Glenn Beck: Are We Subhuman or Superhuman?

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," October 13, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: From Los Angeles, California — hello, America. Good to be back with you.

I have been out for a couple of days, although through the miracle of digital capture, it seems like I've only been gone a day. But I've actually been on the road since Friday. I've been undergoing some medical tests. And everything is fine and I'll tell you about that tomorrow, because I've learned something that I want to share with you.

But, tonight, I want to get to the news that you and I have missed together. And I don't even know where to begin.

Bill Clinton said basically that half of America needs psychiatric help — that's an amazing story.

Then, food behavior scientists are trying to modify our kids' eating habits — right out of Cass Sunstein's book "Nudge."

Democrats are now on a smear campaign against the universally respected Chamber of Commerce.

And there is an incredible story of the miners in Chile that are being rescued after 70 days trapped inside the mine.

Where to begin? Where to begin? Well, I know the main story of the day is the mine story and rightfully so. There are many lessons that we can draw from that and I will get to it here in a minute.

But I want to go a different direction than most people — I mean, it's "The Glenn Beck Program," what, of course we're going to be a little odd and unusual.

I want to start with something that — I was on the plane, on my way to Utah to have some tests done at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. And, by the way, I don't have cancer. But I was on my way out there for some medical tests. And I was reading a couple of things.

I had some things that were saved on my iPad and then also, I had The New York Times, and I was reading. And I want to start with what I found in The New York Times on Saturday, the horrific attacks that took place in the Bronx a little over a week ago.

I don't think I have ever read anything quite like this. I guess — maybe Jeffrey Dahmer, but Jeffrey Dahmer was one individual. And so, you can imagine monsters one at a time.

This unimaginable hatred in the attacks that happened in the Bronx left me with a sinking feeling and a burning question: Who are we and who are we becoming?

I think before we go any further as a nation, it's time that we honestly examine ourselves. And to have a complete honest examination, we need to hear both the worst and the best.

Hatred is growing in this country. Darkness is growing. I believe the light is as well. But I want to talk to you first about some of the darker things and this story that happened in New York. I want to warn you, there are disturbing details in this story. And normally, I would avoid them, but I intentionally want to spend some minutes on them, because I think it's something that we need to discuss.

If you have children in the room, please turn the television off at this point.

This story out of New York takes place and it's centered around a group of 10 wannabe gangsters who call themselves the Latin King Goonies. They unleashed a series of vicious, sustained attacks beginning October 3rd on two 17-year-olds and a 30-year-old victim.

Now, this was not just a random act of violence committed by a group of thugs out looking for trouble. That would be bad enough. This is a whole new level of evil. And I use the word "evil" knowing what it means.

It was a cold, calculated attack that was dreamt up when the gang learned something about a "friend" — a "friend" — who wanted to enter their gang. They saw him hanging out with a 30-year-old man who is openly gay. The revelation triggered what was — what was to follow: a series of horrifying events.

The Latin King Goonies, their ages are 16 to 23-years-old. Let that marinate in you for a moment — 16 to 23-years-old. Every single one of these, if they are convicted, should be tried and convicted and serve as an adult, because of the plan that they hatched.

They tracked down the 17-year-old who they suspected might be gay. They brought him in to a safe house and there, he was shoved against a wall, severely beaten, forced to take his clothes off and then repeatedly hit on the head. He was wounded with a box cutter. And then he was sodomized with a plunger.

This went on and on and on as they interrogated the 17-year-old and tried to get him to confess that he had sex with the 30-year-old man that they saw him with. He finally admitted that he had and then they let him go, threatening him and tell him if he told anyone, he would get more.

Not surprisingly, the 17-year-old didn't tell a soul, even when he was questioned at the hospital that he had to visit, he lied to the hospital, saying that he had been jumped by strangers.

What does that mean? Why would he lie? Does he maybe not believe in the justice system?

This is just the beginning. The gang abducted another 17-year-old victim, also questioning him about his involvement with the 30-year-old gay man. They carried out an equally severe beating as the last beating and they were again able to get him to confess to sleeping with the 30- year-old man.

