I don’t have a problem with Glenn Beck, just with people who take him seriously.

Beck, who will deliver the commencement address at Liberty University on Saturday, has used his platform at Fox News to grow a worldwide cult following. In the process, he has become a sweetheart of the religious right, an oracle to the Tea Party, the Devil himself to outraged liberals.

Good for him. That’s what he’s supposed to do.

Yet I think it is also necessary to put Beck into context. He is not a public official with the power to force his sometimes over-the-top ideas on the general citizenry by law. The last time I looked, he ws not an expert in political science or world affairs. He’s just a loud guy with a point of view.

With Beck, you know what you’re getting. As that old country song goes, he’s got his story and he’s sticking to it.

More to the point, he’s not going to change anyone’s mind. You either agree with Beck or you don’t. In the latter case, chances are he doesn’t care. His job is to preach to the choir, not seek converts.

Nevertheless, a Website called Alternet—the liberal mirror to Fox News—has made Beck-baiting into almost a cottage industry. They have painstakingly analyzed his broadcasts for contradictions. They’ve dug into his background.

To me, that’s all a waste of time. It’s human nature to want to listen to people with whom we agree. That gives our own opinions validation, and makes us feel good. And a guy like Beck is the perfect sounding board.

As a columnist, I have to concede that Glenn Beck and I are both in the same game. Our job is to express our opinions.

I can’t speak for Beck, but I don’t do this because I feel my opinions are always of cosmic wisdom and importance. Basically, I’m just trying to prime the pump of public discussion. Here’s what I think: What do you think?

Therefore, it always baffles me when people get enraged by someone’s opinion, be it from me, Glenn Beck or anyone else. It’s only one person’s take on an issue. Take it or leave it..

H.L. Mencken, the often-acerbic Baltimore newspaper columnist, used a standard response to angry letterwriters.

“Thanks for your comments,“ he would write back. “One of us mght be right.“

If you don’t like what Glenn Beck is saying, turn him off. I do.