14th October 2010
“To understand why the Tea Party resonates with the religious right and vice versa, one must understand how the anti-government rhetoric of the Tea Party movement is driven by a fundamental tenet of Christian reconstructionism: that there are certain God-ordained spheres – family, church and government – and that government has exceeded the authority God gave it, to the detriment of church, family and the individual, whose rights are granted by God, not the government.”
October 14th, 2010 at 13:42
Meh! A wingnut is a wingnut.
October 14th, 2010 at 14:04
I am sort of watching the Tea Party from a distance but I’d think the average Tea Partier is not thinking so deep as “God ordained spheres..”,
they just don’t like a black man much less someone they they perceive a socialist leading the country. Although I suspect the latter is simply rhetoric.
October 14th, 2010 at 14:55
I agree with Ernie,
The bulk membership probably doesn’t really know what the tea party stands for.
Its the attachment of their political views to a religious entity in general that makes the movement problematic. People are normally not willing to make compromises on religious views. This has the potential to make partisianship even worse than it is already.
October 14th, 2010 at 15:03
And idiots are idiots. The Tea Party is about government circumventing the Constitution to arbitrarily change the US into a European-style socialist state (most of which are currently going bankrupt.) Most people like America the way it is, thank you very much. It has nothing to do with religion or race. That is just the spin of the sycophantic media and Marxist politicians. Just because one is an atheist, doesn’t mean one also has to be a brainless drone. And BTW, the stupid SOB running this country is an elitist Marxist that couldn’t find his a$$ with both hands. The sooner he is gone, the better off we will all be.
October 14th, 2010 at 15:29
I just don’t see it Heretic. I do not consider said SOB a marxist although he is par for the course with what we’ve had. I doubt most Tea Party proponents know what a Marxist is.
Now back to droning. I am a cube drone.
October 14th, 2010 at 17:00
There’s no such thing as an American Marxist politician, and Obama certainly isn’t one. No matter how left wing you think he is he’s still very right of centre by European standards.
October 14th, 2010 at 18:53
heretic…………….
you are SOOOOOOOOOOO right about Obama !!!!
good damn riddance !!!
October 14th, 2010 at 19:13
I wasn’t discussing European standards, I was discussing American. And, he is a Marxist and a Statist. He and his party are trying to fundamentally change America, for the worst, by trying to lead us down into the broken socialist policies that have dominated Europe for the last 50 years.
Ernie, don’t do yourself the disservice of implying that Tea Partiers don’t know what a Marxist is. They know exactly what they are. They also know what the Constitution is, and that it is being eroded. Your effete attitude is why your minority is going to be trounced next month in the elections.
October 14th, 2010 at 20:28
I thought this was a blog concerning issues of atheism. The only reference to atheism I’ve seen in the above posts led somehow to being “a brainless drone”. I would be interested in what our President REALLY believes relative to creation, evolution, personal gods, etc. For the purpose of this discussion I really don’t care if he’s a liberal Marxist Statist Socialist or whatever. And please… have enough respect for the office to not refer to our President as a “stupid SOB”.
October 14th, 2010 at 20:29
The Heretic,
Sounds like you need to look up what Marx ACTUALLY argued for, if you think this American president is a Marxist that is.
October 14th, 2010 at 20:44
Marxism for some people who think that Obama is a Marxist. Obama has certainly never argued that capitalism is exploitative. What he does do, is argue for what economists call demand-side economics. And Obama has never said that private property should be expropriated by the government for collective ownership. What he does fundamentally do in this area is argue for access to education and health services so people can realize the American Dream and make something of themselves through hard work and ingenuity.
That said, there ARE many valid criticisms of Obama. But calling him a Marxist is historical revisionism. Just read his book, he doesn’t argue for ANY aspect of Marxism.
October 14th, 2010 at 21:14
Ernie nailed it in my view. And no, Obama isn’t a Marxist by any stretch. Thinking that government ought to be effective and can tackle big problems doesn’t make one a Marxist. Neither does asking the top 2% of wage earners to go from paying 36% to 39% on marginal income over 250k. The last time we had a 50% tax bracket was during the Reagan administration. I guess that makes him Pol Pot? Please…
And to the criticism that a bit of politics has no place here: The same kind of uninformed mindset that drives religious zealotry also powers political zealotry. Extremists of all stripes are related and must be resisted with fact and argument. Their ‘arguments’ are generally name calling.
Better off, Heretic? Like when the GOP had control of all three branches? History will mark that period as the nadir for the middle class and the halcyon days for the financial elite.
October 14th, 2010 at 22:25
How has he eroded the constitution? Not saying he hasn’t, I’d like some examples. Many a president has taken shots at the constitution so why all the fuss now? We’ll see what happens next month. Your assessment of my attitude may just be an invention of the sycophantic media and politicians. A ploy as it were.
October 15th, 2010 at 0:13
Definitely tell who watches Glen Beck in this chat. Go study Marxism and what a statist is before tossing out what you THINK it is. Truthfully, Obama is the best damned Republican this country has ever had.
These damn tea partiers are fundie whacks truly bent on replacing the government with a Christian rule; assuming they’re not the idiots that stand out there with a sign thinking the group is actually out to solely rid taxation. The fun only starts once they can’t figure out WHAT Christian rule and which “rights” from God should dominate. Which is it, non-denom, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Pentecostal, and so on? I only sense hell and war driven by religion once again (that, and some Moonshine) if they actually do take power.
And to say that atheism has nothing to do with government is to imply complete idiocy. Ever hear of Sharia Law? Religious control means you lose any chance for a secular nation until there is a rebellion, and when you lose a secular nation, you lose your rights to live in a realm that makes you happy, and in more of a realm that makes them happy.
October 15th, 2010 at 1:47
i agree with ” WAT “
October 15th, 2010 at 2:31
8th Sin, Please explain to me how separating my religious belief, or lack thereof, from politics is “complete idiocy”? The” idiots” in this equation are our own Christian fundamentalists who think that a “Christian nation” would somehow be different than a nation under Sharia Law. When you find an atheist candidate for ANY office, let me know. I’m sure they are out there, but if they voiced their true beliefs they would never be elected. As Dawkins observed, we would sooner elect a child molester than an atheist.
October 15th, 2010 at 2:45
Umm.. how about Australia’s Prime Minister? Look at how fast Australia is burning in Hell, or how they’re writhing from the lack of rights (/sarcasm).
Hell, the church would rather let a pedophile couple marry than a gay couple. All the church does in the world of politics is let their twisted ideologies leak into other peoples’ private lives all with the excuse that it’s “God’s will”. All the fundamentalist churches ever do is drive false stereotypes into peoples’ minds all because that group is either “different”, or is a threat to their control. Atheism is a threat to that control. Just look at the pope calling atheists Nazis, yet he took part in the Hitler youth program. If that’s not a cry out in fear that they’re losing control, then what is?
October 15th, 2010 at 7:11
On the Glenn Beck-like “Marxism” – time to lighten the mood with a little Jon Stewart: Conservative Libertarian.