The following editorial was published by AOL News.
(Sept. 28) — The spirit and enthusiasm of the tea party movement has yet to wane after being born out of opposition to the Obama administration’s extreme spending measures and Obamacare. Tapping into the tea partiers themselves, and what kinds of values they hold so dear, has been a source of constant media scrutiny and polling results.
They go to rallies, they call and e-mail their elected officials, they are knowledgeable about the issues and they are peaceful protesters.
But besides the polling numbers that suggest a massive defeat for the Democratic Party in November, perhaps the indication that the tea partiers care about both fiscal and social issues will send the liberals into a frenzy.
These same people are those who have risen up from the kitchen table to get involved in what they perceive as a huge threat to the future of the country — the policies of the Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama. Rising from the ashes of runaway spending that threatens to bankrupt the United States and dump massive debt on future generations, the tea party has been focused primarily on spending and economic issues, or so it seems.
It turns out that a good majority of tea party-backed candidates are both socially and fiscally conservative. Sharron Angle of Nevada, Ken Buck of Colorado, Joe Miller of Alaska, Christine O’Donnell of Delaware, Carly Fiorina of California and Rand Paul of Kentucky are all solidly pro-life as well as fiscal conservatives who want to cut taxes and lower government spending.
Glenn Beck’s peaceful, nonpolitical rally recently in Washington, D.C., certainly headlined this intersection of faith and <A HREF=http://www.politicsdaily.com/ target=_blank>politics</A>. No one in the mainstream media seemed to believe that it was the fire-breathing partisan Beck who pulled off what has been billed as more of a tent revival than a rally, a mere two months before the elections.
It’s not surprising that tea partiers also happen to be those who hold faith to be of utmost importance.
Christians are called to be good stewards of the gifts that God has given them, be it financial or otherwise. We are called to be charitable and giving of time, talents and treasure. A CBS/New York Times poll earlier this year indicated that more than half of tea party participants thought that the Roe v. Wade decision was wrong and that only 30 percent supported same-sex marriage. It’s no surprise that the poll found 94 percent of respondents said they prefer a smaller government with fewer services.
Our nation was founded on strong Christian principles, and we have certainly lost them in the midst of a misuse of taxpayer dollars by our legislators, the inappropriate behavior of our elected officials and the example of moral decay set by supposed Hollywood role models.
In his Inaugural Address on April 30, 1789, George Washington said so eloquently that “the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.”
For both a fiscal and social conservative, it’s easy to see where these hot button issues intersect. As Mark Levin said in his best-selling book “Liberty and Tyranny,” it is because of our faith that we believe in personal dignity; it’s because of our belief in private property rights that we believe in individual liberty; we believe in a smaller government and lower taxes because we reject tyranny. Our faith and our civil beliefs are not mutually exclusive.
During this election, expect to see the liberals try to drive a wedge in the tea party movement between the spending and moral issues. But there is no conflict.
In the end, it will benefit the country to go back to the roots of the Founding Fathers and honor the Christian tradition that brought great prosperity to this country and will continue to do so should we follow the path again.