But this guy was not set free. The gang had had hatched yet another plan. They had something else in store for this 17-year-old. You see, it always gets worse.

They set a trap for the 30-year-old man who is known around the neighborhood as "The Queen." They invited him to what he thought was a party. It turned out to be a nightmare.

As soon as he got there, he was attacked and tied up. The beatings for him lasted hours. He was forced to drink 10 large cans of malt liquor. He was forced then — the 17-year-old was forced to beat the man. Since we're adults here, could you just let that marinate for a moment. The 17-year-old is forced by this Latin King Goony gang to beat a man that he had just been with.

While the beatings were carried out, the other gang members went to the man's home. They attacked his 40-year-old brother. They demanded money. They took $1,000 and 52-inch television and attacks continued for hours.

They stripped the man down. They tied him up. They burned him with a cigarette. They have the 17-year-old take the cigarette and burn him on the nipple and elsewhere. And then they whipped him with a chain. And then they sexual assaulted the man with a baseball bat.

As this was going on, the group of 16-year-olds cheered the attacks, shouting gay slurs at the victim.

I read this story while I was on the plane. I didn't even know what to say. I couldn't even begin to understand the level of hatred and depravity.

Who are these people? Who are these — not children, who are these men? I'm sorry, but to do this to some other human being, you're a man, you're a monster. It is pure evil.

Now, I've been out of pocket for the last few days and away from New York, so I haven't seen the coverage on this. But I'm sure these attacks are being labeled as anti-gay. These thugs were clearly anti-gay. But it goes way, way beyond anti-gay. This is not only anti-gay, it is anti-human. It is bigotry for sport. Sixteen to 23 years old — what the hell is wrong with you?

How does this happen?

A phrase keeps running through my mind: For the love of man shall wax cold because inequity shall abound. The love of man shall wax cold. How does someone do this to another human being?

You know, hatred doesn't start, it doesn't come in black boots with a red armband. It doesn't start there. How did we get here?

It's easy to see hatred in this group, but I've never read anything as horrifying as that story. At least that I remember, at least in my own country.

At the same time I'm reading this, I put this newspaper down and I pick up my iPad and I'm reading a few things that I pulled down, some stories that were written about me. All kind of crazy things have been written about me in the last couple of days because I announced on my program on Friday that I'm having some medical issues.

And again, I want you to — they've ruled out all of the bad things. There was a possibility I had cancer, a possibility I had lupus or M.S. I don't have any of those things.

And it's taken me a few days to find out. But I was shocked at how many people and how many blog sites — these are people whose job it is to write stories — how many were writing stories that were so vitriolic about me. Look, I don't care what you think about me, but really? Really?

The things that were said by professional writers and then, what was worse were people on the blog sites that are just — they're not even using even their real names.

OK. There were the ones that I expected to see, you know, "I hope he dies," et cetera, et cetera. But this is what really shocked me and this is — this is why I bring this up now. What shocked me were the responses by some people who were, quote, "defending me," end quote, responding with equally horrible comments, wishing harm on them, wishing — I read one where the guy said, "It's progressives like you that need to be rounded up."

I read that, it was such a horrific post — that was just one line in it — just a horrific post, I actually sat there on the plane and I thought to myself, that guy cannot be a fan of mine. That guy has to be a poser. He has to be trying to discredit me. I don't know. And that was the point. I don't know. It's getting hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys sometimes.

Here's what I want to say to you today. First of all, have you read blog sites lately? If you can avoid them, I guess — I guess don't post or don't read the post, because you'll just get caught up in this hatred.

But if you ever see anybody doing hatred on me, please, don't ever defend me. Don't defend me like that, say something, we'll pray for you, pray for you. Or ignore it. But don't write and engage in the hatred. It is sucking us in, all of us. We're being sucked in.

If you really believe the things you are posting in my defense, I don't want anything to do with you. Can you see what's happening to our country? Can you see what's happening to us as people?

