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lunadelcorvo) wrote2011-03-13 03:03 pm
lunadelcorvo) wrote2011-03-13 03:03 pm
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Is the Tea Party the same thing as the Religious Right?
My personal contention is yes, it is. And I'm getting really tired of everyone from academics to mainstream media spouting this whole "The Religious Right is dead, the Tea Party is the thing now" business. To ignore the religious underpinnings of the Tea Party is dangerous, because in all the ways that matter, they are the same thing. Perhaps not down to every supporter on the ground, but the big movers, the big issues, and the big goals are overwhelmingly the same. So firstly, how much overlap does there need to be before it becomes a concern to anyone who opposed the growing extremism of the Religious Right? Secondly, how much overlap do we need until it no longer matters what name we call it, only what it's doing?
In my opinion, we are long past having enough overlap to get us there. The Tea Party is to the Religious Right what Intelligent Design is to Young-Earth Biblical Creationism; an attempt to use rhetorical smoke and mirrors to disguise a religious cause as a political one, and thereby draw allies from those with similar concerns (in this case social and political conservatism) who might otherwise be put off by the overt religious nature of the core movement.
The Tea Party and the Christian Right Redux
Tea Party Conservatives and the Christian Right: One and the Same?
Poll: Tea Partiers aren't Libertarian but Religious Right
The Non-Existent Tea Party-Religious Right God Gap
The Tea Party's Religious Roots Exposed
OK, so there seems to be a real confluence of ideas, goals, and motivating forces. But what about this whole Ayn Rand Libertarian bit? Wasn't Ayn Rand an atheist anyway? So how does this get tangled up with religion? Well, the series directly below this traces the Tea Party's development, and answers a lot of that question.
Origins of the Tea Party Movement: Part I: Introduction
The connection seems to lie in a sort of neo-Calvinist capitalist notion of the role of government. This is nothing new, if you've been watching the Neo-con Religious Right. There is the whole 'Prosperity-gospel' phenomenon, which comes directly out of Calvinist capitalist tendencies. Essentially, prosperity is the sign of God's favor, so looking after the bottom line isn't just OK, it's required, it's part of God's law. Even this isn't new; read Calvin on predestination, and read Weber on Calvin. Profit is directly equated with holiness. The poor are poor because they are not Godly, and their poverty is the proof.
If you think this died out with old-school Calvinism, think again. Look at the Conservative Bible Project, which plans a new translation of the bible, with the goal of (among other things) "Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning." For example, where a dishonest man is reprimanded in the new testament, it is suggested that the word 'shrewd,' be replaced by 'resourceful.' Apparently, lying to be deceitful is bad, but lying resourcefully is just good business.
There is an excellent series on the revisionist history of the US and the Constitution seen in both the tea Party and the Religious Right,the goal of which is the reification of capitalismism, union-busting, and elimination of "socialist" government. See it here:
Part One: Biblical Capitalism - The Religious Right's War on Progressive Economic Policy
Part Two: The War on Unions, Regulatory System, and Social Safety Net - Examples from Fundamentalist Textbooks
Part Three: Two Decades of Christian Nationalist Education Paved Way for Today's War on Labor
Another related and very interesting thing to note is the explicit connections between key Libertarian figures (of whom the Ron and Rand Paul are arguabley the most prominent) and the extreme Religious Right, even the theocratic / reconstructionist Constitution Party:
What Rand Paul and Sharron Angle Have in Common: A Far-Right "Biblical Law" Political Party
Rand Paul Was The Featured Speaker At Theocratic Minnesota Constitution Party 2009 Rally
Libertarian Ron Paul endorses Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin
OK, so there seems to be a pretty strong link between at least both Pauls and the Constitution Party, despite the generally held idea that the Pauls and the Tea Party are Libertarian, and therefore not religiously motivated. If you still wish to test that notion, merely look at the either Ron or Rand Paul's stance on abortion, marriage equality, and other similar issues. Libertarians are opposed to limitations on any of these things, Constitution Party is totally against both abortion rights and marriage equality. We all know the Religious Right's stance, of course. And the Tea Party on abortion? If Tea Party 'heroes' like Palin and Bachman aren't conclusive, here's a hint: look here.) So that leaves the Constitution Party; what do they stand for? Let's take a look:
Constitution Party National Political Headquarters
If you look to the right side of the page, where it lists the 'seven principles' - these are almost all semi-coded religious right buzzwords. There is some attempt to present this as a purely political, quasi-libertarian movement, but the whitewash is pretty thin if you are familiar with the terminology.
