Beck says Americans must look to God for direction

Author and Fox News host Glenn Beck told the crowd on the National Mall Saturday that Americans must look to God and find the strength within themselves to confront the problems facing the nation rather than relying on others to address them.

"This day is the day that we can start the heart of America again. And it has nothing to do with politics, it has everything to do with God," Beck said.

Speaking at the conclusion of his "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial, Beck framed the current political climate as a turning point in American history and urged the crowd to remain focused on the nation's future rather than lingering over its faults. He cited media estimates of the crowd ranging from tens of thousands to more than a half million attendees.

"Let's be honest. If you look at history, America has been both terribly good and terribly bad. It has been both," Beck said. "But we concentrate on the bad instead of learning from the bad and repairing the bad and then looking to the good that is still out in front of us, within our reach."

Beck said God has been sending the American people many wake-up calls, including the terrorist attacks on 9/11. But he said fear only wakes people up for a very short period of time.

"I know that many in this country think that I'm a fear monger. It is not a label that I think applies," he said, comparing himself to the watchman on the Titanic who first spotted the iceberg. He asked for Americans of all political parties to come together to confront the nation's problems.

Beck said in spite of media reports, the rally was not "only a bunch of Tea Partiers" but included an unidentified Democratic speaker who took a great personal risk to appear.

"That person stood on this stage because of honor. There's a lot we can disagree on, but our values and our principles can unite us. We must discover them again," Beck said.

Beck said Americans have a choice between allowing the scars of the past to crush them or to learn from the mistakes and move forward. He pointed to the nearby monuments as examples of Americans who have given their lives to the service of the country, singling out Martin Luther King, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

"So what did these great people give their lives for? They gave it for the American experiment. And that's what this is, an experiment. It's not just a country, it's an idea — that man can rule himself. That's the American experiment," Beck said.

At one point Beck became visibly choked up while describing visiting the Lincoln Memorial with his children. He also quoted the Gettysburg Address at length and said he has been staying in the same hotel where King completed his "I Have a Dream" speech and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was composed.

"I think I can relate to Martin Luther King probably the most because we haven't carved him in marble yet. He's still a man," Beck said, adding that the only difference between the great leaders memorialized nearby and the crowd was their determination to do the right thing, regardless of difficulty. He also drew analogies to the biblical narrative of Moses and the Israelites.

"Have trust in the Lord, and recognize that Moses and Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were men, they were just like you. They just picked up their stick," he said. "Do not stand and look to someone else. Look to yourself. Pick up your stick and stand."

Beck said too many Americans have been looking to someone else for help with their problems, when instead they should be looking inside of themselves and then extending a hand to the needy around them.

"We are a nation quite honestly that is in about as good a shape as I am. Because we've had a soft life," Beck said. "The poorest among us are still some of the richest in the world. The poorest among us have blessings beyond the wildest imagination of anyone that Mother Theresa visited. And yet we don't recognize it."

Instead, he said Americans have grown tired, weak and increasingly divided.

"There is growing hatred in the country. We must be better than what we've allowed ourselves to become. We must get the poison of hatred out of us," Beck said. "No matter what anyone may say or do, no matter what anyone smears or lies or throws our way or to any American's way, we must look to God and look to love. We must defend those that we disagree with, but are honest and have integrity."

To succeed, Beck said, Americans must first look to themselves and ensure that they are honest, faithful and charitable in their everyday lives. He emphasized the importance of honesty and faith by relating his own journey, during which he said he hit rock bottom and disgraced himself in every possible way before finding God and turning his life around.

"America is great because America is good. But that isn't the entire story. America is only what we choose her to be. We as individuals must be good so America can be great," he said.