Most Tea Partiers call America a Christian nation, study finds

religion.blogs.cnn.com...

Members of the Tea Party movement tend to be Christian conservatives, not libertarians, and are more likely than even white evangelical Christians to say the United States is a Christian nation, a detailed new study has found.

More than half of self-identified Tea Party members say America is a Christian nation, while just over four out of 10 white evangelicals believe that - the same as the proportion of the general population that says so.

And despite the headlines the Tea Party movement has generated with their candidates upsetting mainstream Republican candidates in primary races from Delaware to Nevada, it is only half the size of the Christian conservative movement, the findings say.

Originally started by the followers of presidential hopeful and Libertarian Republican Ron Paul it has now turned into a corporate backed, Christian Conservative wing of the Republican Party.

Oh and sorry people we are not a Christian nation, only about 75% are actually Christian. Western culture is formed from Christianity so we are relatively a Culturally Christian nation, but that just means that we have a culture.

BUMP

You described the tea-party exactly how I see it now. At first it seemed like a good cause, a stance against taxation without representation, and it seemed those that made up the tea party were people who were informed about legislation taking place in congress. Now they're bunch of middle-aged/eldery people who make social agendas a priority... who don't really care about the corruption in D.C. or wallstreet because they're too busy asking about Obama's birth certificate and elevating questionable candidates such as Christine O'Donnell. It doesn't surprise me now that most of them come to that conclusion.

tea-partiers are the perfect example of astro-turf. personally i think they should be punished for ripping the word "party" completely to shreds.

in all seriousness though this "movement" is made up of sheep that would proudly identify themselves as such.

Thats truly frightening given the bloody history of christianity .. There are very good reasons for SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE..

Why do people hate Christianity? Most of the people in this country are some form of Christian or another. Why is it that Christianity is the only religion that's ok to try to marginalize or rail against?

I'm not talking about you Misoir, but some of the posters here would also argue that the same attitude against Jews or Muslims is bigotry. I just wanna see a little more consistency of conviction.


I accepted long ago that our society is largely influenced by Christian philosophy. And while I agree that Christianity has a bloody history, it is important to understand that most Christians aren't violent people and do not think the way Christians used to during the Crusades.. Not every group of Christians thinks the way the 'Jesus Camp' people do, they're the minority.

The same is true for Muslims and Jews. Not every Jew is a Zionist, and not every Muslim is a terrorist. It's just what gets the most attention. If it bleeds it leads remember? It's not a money maker to make movies or media reports on good, moral Christians, Jews, and Muslims. We focus on the worst and don't stop to consider any of the good.

Of course the U.S. is not a Christian nation. But it is funny seeing how Tea Party members believe democracy, Liberty and what not came all from Christianity.

Originally posted by Romantic_Rebel
Of course the U.S. is not a Christian nation. But it is funny seeing how Tea Party members believe democracy, Liberty and what not came all from Christianity.

But it did in a way. Democracy solidified itself in nations which were Christian, same with Republicanism and Liberty. Its creation and its practice was both heavily influenced by Christian literature and morality. The Founding Fathers of our nation were overall mostly Christian they were the ones to implement the sytem while the philosophers who thought of the system were all Christians.

Christianity was and continues to be the majority religion of the Western world and the Western world is where Democracy and Liberty thrive.

Equate that with Christianity however you wish, but to conclude that Christianity did not in some way shape these ideas is being blind of the truth.




- P.S. I am not a Christian.

reply to post by Romantic_Rebel


No, they believe that Liberty is granted by God, not religion or government. They believe in Natural Law and believe that government should respect Natural Law. It is governments that use religion to control, once faith becomes politicized it becomes perverse.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Christian nation? Nahhhhhhhh.

reply to post by Misoir


Well you're right on that issue. But the fact still stands that Christianity didn't create the U.S. government system and write the Constitution.

reply to post by projectvxn


A few small things like the crusades, the inquisition, the witchhunts, the troubles in NI in recent history.. Alot of innocent people have been murdered in cold-blood by the "good christians" throughout history.. They have a nasty habit of torturing and killing any who oppose the church and its ignorant, bloodthirsty views.. Do some research on history then you will see why the dim views on christianity..

reply to post by Expat888


Did you read my post?

Probably not huh.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by Romantic_Rebel

 

No, they believe that Liberty is granted by God, not religion or government. They believe in Natural Law and believe that government should respect Natural Law. It is governments that use religion to control, once faith becomes politicized it becomes perverse.

So, the TPM believe liberty is granted by God; however, laws are natural?

Why not just say both liberty AND law are natural given rights and leave God out of it? Nature doesn't come with a handbook, while God does. God's handbook (pick which ever one you please) scares the heck out of me, when applied literally like some in the far right would have it be.

Insofar as the topic of the OP, Sure the majority of the population is Christian; however, we are not a Christian nation. We are a multicultural, polytheistic nation. To label us otherwise is absurd at best.

reply to post by Aggie Man


Man you need to read up on Natural Law. Start with the Declaration of Independence and move back to St. Thomas Aquinas. That should about cover it.

God and nature are not separate.

reply to post by projectvxn


Well that's your belief in life and most likely only your belief. Not to be rude. But I'm glad there is separation of Church and State.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by Aggie Man

 

Man you need to read up on Natural Law. Start with the Declaration of Independence and move back to St. Thomas Aquinas. That should about cover it.

God and nature are not separate.

Speaking as an atheist, yes they are.

reply to post by Carseller4


Thomas Jefferson encouraged questioning god.

“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear”

thinkexist.com...

Thomas Jefferson removed anything supernatural from the New Testament when he created the Jefferson Bible.

The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled, was Thomas Jefferson's effort to extract the doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by the Four Evangelists.

en.wikipedia.org...

Thomas Jefferson never really stated his religion and was not simply a Christian but was considered a Deist (belief in god without religion).

During his 1800 campaign for the presidency, he had to contend with critics who argued that he was unfit to hold office because he did not have orthodox religious beliefs. It is Jefferson who is credited with propagating the phrase "separation of church and state". He cut and pasted pieces of the New Testament together to compose a version that excluded any miracles by Jesus. Though he often expressed his opposition to clergy and to Christian doctrines, Jefferson repeatedly expressed his belief in a deistic god and his admiration for Jesus as a moral teacher. Opposed to Calvinism, Trinitarianism and what he identified as Platonic elements in Christianity, in 1819 he expressed his religious commitment by his proclamation that he belonged to "a sect by myself".

en.wikipedia.org...

And who wrote The Decleration of Independence? Ohh that's right, Thomas Jefferson. He, the non-christian deist wrote that phrase.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Aggie Man


Speaking in purely academic terms as far as Natural Law philosophy is concerned, no they're not. I agree that you don't need to believe in God to understand Natural Law, but you do need to understand how faith played a big role in our understanding of it.

reply to post by projectvxn


Apologies.. Its 600am here just waking up.. Meant to reply to romantic rebels post.. Hit reply on wrong post..