The Tea Party’s Tension: Religion’s Role In Politics
Polls show that Tea Party members are far more likely to be weekly churchgoers and conservative Christians than the population as a whole.
That is what Wendy Wright, president of the evangelical Concerned Women for America, has found. And she says she believes the Tea Party is prompting Americans to look closely at their religious heritage — in particular, at the faith and early writings of the Founding Fathers.
“It’s an opportunity for evangelicals to show how biblical principles are integral to America’s foundation,” she says. “And if we strip out those principles — if we ignore them or turn our back on them — that our foundation can’t survive and therefore our country can’t survive.”
The most prominent proponent of this nostalgia for the early days of the Republic is Glenn Beck. At an August rally, more than 80,000 people gathered on Washington’s Mall and listened with rapt attention as the Fox News commentator whipped up a religious revival.