I know, and I — we'll talk about it a little more tomorrow. The most amazing conversation with this doctor at the Huntsman Cancer Institute — I never had a conversation like this with a doctor before, it was spiritual in nature in the end, because there is a connection between our spirit and our bodies. There is.

And if we allow ourselves to be sucked in to anger and hatred, we are in trouble. We are done.

If you are writing something on a blog or whatever, would you do yourself a favor? Before you hit "enter" on your computer, ask yourself this. Reread it. Is that who I want to be?

The only time that you have a chance to take something back is before you send it. You can say all kind of stuff — believe me I'm the king of saying stupid things. You could say all — and you can never take it back. But as you're writing it, you can take it back. Read it.

On 8.28 and after and in the future, I will always say how proud I am to call you my friends and my fans. I am proud. But the hatred in this country is getting worse and worse.

I believe this with everything in my heart: This audience is going to be a part of the solution, not the problem. Get out and get away from the problem. Do not be a part of it. Do not be a victim and do not create victims.

We want to be the people that will pull butts out of the fire and you can't do that if you're filled with hatred. It is a disease and it is very, very contagious. We hide behind pseudonyms. We hide behind these masks now, especially on the Internet.

Stop hiding. Be who you are. Take responsibility for what you do and what you say. It is time to decide who we are, who you are.

Will you allow yourself to be subhuman? Or will you strive to be superhuman?

My 5-year-old son the other day was playing a video game with one of my — with my wife's phone. I hate these darn video games. And I quite honestly — to be real honest with you — we do them, we let him play with them now from time to time because it's easier. I hate myself for that. I — we get busy. And we let him play with video games. He doesn't have video games at home, but sometimes when we're traveling, we let him play on the phone.

Well, he was lost in his own world playing a game. And he passed right by a very good friend of ours and wasn't really even engaged. We had just gone over to dinner at this friend's house, and he had the phone. He had picked it up off the counter. And we were saying goodbye.

Now, granted, he's six. But he was completely distracted and oblivious. I wanted to take the phone and toss it in the garbage. I don't even know why we have the cell phones. All these things were supposed to make our lives easier. Is your life easier? Is it?

Think about all the things that we have in our car now. We have everything. We have a phone. We have radio. We have news. We have GPS. We have — some of us have video in our cars so we go around and drive around with the kids, they're watching a video.

What is this?

We're disconnecting from ourselves. We're driving our living rooms. So, of course, if somebody cuts you off and you're in your living room, of course you're going to be a little P-O'd. We're walking around with our iPods on, we're oblivious to humans all around us.

We're missing the point: human connection.

If you take the subway, or you ride the bus, does anybody even bother saying hi to you anymore? Do you? It is probably considered rude or creepy to sit next to somebody and start a conversation with them. Have you ever been a situation where somebody is being nice and you're like, what the hell is wrong with them? I have been. Doesn't that tell you something?

We've got to start noticing the people around us. We are becoming isolated. We are expanding what we consider to be our private space into areas that are never meant to be private, intimate conversations now on text messages.

People stand — I've seen this. And if you have teenagers, I'll bet you've seen it, too. One teenager standing here, the other one standing here, and they're texting each other.

We are interacting less and less in the reality, the reality that is right in front of us. Instead, we're choosing a fantasy world on screens. And we are changing because of it.

We've got to connect with things that are real again. Tonight, I want to present you with a choice. When we come back, it's time we decide. Who are we?

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: There is a quote that is running through my mind. And I'm paraphrasing here, but basically what it is, is: What one generation tolerates, the next will embrace. We are tolerating stuff that should not be embraced. We are detaching ourselves from one another. We're losing our human connection.

Do you remember when President Obama said that there were doctors that were amputating people's feet because they could make more money? The diabetes patients? And I thought I've never ever heard that story. Where? What kind of doctor would do that?

Well, it is happening. It's not happening in America. It's happening in Greece. Their government-run health care system is now doing amputations because it is cheaper than paying for special footwear for diabetes patients.

How? How? How is that happening? I don't think it could happen if we kept our humanity.

America has always been great because America is good. The people are good. But we're at a fork in the road. And I think it's time to decide.

