I've never met Glenn Beck. I've only seen him a few times on Fox News and have never heard his radio program. He wouldn't know me from Adam's house cat.

But I do know he's been getting a lot of attention lately! A week or so ago, his Rally for America, with heavy support from the Tea Party movement, packed an estimated half million people (and possibly more) into the area around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Later, I listened to his "Restoring Honor" keynote speech online and found myself agreeing with much of what he said.

Little wonder. Glenn says a lot of things that resonate with conservative Christians. His emphasis on our American heritage and traditional values is something that's been missing from the mainstream media for a long time.

Even people who say they think Rush Limbaugh is too bombastic, or that Bill O'Reilly is snippy and self-aggrandizing, seem to be attracted to Glenn. Hey, there's just something about the guy. And most folks believe him when he says those crocodile tears aren't theatrics, but are truly heartfelt. He said he was proud of himself for having gotten through his "Restoring Honor" speech the other day without crying.

But here's the deal. Glenn is a Mormon. There have been rumors that he's a pseudo-Mormon—that is, he's secretly a true, born-again believer. However, he publicly states that he's a devout Mormon, so I think we have to take him at his word. (But it was a nice thought.)

One attitude among evangelicals is that Glenn's Mormonism isn't a problem, at least not politically; and in some ways, maybe it's not. After all, Mitt Romney is also a Mormon and a whole galaxy of conservative Christian leaders endorsed Mitt's campaign for the presidency in 2008. They felt that he had a good grasp of the issues and offered workable solutions to many of our problems. More notably, he's been successful on his own in the business world—unlike almost everyone in the upper echelon of the current administration.

The kicker, of course, is that Mormonism is not true Christianity. And I say that knowing full well that it rubs some peoples' fur the wrong way. Not long ago, someone said that the Mormon issue isn't a big deal because after all, we all believe in Jesus, and that's all that really matters.

Come on, people, are you kidding me? By no stretch of the imagination is the "Jesus" of Mormonism even remotely related to the Jesus (Yeshua) of the Bible. So there's no way we're, like, "all believers in Jesus."

For starters, which Jesus are we talking about here? In Mormonism, Jesus was conceived when God the Father had sex with Mary (which would mean, of course, that at that point she was no longer a virgin). Furthermore, the Mormon Jesus is Lucifer's older brother. Messed up, right?

The fact that the Mormon Church doesn't rely on the Bible as the sole authority for its teachings (they have two other holy books) also says something, I think.

But again, these are religious teachings that don't necessarily have any bearing on a person's political, moral, and ethical beliefs. No one can dispute that the Mormons are diligent, smart, innovative, industrious people who literally carved an empire out of the Utah wilderness. They persevered and overcame tremendous adversity. And every Mormon male spends two years of his life as a volunteer missionary for the church. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from them. Not theologically, mind you, but socially, politically, and perhaps even personally.

So what are we to make of this? Is it possible to formulate a coherent approach that tells us how we as Bible-believing Christians can (or can't) cooperate and interact out there in the world with groups whose beliefs differ in important ways from our own?

After all, we're not hermits. We don't live in secluded monasteries high in the mountains. We rub elbows every day with people of many different stripes and backgrounds. So here's the question: when our interests happen to coincide with those of another group, even one that's non-Christian, can we join forces with them to further those common interests? Or do we only participate cooperatively with people from our own camp?

Here's one suggested approach from our friends at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary: click here 

Their proposal seems reasonable enough. I like pictures, so the imagery of those "concentric circles of affinity" appeals to me. (I also loved comic books when I was a kid. I remember when they were 10 cents!)

In the meantime, while we take time to sort this out, I'll say this: I have great admiration for Glenn Beck, a self-professed down-and-outer who's not bashful about sharing how he woke up one day, took responsibility for his shattered life, and proceeded to turn it around. It's a great success story. Kudos, Mr. Beck!

But I hope you'll forgive me if I don't jump on the bandwagon just yet.