Constitution Party of Minnesota
This one doesn't even try to disguise the theocratic nature of its agenda. Note above that this is the group for whom Rand Paul, supposed 'fiscal conservative, libertarian' superstar, gave the keynote speech.
So we can say this: the Tea Party certainly does not seem to be strictly libertarian, nor are its aims purely economic; they extend to social issues as well. We know Sarah Palin, the Tea Party darling, is deeply tied to the Religious Right, and so are two of the most visible libertarians, Ron Paul and the Tea Party poster boy, Rand Paul. All three, and the Tea Party itself show a closer alignment to the Constitution Party, which we can easily see has an overtly religious stance.
So what do you think? Tea Party = Religious Right? Yeah, me, too.
In my opinion, we are long past having enough overlap to get us there. The Tea Party is to the Religious Right what Intelligent Design is to Young-Earth Biblical Creationism; an attempt to use rhetorical smoke and mirrors to disguise a religious cause as a political one, and thereby draw allies from those with similar concerns (in this case social and political conservatism) who might otherwise be put off by the overt religious nature of the core movement.
The Tea Party and the Christian Right Redux
Tea Party Conservatives and the Christian Right: One and the Same?
Poll: Tea Partiers aren't Libertarian but Religious Right
The Non-Existent Tea Party-Religious Right God Gap
The Tea Party's Religious Roots Exposed
OK, so there seems to be a real confluence of ideas, goals, and motivating forces. But what about this whole Ayn Rand Libertarian bit? Wasn't Ayn Rand an atheist anyway? So how does this get tangled up with religion? Well, the series directly below this traces the Tea Party's development, and answers a lot of that question.
Origins of the Tea Party Movement: Part I: Introduction
The connection seems to lie in a sort of neo-Calvinist capitalist notion of the role of government. This is nothing new, if you've been watching the Neo-con Religious Right. There is the whole 'Prosperity-gospel' phenomenon, which comes directly out of Calvinist capitalist tendencies. Essentially, prosperity is the sign of God's favor, so looking after the bottom line isn't just OK, it's required, it's part of God's law. Even this isn't new; read Calvin on predestination, and read Weber on Calvin. Profit is directly equated with holiness. The poor are poor because they are not Godly, and their poverty is the proof.
If you think this died out with old-school Calvinism, think again. Look at the Conservative Bible Project, which plans a new translation of the bible, with the goal of (among other things) "Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning." For example, where a dishonest man is reprimanded in the new testament, it is suggested that the word 'shrewd,' be replaced by 'resourceful.' Apparently, lying to be deceitful is bad, but lying resourcefully is just good business.
There is an excellent series on the revisionist history of the US and the Constitution seen in both the tea Party and the Religious Right,the goal of which is the reification of capitalismism, union-busting, and elimination of "socialist" government. See it here:
Part One: Biblical Capitalism - The Religious Right's War on Progressive Economic Policy
Part Two: The War on Unions, Regulatory System, and Social Safety Net - Examples from Fundamentalist Textbooks
Part Three: Two Decades of Christian Nationalist Education Paved Way for Today's War on Labor
Another related and very interesting thing to note is the explicit connections between key Libertarian figures (of whom the Ron and Rand Paul are arguabley the most prominent) and the extreme Religious Right, even the theocratic / reconstructionist Constitution Party:
What Rand Paul and Sharron Angle Have in Common: A Far-Right "Biblical Law" Political Party
Rand Paul Was The Featured Speaker At Theocratic Minnesota Constitution Party 2009 Rally
Libertarian Ron Paul endorses Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin
OK, so there seems to be a pretty strong link between at least both Pauls and the Constitution Party, despite the generally held idea that the Pauls and the Tea Party are Libertarian, and therefore not religiously motivated. If you still wish to test that notion, merely look at the either Ron or Rand Paul's stance on abortion, marriage equality, and other similar issues. Libertarians are opposed to limitations on any of these things, Constitution Party is totally against both abortion rights and marriage equality. We all know the Religious Right's stance, of course. And the Tea Party on abortion? If Tea Party 'heroes' like Palin and Bachman aren't conclusive, here's a hint: look here.) So that leaves the Constitution Party; what do they stand for? Let's take a look:
Constitution Party National Political Headquarters
If you look to the right side of the page, where it lists the 'seven principles' - these are almost all semi-coded religious right buzzwords. There is some attempt to present this as a purely political, quasi-libertarian movement, but the whitewash is pretty thin if you are familiar with the terminology.
