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THE QUESTION
Is the Tea Party religious?
Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell this weekend attended the annual conservative Values Voters summit in Washington, DC. There, she she emphasized that although she is backed by the Tea Party, she is also a politician who "toiled for years in the values movement," alluding to her longtime work as a Christian activist.
What is the Tea Party? Is it "a recession-era version of the religious right?" Is it something else? And if the Tea Party is not a religious movement, why is it raising up candidates like O'Donnell who has a strong background of religious activism?
Posted by
Elizabeth Tenety on September 20, 2010 5:19 PM
FROM THE PANEL
Glenn Beck and the faithful are attacking faith
Glenn Beck and other right-wing demagogues are so obviously irrational and self-serving that it's not their message that is troubling; the message will never prevail in an advanced industrial society that depends on maximum coherence to keep functioning.
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on October 29, 2010 12:33 PM
Atheism and the Tea Party
Many people of faith have found a voice in the Tea Party. That does not mean that the party itself is closed to those of a different (or no) faith.
Posted by Ronald Rychlak, on September 24, 2010 3:49 PM
Tea Party reactionary; on the wrong side of history
The Tea Party is not a recession era version of the religious right. The religious conservatism of figures such as Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell and others notwithstanding, it is not a religious movement. It is an angry faction of conservative Republicans who think that America is changing in ways that they do not like. A large and complicated country needs a large and complicated government.
Posted by Valerie Elverton Dixon, on September 23, 2010 5:48 PM
A natural, if complicated, alliance
For now, many conservatives are pleased that this scrappy, grassroots movement has shaken up America's political establishment, confounded pundits in both parties and sounded a call for fiscal responsibility that resounds well beyond the Values Voter and Tea Party tents.
Posted by Colleen Carroll Campbell, on September 23, 2010 9:17 AM
Social conservatives lead the Tea Party
Call social conservatives tea partiers, radical right-wingers, Republicans, fundamentalists, libertarians, or independents. On November 2nd, you'll be calling most of us winners.
Posted by Jordan Sekulow, on September 22, 2010 3:36 PM
Tea Party anger not new
The values voters will not stand up for "the least of these," whom they deem to be a drain on the American economy, and the Tea Party will certainly not lift a banner to help them.
Posted by Susan K. Smith, on September 22, 2010 3:32 PM
Conservative conflicts are brewing
Both the religious right and the Tea Party movement might find themselves backing many of the same candidates, but that does not necessarily make them political allies.
Posted by Danielle Bean, on September 22, 2010 2:18 PM
You cannot serve God and wealth
The Tea Party is not a religious movement even though it does have religious elements within it
Posted by Janet Edwards, on September 22, 2010 10:08 AM
The lady doth protest too much
It doesn't surprise me to see attempts to control people's sexual lives emerge in Tea Party candidates' platforms
Posted by Debra W. Haffner, on September 21, 2010 4:53 PM
We are the Tea Party
The Tea Party crowd will be religious and have traditional values, because most Americans are religious and have traditional values. When government grows too large, it saps the strength of other parts of society.
Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on September 21, 2010 3:56 PM
Tea Party is secular wing of GOP
For that matter, the Tea Party, although formidable in both size and influence as made evident in recent primary elections, represent the secular wing of the GOP
Posted by Samuel Rodriguez, on September 21, 2010 3:24 PM
Would you like some values with that tea?
The Tea Party winners are the new darlings of conservative political strategists. The "Christian values" group wants to regain their role in political power brokering, as was clear from the jockeying for position at the recent "Values Summit." It's tempting to try to put together folks who have very different motives for their conservatism, but, as often happens with temptation, the reality doesn't work out so well.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on September 21, 2010 2:24 PM
Tea Party steeped in fringe faith
For these Tea Party members--and you can add Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell and Sarah Palin to their ranks--faith is central, but their faith appears at the fringes of Christianity.
Posted by Robert Parham, on September 21, 2010 10:13 AM
Party/ religion/ sect/ cult
The Tea Party is beginning to resemble a "religion" because its diverse members are coming to embrace a vision of the Constitution and the United States as supernatural, inviolable entities.
Posted by Mathew N. Schmalz, on September 21, 2010 7:57 AM
Herb tea party
I went to the Values Voters website www.valuesvotersummit.org, glanced at their positions, and quickly realized, "That's me." They want to protect marriage, champion life, strengthen the military, limit government, control spending, and defend our freedoms. Perfect. Here's what I mean.
Posted by Herb Silverman, on September 21, 2010 1:54 AM
