Tea Party Apocalypse Imminent and of Their Own Making

Religious Christian extremists' time is up in the United States

The apocalypse is a favorite topic of Tea Party Apocalypse prophets in America. Little do they know, signs of their own apocalypse are appearing fast and furious. Fighting among themselves, furious Republicans and an increasingly moderate religious community will bring about their end of times and hopefully restore some sanity to our political process.

Tea Party Apocalypse: Not of Jesus

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

I think Tim had the Tea Party Apocalypse in mind when he said this. The Tea Party has definitely turned away from the teachings of Jesus, created their own teachers and turned away from the truth. They’ve turned so far that attacking the Pope for espousing christian virtues of taking care of the poor and sick, denouncing greed and to not be involved in cultural wars seems appropriate and holy to them.

“Pope Francis is bordering on moral relativism by refusing to berate atheists and condemn LGBT individuals.” said Pat Buchanan. In Townhall, Buchanan said Pope Francis was attempting to move “the Catholic Church to a stance of non-belligerence, if not neutrality, in the culture war for the soul of the West.”

Not to be outdone, Sarah Palin said “[The Pope’s] had some statements that sound to me kind of liberal. He’s taken me aback. Maybe spoutin’ those liberal values works over there in Vatica (sic), but real Americans don’t want our popes palling around with atheists.”

Clearly they have turned away from listening to the truth.  In case you haven’t yet realized, the Tea Party is only religious when they can use it to hide behind their hate. Do you realize there isn’t actually a “Tea Party”? There are many, all without a leader and all hate each other.

According to Chris Good at The Atlantic: “Tea Party Patriots is the most notorious hater of Tea Party groups that aren’t grassroots enough. Tea Party Express is labeled racist, due to the anti-Muslim rantings of its former front man, Mark Williams. Tea Party Nation, hosted the first-ever Tea Party convention in Nashville last winter. They are hated for  a reported $100k speaking fee to Sarah Palin, and their for-profit status.”

Without leadership, a common goal and some sanity the Tea Party Apocalypse is inevitable. None of these are on the horizon.

Tea Party Apocalypse: Infuriated Republicans

Republican approval ratings plummeted with the Tea Party orchestrated government shutdown. Fed up with Tea Party inflexibility and extremist views republicans are now planning to dump the Tea Party.

Mitch McConnell said “the Tea Party was ‘nothing but a bunch of bullies, you know how you deal with schoolyard bullies? You punch them in the nose and that’s what we’re going to do. To have the kind of year we ought to have in 2014, we have to have electable candidates on November ballots in every state – people that don’t scare the general electorate and can actually win, because winners make policy and losers go home. We can’t just turn the other cheek and hope for the best. It didn’t work in 2010 and 2012 so we’re going to try something different in 2014.”

Tea Party-goer Alan Keyes goes even further saying the republicans’ “surrender in principle on issues of fundamental rights like abortion and the rights of the natural family,” indicates they are not extreme enough and a new Religious Right Party should be created.

Separate the extremists from the support of a national party and add opposition to them from both Republicans and Democrats and they disappear.

Tea Party Apocalypse: Moderate Religious Community

NBC and Esquire ran a poll and found that 51% of Americans view themselves as centrists, not deeply invested in either party. 64% of the population support gay marriage, 63% support abortion in the first trimester, 52% support legalizing marijuana, and they support a strong social safety net by wide margins. Unfortunately for the Tea Party only 29% of the moderate middle thinks churches or religious organization should have any role at all in politics.

25% of the 78 Million Millennial Generation, almost 20 million freethinking Americans, now say they have no religion. And from all indications, the up-and-coming generations are even more secular. Extreme religious views are clearly on the way out in the U.S. population. Without masses of people with extremist views, the Tea Party has no guests.

Without leadership, a common goal, some sanity and the support of a national party the Tea Party turns lukewarm. Add opposition to them from both Republicans and Democrats and a declining population with extreme religious views and clearly the Tea Party is over. Finally.