Constitution Party of Minnesota
This one doesn't even try to disguise the theocratic nature of its agenda. Note above that this is the group for whom Rand Paul, supposed 'fiscal conservative, libertarian' superstar, gave the keynote speech.
So we can say this: the Tea Party certainly does not seem to be strictly libertarian, nor are its aims purely economic; they extend to social issues as well. We know Sarah Palin, the Tea Party darling, is deeply tied to the Religious Right, and so are two of the most visible libertarians, Ron Paul and the Tea Party poster boy, Rand Paul. All three, and the Tea Party itself show a closer alignment to the Constitution Party, which we can easily see has an overtly religious stance.
So what do you think? Tea Party = Religious Right? Yeah, me, too.
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Secondly-- thank you. I have noticed these same things, and I like knowing that I'm not the only one who sees all this.
Thirdly-- how the religious right/quasi libertarians are partnering up with big-money/big-business types to make THEM even wealthier while they take away our civil rights and safety nets-? Yeah, that trend is very worrisome. I guess the $$ types figure that only fanatics will put up with poverty and unfairness in order to get an agenda pushed through.
Fourthly-- WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY!!??!? We have barely even begun to hit 'resource war' times or 'the long decent' and already we have pigs lined up to the trough sucking up every little bit for themselves that they can at everyone else's expense. I'm so aggravated.
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And yes, the connection of big business and corporate mentality with the religious and conservative 'zeitgeist' is trouble. It's bad enough when corporate America can convince us Turkeys to vote in favor of Thanksgiving, but when they can somehow make it part and parcel of religion? Yikes! I am utterly convinced that this is one element of a neo-medievalist trend. The very few will control wealth, technology, and information, while the masses are kept poor, powerless and ignorant (literally in the dark). All this, accomplished with the help of a fervent and paranoid religiosity to keep their eyes focused on the next life, land deeply suspicious of anyone who says it shouldn't be that way.
Lastly, I see it, too. I am happy to see the wide response to the crap in Wisconsin, but it's nowhere near enough....
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I touch on this in MY rant today...
http://samuraiartguy.livejournal.com/214978.html
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I've been wondering how the the Religious Right doesn't SEE this connection, especially as their BASE seems to be middle and working class folks. Then the scary idea percolates through that poverty and serfdom is of little consequence to them so long as their social agenda is pushed forward and making their religious dogmas the law of the land.
But I feel they are being cynically deceived by the Plutocrats, who for he most part worship only profits and their own comfort, power and privilege. And what social laws are enacted are of now concern to them, as their behavior suggests they feel above the law regardless.
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However, the Religious Right has not the slightest hesitation in subverting the Tea Party's political reform leanings to their religious agenda. And of course the Republican Party hopes to subvert them both entirely for their own overall Right Wing Agenda.
The results to date have been that the Successful Tea Party backed candidates have shifted the overall Republican movement towards the Radical religuous Right's postions.
As a fiscal conservative, and social liberal...
"Get angry, or get eaten."
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As I see it, there is so much overlap that the excluded segments on either side are no longer statistically significant.....
"Get angry, or get eaten."
Indeed! It's a shame we social liberals tend to be slow to anger, or maybe just slow to do something, unlike our more aggressive, easily-roused conservative counterparts. (Note that I am studiously avoiding making any kind of rationality/liberalism correlation here, but really, it seems to make itself...)
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I kind of want that on a t-shirt, so I can be ironic like a hipster.
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The Anarcho-Liberterian screecheth....
KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!!