's awesome.
GLENN: Wow. Thank you so much.
May I say one thing: Do not use TheBlaze as your only news source. Read everything you can. Question with boldness, even what we tell you.
[break]
GLENN: I've asked Josh in North Carolina to hold on because I think this is a fascinating story. A friend gave him a copy of my book that came out this year called Liars, which I think is a very, very powerful book to share with progressives. Because it's -- it's all history, and it takes you through and shows you the progressive movement, really at least some of the supplemental stuff that you can find online. It goes all the way back to Martin Luther. I mean --
PAT: And josh said he was progressive. He was an atheist. And this helped turn him around --
GLENN: Yeah, voted.
PAT: First of all, the open-mindedness to go from that to where he is now is just amazing. That's astounding.
GLENN: Amazing. Amazing. A lot of people won't do that --
PAT: No.
GLENN: -- because they guard what they believe.
PAT: Well, think about it, is there anything that could turn you to a progressive? I mean, I can't think of...
GLENN: If I lost my faith.
PAT: Yeah. Yes.
GLENN: So I would have to lose my faith -- because my faith teaches me that all men are created and are endowed by a creator with certain inalienable rights to live their life. I'd have to lose my faith.
PAT: Yes. They have agency. Yes.
GLENN: That everyone has a right to their agency and a right to screw their life up.
PAT: You'd really have to believe in force, right?
GLENN: Yes. You'd have to believe -- you'd, A, have to believe that rights don't come from God.
PAT: Uh-huh.
GLENN: And then you'd have to believe that global warming or, you know, people are so stupid that they're going to destroy everything.
PAT: So we have to fix this.
GLENN: So we have to fix this. We have a right to take away somebody else's right to fix that. That would change me.
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: That's a tall hurdle.
PAT: That's a tall order.
GLENN: Yeah.
Josh.
CALLER: Yes, sir.
GLENN: So I'm curious. You read that one chapter. Then you went back and then you read the whole book, right?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
GLENN: And what was it that was challenging you? What was it that opened your eyes or made you say, "Wait a minute, if this is wrong, then maybe everything else I believe is wrong?" How did this happen?
CALLER: Well, first, it was the fact that -- I had always heard the statement of, I believe it was Stalin, that said, "In order to make an omelet, you got to crack a couple eggs."
GLENN: Yes.
CALLER: And I never really took that to heart, until I read your book.
And I realized that it was true that by hook or by crook, a progressive will get whatever they have to get done, done. And no matter what weight stands behind them or who stands in front of me, it doesn't matter.
And what you were talking about just a second ago, if I may -- I don't want to veer too far off.
But what you were talking about a second ago, about, you know, what would make you a progressive in your faith, the first question that came to my mind -- because I -- you know, when I read that book, I was awe-struck. And I said -- like, none of this fits without something making it so.
What I mean by that is, you can't have these rights if they didn't come from anywhere.
PAT: Uh-huh.
CALLER: So I read -- I said, "There's got to be somewhere to start." So I went and I got a pocket copy of the Constitution. And I said, "Let's start from the beginning."
GLENN: Jeez, Josh, do you realize how remarkable you are?
PAT: And rare.
GLENN: I mean, you are just so rare to, A, have the open mind, to, B, be willing to challenge the things that you hold dear. To see -- and then go do the actual work is remarkable.
CALLER: But see, the thing is, Glenn, communists don't hold those things dear. That that's the problem. That they don't know what to believe in. So they believe in nothing but the state. That's what I was. That's where I was. I had nothing to believe in, Glenn.
And then I said, "Okay. These rights come from a creator." And when I watched your video, I said, "I have to find that creator. I have to find where this all began."
And I went, and I grabbed my -- my uncle's Bible, went over to his house, and I said, "I want to read this." So I started in the beginning. And I challenged myself every day to read a chapter. And I couldn't stop.
PAT: Wow.
CALLER: And I've read all the way through the Old Testament. And I'm almost all the way through the Gospels. And I can't stop.
GLENN: Wow.
CALLER: And I can't stop. I now know that the state is not the Almighty. And I have something now that I can believe in, that's not going to -- that's not going to tax me into oblivion.
GLENN: Josh, I want to meet you some day. I want you to hold on. I want to get your name and address and everything else.
A, I'm going to send you an autographed copy of the book. I might send you some other books too, that are not necessarily mine, but that you should read. But I'm really impressed with you. Really impressed with you, Josh.
Congratulations.
CALLER: Thank you. Can I say one more thing, Glenn?
GLENN: Yes, sir.
CALLER: I appreciate all the time, thank you so much.
But there's one book that I read after all these books that has done the most for me, and it's kind of obscure. Not probably -- most people -- a lot of people have read it. Most probably haven't. It's Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
STU: A lot of reading, man.
JEFFY: No kidding.
GLENN: You went to Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged.
PAT: You've done some serious homework, wow.
GLENN: Do you have a life? Do you have a job?
CALLER: Yes. I have --
GLENN: How did you get through Atlas Shrugged --
PAT: The Bible.
GLENN: -- and the Bible?
PAT: Liars. Since August?
JEFFY: To be fair --
CALLER: I'm not all the way through the Bible.
JEFFY: Yeah, to be fair, he's not finished with the Bible yet.
PAT: That's true.
GLENN: Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Just the Old Testament and most of the Gospel. Oh.
CALLER: Well, because -- and the reason is, is because I don't sleep.
GLENN: Right.
CALLER: But when I start something, there's a drive, a challenge to finish it.
GLENN: Holy cow, Josh, you and I are so much alike.
You remember, Pat, this is the way I was?
PAT: Uh-huh.
GLENN: Once I got onto it, I couldn't stop. I just couldn't stop.
You're right on Atlas Shrugged too. However, do yourself a favor, Josh, read Anthem. You are going to love Anthem, I will bet, until the very end. And when you read the last couple of pages, then try to put together what you're telling me about the rights coming from God and then Anthem. Because she's an atheist, and she has a very, very different point of view.
And I -- Anthem is one of my favorite stories. It's easy. It's not Atlas Shrugged. It's easy. It's a quick read. You could read it in a day. But it throws me every single time on the last -- the last page. And it's good mental gymnastics to do.
Josh, thank you very much. Hold on. I want to get your name and address and a way to contact you. I appreciate it.
PAT: Wow. That's a lot of work.
JEFFY: You aren't kidding.
PAT: In a few months. That's amazing.
GLENN: That gives me a lot of hope.
PAT: Yeah. That's great.
GLENN: That gives me a lot of hope.
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