And it's — we're here, here's the fork in the road. We've always been united. We've always been walking down this road together. But somehow or another, we have started to split. And we're here.

If this is the dark side of the path, you can still jump to the other side. But at some point, these are going to be so far apart, you're not even going to be able to see.

I mean, how many times have you said — I mean this left, right, I mean all of us — how many times has the left said about the right or the right about the left: I don't even understand you anymore?

What's happened to us?

Remember this theory, I told you about — mutually assured destruction. It was, we'll stop nuclear war by making sure that if Russia tries to wipe us out, we can wipe them out and then nobody wins.

It mutated into mutually assured economic destruction. Nobody will actually fight a real war because if we wipe Russia out, or Russia wipes us out, the entire world goes down economically. That was the plan, to stop World War III. These two: mutually assured destruction, mutually assured economic destruction.

But there is something else happening in our country. The world is coming apart. It is coming undone. It is sliding into the abyss. And we are, too.

If you want to save yourself from mutually assured economic destruction, you spit yourself out from the system. You unplug from the system and you won't be destroyed.

The only thing with this theory that beats it — this is 1962 — the only thing that beats is an un-flagged nomadic culture. Sounds like Al Qaeda, doesn't it?

Well, if you want to spit yourself out of the system, you've got to be nomadic, un-flagged. You're not for the Republicans or the Democrats; you're for right or wrong.

It's easy to see the road now. But it's amazing to me how many people won't see it. I read another story. This one comes from Michigan. It's about a 7-year-old girl that is being taunted by neighbors.

I want to show you this. Here's the 7-year-old girl — look how sweet she is. She is being taunted because of the arguments the two families are having. Photos of the little girl who is battling Huntington disease have now surfaced on the Internet. One depicts the girl's mom who died of the same disease in the arms of the Grim Reaper. Look at this.

The other photo features the little girl with her face above a set of crossbones.

How — what neighbors would do this? What human being would do this to a 7-year-old girl?

Well, it all started two years ago. The families had a falling out at a birthday party. One family hosted a party with a bounce house, and the other texted, asked if they could bring their kids over, too. Well, the response didn't, quote, "come fast enough," end quote, and it started a fight. That's it. And it has gone — show that picture again of mom with the Grim Reaper. It's gone to this extreme.

How?

Now, I know you wouldn't stoop to this level. But you notice that the fight didn't start there. It started out small. It started with a simple mistake. It starts with a little wedge. And then it is just pushed farther and farther apart.

It's hard when it starts with our mistakes. But if we are going to avoid nightmares down the road, we have to change. We have to be the ones.

Let me tell you a story that happened to me about two years ago with a very good friend of mine. I've introduced you to him a couple times before. His name is John Huntsman. John Huntsman is — John Huntsman is the best man I've ever met — John Huntsman, Sr.

There was something that had happened and it was my fault. I said something unthinkingly and it hurt him and it hurt his family. And then, I thought I better call and apologize, but the old alcoholic Glenn started in. And I didn't apologize. I avoided it. I thought maybe he'll just forget about it and it will just go away.

It didn't. John is an honorable, honorable man. About four days later, I get a handwritten letter from him that says, "Glenn, how could you do that? How could you say those things and then not call me?"

I called him up immediately and I apologized. And I was so upset and I said, "John, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and then I avoided it hoping that it would go away." He accepted my apology, but it was pretty cold. He accepted my apology and hung up the phone.

I called and tried to make amends to all the people around, thinking I would never speak to him again because he would never forgive me, even though he said on the phone "I forgive you."

The next day I was just — I was devastated. And John called me and he said as I picked up the phone, "How is my dear, dear friend?" And I said, "John, I'm not doing well. And I am sorry. I am so sorry."

He said — he stopped me in the middle and he said, Glenn, I found two things: One, great men never hold on to grudges. Great men, when somebody asks for their forgiveness, they forgive them and they let it go.

He said, But I also learned something else. Great men apologize, try to make it right and let it go themselves. Live your truth. Face the truth.

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