Unlike the mainstream media of October 2010, the media now presents the Tea Party movement as a "Religious Right"/Christian/Republican political force.
For background, read 'Culture War' Suddenly Erupts, Says Liberal Media
UPDATE 4/8/11 Washington Post: Tea Party rank & file are NOT libertarians, but are "Christian right"
UPDATE 3/27/11: Christians' issues dominate candidates in Iowa
UPDATE 3/26/11 "Potential Republican presidential candidates court evangelicals" by Nia-Malika Henderson, Washington Post
Likely candidates have met with preachers, conservative Christians and religious leaning home-schoolers in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa, where winning the evangelical vote is tantamount to winning the caucus. . . . a group that nationally makes up about 40 percent of the Republican Party, according to polls.
Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and a Baptist minister, was an early speaker [on today's “Rediscover God in America” broadcast], quoting from the New Testament and saying that it was up to people of faith to reclaim America.
Huckabee, who finished second in the 2008 GOP primary, retains residual support among evangelicals, and a Washington Post/ABC News poll shows him leading all other potential candidates with a favorability rating of 76 percent among white evangelical Republicans and GOP-leaning independents.
In the 2010 midterms, evangelical support for the GOP surged by seven percentage points over the 2006 midterms, with 77 percent of white evangelical Christians backing House Republicans vs. 19 percent for Democrats.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "New Republic: In Bachmann, A Serious Contender" by Ed Kilgore, The New Republic (posted at NPR) 3/17/11
As the 2012 Republican presidential field finally takes shape over the next few months, one thing is fairly certain: An intensely ideological female politician closely identified with the Christian Right and with the Tea Party movement, someone liberals love to hate, will define the race. But surprisingly, it's increasingly likely that person will be Michele Bachmann rather than Sarah Palin. . .
The parallels between Bachmann and Palin are hard to ignore . . . Both women are politically rooted in the anti-abortion movement, having earned the loyalty of anti-choicers by "walking the walk" — Palin by carrying to term a child with a severe disability, and Bachmann by serving as a foster parent to 23 children (in addition to her own five), plus walking a few abortion clinic picket lines over the years. Both candidates are heroes of the Tea Party movement (Bachmann is the founder of the House Tea Party Caucus). And both have regularly played fast and loose with facts and history, constantly treading the boundary between ideologically loaded viewpoint and sheer ignorance.
[Bachmann's] signature issue as a Minnesota state senator was fighting same-sex marriage . . . She got her law degree from Oral Roberts University (a law school that eventually migrated to Pat Robertson's Regent University); her husband has long run a "Christian family counseling" center; and both Bachmanns once operated a charter school that was accused of seriously violation of the principle of church-state separation.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "GOP [Presidential] Hopefuls Woo Iowa Homeschoolers" by Neil King, Jr., Wall Street Journal 3/24/11
Iowa homeschoolers tend to be religious conservatives whose social beliefs dovetail with those of the Republican Party.
Ms. Bachmann, already a favorite among many tea-party groups, brings to Iowa some clear advantages in appealing to the state's homeschool crowd.
The [homeschool] community is well organized, having tussled with the state government for years over educational regulations. Parents also don't hesitate to turn campaigning into a lesson plan.
The 2012 GOP field looks set to be more crowded with candidates seeking the social-conservative mantle than in 2008.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Planned Parenthood showdown could reveal true nature of tea party" by Patrik Jonsson, Staff Writer, Christian Science Monitor 3/24/11
If tea party Republicans stick to plans to defund Planned Parenthood – even at the cost of a government shutdown – it would raise questions about whether the movement is driven more by small government ideals or classic Republican 'values' issues.
With the specter of a government shutdown looming, all eyes are on the 87 freshmen House Republicans most closely associated with the tea party movement. The position they take on defunding Planned Parenthood, in particular, could offer insight into a fundamental question: How do social issues such as abortion and gay marriage – which motivated the "religious right" and helped define the Republican Party in the past – fit into the tea party worldview?
Critics say Republican targeting of Planned Parenthood shows that the tea party is just a new incarnation of the traditional "values" driven Republican.
. . . according to a survey by the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society in Fayetteville, Ark. . . . Some 85 percent of members of tea party groups are self-identified Christians, 37 percent of whom are Biblical literalists, according to the survey. Moreover, 24 percent of members of tea party groups say that abortions should be available to all women as a choice, compared with 41 percent of non-tea partyers.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "GOP frontrunners recruit pastors for front lines" by Drew Zahn © 2011 WorldNetDaily 3/25/11
The church leaders met for the Iowa Renewal Project's Pastor's Policy Briefing . . .
Historian David Barton, head of Wallbuilders, an organization dedicated to presenting America's moral, religious and constitutional foundations, opened the event by recalling the influence of the "Black Robed Regiment" – preachers from the American Colonies who not only stirred the people toward revolution, but also took up arms with them in the War for Independence:
"The Black Robed Regiment was the name that the British placed on the courageous and patriotic American clergy during the Founding Era (a backhanded reference to the black robes they wore)," Barton documents on a website dedicated to the 18th-century pastors. "Significantly, the British blamed the Black Regiment for American Independence, and rightfully so, for modern historians have documented that: 'There is not a right asserted in the Declaration of Independence which had not been discussed by the New England clergy before 1763.'"
He continues, "It is strange to today's generation to think that the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence were nothing more than a listing of sermon topics that had been preached from the pulpit in the two decades leading up to the American Revolution, but such was the case."
At the Pastor's Policy Briefing, Barton challenged the church leaders in Iowa to use the power of the pulpit to similarly stir the American people toward moral, religious and even political renewal.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
Christian Tea Party is Enigma to Liberal Media
Presidential Candidates: Abortion & Marriage Top Issues
America Turns Against Abortion on Demand
Christian Tea Party Congressman Keynotes CPAC
Left Fears a Take-down of Planned Parenthood
