The Tea Party Isn’t a Political Movement, It’s a Religious One

[DonViejo]

Jack Schwartz

Obama is the Antichrist, Republicans are heretics, and compromise is unholy. Politics can’t explain how the right acts.

America has long been the incubator of many spiritual creeds going back to the Great Awakening and even earlier. Only one of them, Mormonism, has taken root and flourished as a true religion sprung from our own native ground. Today, however, we have a new faith growing from this nation’s soil: the Tea Party. Despite its secular trappings and “taxed enough already” motto, it is a religious movement, one grounded in the traditions of American spiritual revival. This religiosity explains the Tea Party’s political zealotry.

The mark of a national political party in a democracy is its pluralistic quality, i.e. the ability to be inclusive enough to appeal to the broadest number of voters who may have differing interests on a variety of issues. While it may stand for certain basic principles, a party is often flexible in applying them, as are its representatives in fulfilling them. Despite the heated rhetoric of elections and the bombast of elected representatives, they generally seek consensus with the minority in order to achieve their legislative goals.

But when religion is thrown into the mix, all that is lost. Religion here doesn’t mean theology but a distinct belief system which, in totality, provides basic answers regarding how to live one’s life, how society should function, how to deal with social and political issues, what is right and wrong, who should lead us, and who should not. It does so in ways that fulfill deep-seated emotional needs that, at their profoundest level, are devotional. Given the confusions of a secular world being rapidly transformed by technology, demography, and globalization, this movement has assumed a spiritual aspect whose adepts have undergone a religious experience which, if not in name, then in virtually every other aspect, can be considered a faith.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/13/the-tea-party-isn-t-a-political-movement-it-s-a-religious-one.html

[lame54]

1. No shit -The religious right didn't disappear...

They just Re-branded

[Cosmocat]

2. Bah

the "Tea Party" is the result of a country that is affluent enough that selfish, mean spirited jackasses get to indulge their hubris with the self sanctification of being the only true patriots for the country.

That is it in a nutshell, people with too much time on their hands that are completely oblivious to the REAL world around them who have swallowed the right wing evil liberal boogyman crap hook, line and sinker.

The likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingram get stinking rich feeding these half witted morons an endless stream of poutrage to channel their personal discontent toward a common, fantastical enemy, and for good measure help to secure the elective status of sell out POS republican (not saying there aren't plenty of worthless dems) pols who act as the de facto hands in government for the deluded super rich people who can't help but try to fuck the country up beyond any recognition for no real good reason other than deranged ideology and greed.

[yends21012]

7. ^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^

[Cosmocat]

12. Welcome yends ...

back at you.

[zeemike]

8. I agree with all of that.

But to add, that it was organized and funded by oligarchical powers who's purpose was to create the chaos we saw...pit the right against the left by rallying the crazys...we and they both know we have to fight the crazy.

They exploited the crazy...and it worked...and I suspect they will exploit the crazy some more.
Before the election they must rally the religious right to fight the godless and we will rally the atheist and anti deist to fight back, and average joe just gets disgusted.

[Cosmocat]

13. yeah

Absolutely, they lit the fuse ...

[savalez]

16. Here here.

I'd say a good chunk of them are racist too.

[merrily]

3. The Tea Party is the invention of the Koch Brothers, who planned it,

organized it and funded it. Other big Republican donors joined in. The Tea Party is whatever the big donors want it to be.

For a while now, it's been a get out the vote machine, the RW ACORN and then some.

Sure, all wings of the Republican Party use churches. Why not? They got a good thing going with the churches (and vice versa?). Why would they give it up?

[PSPS]

4. Sorry, no. It's purely racist.

A "religious" movement would include people of all races, wouldn't adopt the Gadsen flag, and wouldn't employ banners such as this one:

[Duppers]

6. True!

And I know some teabilly Atheists!

[Enthusiast]

10. I think it is mostly racist. The second most influential factor is ignorance, IMHO.

[alterfurz]

5. Teahadist Talibangelists

[DhhD]

9. Guest speaker: Ted Cruz - He promises to take down the IRS so the fellow theologians can give

more money to the huge barn (where Jesus was born) that big money built, the Mega Church, instead of a democratic government where We the People of the United States, join for the commons of Law. Yes the Church is Lawless. The Tea Party is both lawless and faithless as it is the money and the masonry that count for them; they built it all by themselves.

[LiberalElite]

11. Where'd you get that?

i like it!

[alterfurz]

15. not sure of the source...

...someone sent it to me some years ago already. Feel free to steal it!

[Cosmocat]

14. lol

It is always interesting to just simply state the basic truth that they are conservative extremists to republicans here ...

Usually just blank stares, cause in the twisted bubble they live in, them there middle east terrorist are liberals ...

[blkmusclmachine]

17. +1. The Tea Party is an extreme far rightwing religious movement. Right here:

Christian Dominionism, and New Apostolic Reformation theology