Seriously, People?! Second Edition - Jim Demint: “Tea Party movement will bring spiritual revival”

I’ve tried to write this blog post for days now, but found myself so irritated that I couldn’t type fast enough. I’ve since taken a deep breath…wuuuu saaaah…Now on to my rant!

Last week, while being interviewed by David Brody of CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) News, Sen. Jim Demint said the following words regarding the current Tea Party Movement:

…I really think a lot of the motivation behind these Tea Party crowds is a spiritual component. I think it’s very akin to the Great Awakening before the American Revolution. A lot of our founders believed the American Revolution was won before we ever got into a fight with the British. It was a spiritual renewal.

Some context: The Great Awakening, occurring in Colonial America from about 1730-1760, had a two-pronged effect. First, God sparked a revival that caused the colonists to realize that much of their religious experience was a “going through the motions” instead of a true, heartfelt desire to worship God. Many colonists were Puritan or Anglican at the time, but this revival resulted in an awareness of freedom in worship and the establishment of new houses of worship. Secondly, this new religious freedom spurred a desire to be free from the clutches of England entirely. Having been shown by God that they could be bold in worship, the colonists began to be bold in their political rhetoric as well, thus creating the atmosphere that led to the American Revolution.

So if I follow Sen. Demint’s logic, the Tea Party movement is a result of a spiritual awakening in this country, and Tea Partiers are like the Colonists - rebelling against tyrannical rule.

My oh my, where do I begin? Well let’s start here:

First, any “Spiritual Awakening/Revival” that is God’s doing will FIRST produce a desire to become closer to Jesus Christ. Take the awakening that occurred after Pentecost (Act 2). The presentation of the Gospel of Christ by Peter resulted in 3,000 souls being added the Kingdom of God in ONE DAY. In fact, it says in verses 42-47 that those new awakened converts devoted themselves constantly to instruction in the faith, they united together, they sold their possessions and dispensed the money amongst those in need, and assembled together with gladness of heart, constantly praising God. Sounds just like a Tea Party gathering! NOT!!

Yes, Sen. Jim Demint, there’s a real “spiritual component” at these Tea Party Rallies. Here’s some highlight film from some of these protests:

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And what kind of “spirit” is this, Sen. Demint?

A real revival causes those in the revival to exhibit a greater “Christ-likeness”, and causes others to want to know Christ more intimately as well. What I see, I’m not going to bite my tongue about it, is a bunch of hate-filled, angry, racists - Period. I find it abhorrent, offensive, and insulting as a Christian Believer that someone would draw a correlation between what is happening in these Tea Party rallies, and what happens when a true move of God happens.

Secondly, where were these so-called “Tea Parties” in the summer of 2008 when at least two of the major initiatives that they are gnashing their teeth about first happened – the big bank bailouts and TARP? Nowhere. But it is awfully strange that the election of the first African-American President, a Democrat who is no more of a Democrat than President Clinton or President Carter, has caused such uproar. Makes you just go “hmmmm” doesn’t it?

So Seriously, Sen. Demint? You may win the award for one of the most idiotic statements of the year. Congratulations!

Stuck with Steele: GOP now a victim of their own petty game

I will try to keep my snickering to a minimum, but it's going to be hard!

Michael Steele, current Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is under fire big-time for a series of high profile blunders on his watch including the revelation that the Committee spent almost $2000 at a West Hollywood strip club. Yes, the money was spent officially by the RNC. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

Now of course, this is extremely embarrasing for the Republican Party. Especially since they pride themselves on being the "party of traditional family values". Well, hanging out at a strip club (and not just any ol' strip club, but one that caters to those who dig watching lesbian bondage) is definitely not on the list of Sunday afternoon, after church outings.

So it should be a "no brainer" that a blunder like this would mean that Steele would be out of a job, like, yesterday. But, oh-oh, turns out it's not that easy.

Picture it, January 2009. After losing two national elections back-to-back, the last of course resulting in the election of the first African-American President, and the loss of both houses of congress, the Republicans were dejected and desperate to find a way back to relevance. The Democrats, with President Obama at the helm, looked like the new, hip kids on the block. Republicans appeared, well, old and "WASPY". So when it was time to elect a new RNC Chairman that January, Republicans wanted to show the country they could be just as cool and hip as the Democrats. After five rounds of voting, it came down to two finalists: Michael Steele, a suave, quick-witted, "in your face" Black man with plenty of swagger and flash, and Katon Dawson, a good ol' boy from South Carolina, who had just recently "discovered" that the country club he belonged to for 12 years was a "whites only" club, and who was staunchly anti-desegration in his younger days. Now, rumor on the floor was that the vote was pretty even for a while, and many really wanted Dawson. They felt that Dawson more closely represented the views of the conservative base. Michael Steele wasn't even pretending to be conservative. But, they knew that Dawson as Chairman would be so not cool.

So they threw caution to the wind, the conservatives sucked it up, they elected the Black Man, and basically said "na na na na na, we got a Black man too!"

Cut to 2010, and the Republican's Black Trophy has made a mess of the place. But what to do, what to do? They can't fire the man now. How cool would that be? Barack Obama is still President. And still Black. What would it look like to get rid of their token now? And so close to the Fall 2010 mid-term elections?

No, Republicans are stuck with this hand. They decided to play this petty game, and they'll have to play it all the way through. In a desperate attempt to "keep up with the Joneses", they've painted themselves into a cruel corner of their own making. The Conservative base feels vindicated, yet they're still stifled and can't get "their" guy in. At the same time, Steele's supporters can only make the argument that yeah, he's made mistakes, but they're stuck and it's nothing they can do about it.

Too funny!!

Welcome to RighteousPolitics!

Thank-you for joining me as I give voice to a segment of the political spectrum whose voice is being drowned out amongst the noise.

The voices of the Evangelical Christians who are not, contrary to popular opinion: Republican, Right-Wing Screamers, Card-Carrying Tea Party members, birthers...Oh you get the picture. The Evangelical Christians who find that although they have fundamental disagreements with some of the views widely held by the majority of Democrats, they still find that the desire of a political party that addresses the needs of the hurting and downtrodden amongst us is worth working for. The Evangelical Christians who don't feel like they need "their country back".

So, there'll be no screaming. No running around with our hair on fire. "Tone" will be a very important element of this blog. As a passionate, political believer, I believe the first thing I must do when espousing my political views is to remember that I am first and foremost a representative of the Kingdom of God. I am His ambassador. My words should uplift. My actions should glorify Him and who HE is.

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer" ~ Psalms 19;14

That being said, I will try my best, as God assists me, to live by this creed.

So a little more about me: I vote primarily as a Democrat, but I've also been known to register as an Independent. I've even voted for a Republican a time or two. I will never become too entrenched in ANY political party. Galatians 5:19-20 warns us of being TOO aligned to any political party:

"Now the doings of the flesh are clear: they are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, divisions, party spirit, ..."

Nowadays, it seems that there are my Brothers and Sisters in the faith who present their political affiliation first. And, oh by the way, their Christian too.

Let's cover the other bases: I really am a born-again, spirit-filled, tongue-talking, bible believing Christian. I belong to a Pentecostal denomination. I'm pro-life, and I believe that lawful marriage should be between a man and a woman only. And yes, I really am registered as a Democrat.

Thus the reason why I decided to blog. I want to explode the prevailing myth out there that all Christians like me are Conservative, Right Wing Republicans. That there is a unique viewpoint out there currently not being heard.

I know I'm not alone...and neither are you. Welcome.