The Christian Right in the Tea Party Movement
Excellent piece at Huffington Post, about the domination of religious right in Tea Party Movement:
If you liked Rovian anti-gay marriage referendums, the Terry Schiavo saga, anti-abortion litmus tests for diplomatic service in a war zone, and creationism in the Grand Canyon bookstore, you’ll love this season’s Tea Party candidates.
Why are we just getting the bulletin about “social conservatives” in the Tea Party movement? The media, beguiled by the period costumes and libertarian theatrics of the Tea Party demonstrations, overlooked from the very beginning the influence of veteran Christian rightwing activists within it. But read between the lines and you’ll find clues that the Christian Right has been in the Tea Party trenches from the start. A few examples:
*USA Today illustrates a report on the Tea Party movement’s seven defining attitudes with a photograph of a Tea Partier holding his gigantic family bible. Their poll (with Gallup). however, doesn’t ask a single question about social issues.
*An April New York Times poll notes that Tea Partiers are more conservative on social issues than other Republicans, only to dismiss the point as irrelevant.
*A brilliant article by historian Jill Lepore profiles Christen Varley, president of the Boston Tea Party. Varley says she’s new to politics. But she is a home-schooling parent, and works for the Coalition for Marriage and Family, a nonprofit formed to try to get a same-sex marriage ban on the ballot. Home-schooling and anti-gay groups are two of the most important sites of political activism in the Christian Right, though you wouldn’t know it from the article.
Read it all: Nancy L. Cohen - Hiding in Plain Sight: The Christian Right in the Tea Party Movement