The Dominionist base
As a follow-up to the posting below, I'd encourage everyone to take a look at this analysis of the reasons for the Tea Party's plummeting popularity. While it seems clear that the House teabaggers' role in the debt-ceiling hostage crisis has a lot to do with it, there's another factor, one which has more to do with the rank-and-file teabaggers:
More important, they were disproportionately social conserva- tives in 2006 — opposing abortion, for example — and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller govern- ment, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.
This puts them out of step with mainstream America:
Yet it is precisely this infusion of religion into politics that most Americans increasingly oppose. While over the last five years Americans have become slightly more conservative economi- cally, they have swung even further in opposition to mingling religion and politics. It thus makes sense that the Tea Party ranks alongside the Christian Right in unpopularity.
This, of course, explains why the teabaggers find the Dominionist- influenced Presidential candidates, Bachmann and Perry, so appealing.
This is what it has come to; this is now the Republican party's base. If Bachmann or Perry achieves the Republican nomination for President, the transformation will be complete -- America's two major parties will be, de facto, a Dominionist party and a secular party. Which, frankly, is pretty much the way it looks already.
More important, they were disproportionately social conserva- tives in 2006 — opposing abortion, for example — and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller govern- ment, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.
This puts them out of step with mainstream America:
Yet it is precisely this infusion of religion into politics that most Americans increasingly oppose. While over the last five years Americans have become slightly more conservative economi- cally, they have swung even further in opposition to mingling religion and politics. It thus makes sense that the Tea Party ranks alongside the Christian Right in unpopularity.
This, of course, explains why the teabaggers find the Dominionist- influenced Presidential candidates, Bachmann and Perry, so appealing.
This is what it has come to; this is now the Republican party's base. If Bachmann or Perry achieves the Republican nomination for President, the transformation will be complete -- America's two major parties will be, de facto, a Dominionist party and a secular party. Which, frankly, is pretty much the way it looks already.
posted by Infidel753 at 5:05 AM
6 Comments:
Frankly, I hope the TP keeps pushing their hyper-religious philosophy. As revolting as it is, I think since most Americans aren't crazy about the infusion of religion into politics, it will bring them to their knees once and for all and that would be the best thing that could happen to this country.
This is Ryan Lizza writing in The New Yorker about Bachmann and her theological world view:
"For believers in Dominionism, rule by non-Christians is a sort of sacrilege—which explains, in part, the theological fury that has accompanied the election of our last two Democratic presidents. “Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ—to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness,” wrote George Grant, the former executive director of Coral Ridge Ministries, which has since changed its name to Truth in Action Ministries."
LP: That seems to be what's happening. We'll know the teabaggers have really marginalized themselves when the Republican party starts openly standing up to them.
SK: Indeed, it was the topic of my previous post. This ideology is dangerous, and as the public understand what it's about, they'll recoil from it.
I read this post yesterday Infodell, but didnt get to comment ... I have really lost alot of confidence recently across the board I reckon, that's about it.
RC: If anything, I'm feeling a bit more confident -- because the public is rejecting religious bigotry, and also rejecting the Tea Party as they realize what it's about.
Dont misunderstand my statement for anyone who may read this, as if I'm saying I'm discouraged and weeping over this, whining "whoa is we" etc ... frankly whoever get's in office of this right/ left bunch will have no effect on me that would be of any significance either way ... and I know for a fact that this whole cesspool will collapse in time, however, as far as the confidence I once had say a year ago in the "Democrat Party" has deminished some is all I'm saying ... I just see too much contamination in it, is all. I know what to expect out of the right, but no longer out of the left.
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