Glenn Beck Interviews Mark Driscoll: The Age of Intolerance

Dec 05, 2013 05:23 PM EST

Glenn Beck Mark Driscoll Interview
Glenn Beck (left) interviews Mark Driscoll (right).

Radio host Glenn Beck interviewed Mark Driscoll about the drastic change in American society's view of tolerance, especially in regard to the church. Driscoll, who pastors Mars Hill Church in Seattle, is passionate about reaching the un-churched, whose main qualm with Christianity tends to be its "lack of tolerance."

In an effort to understand and to reach out to the community more effectively, Pastor Mark Driscoll hired a research firm to interview one thousand people about why they have either left their church or have never been to church before. Most interviewees said their main objection to Christianity is its perceived "intolerance," and noted examples like the Christian view of sexuality (same-sex marriage and abortion issues) or Christians active in the political arena.

Both Beck and Driscoll agree that the definition of "tolerance" has warped over the years; while the term used to mean the ability to have a disagreement and to dialogue without getting angry, Driscoll says the new view of tolerance is more along the lines of, "You have to approve of me and endorse me, otherwise you hate me."

Beck argues that those who disagree with Christian values have no right to try to force them to say that God approves of things which go against Biblical teachings, such as same-sex marriage and abortion. Instances of this include Hobby Lobby's legal battle to uphold their right not to support abortion, and lawsuits against Christian bakeries who refuse to bake same-sex wedding cakes.

Mark Driscoll has dubbed same-sex marriage the "civil rights issue of this generation." To oppose same-sex marriage is to be "put in the same place as those who opposed integration and supported segregation and Jim Crow Laws ... a difficult place to be," he says. Driscoll knows a Christian couple who are excellent parents to their biological children, but were denied the opportunity to adopt when the agency asked them whether they would be in support of a child's choice to practice homosexuality in the future.

"In the name of tolerance, we're experiencing intolerance," Driscoll concludes.