The Republican Arm Known as the Tea party
There is much controversy over what the Tea Party is, and is not. Let me first explain that the Tea Party is right to say that they aren’t run by one person, but they are incorrect to say they aren’t dangerous. The purpose of this article is to familiarize people with how the Tea Party and this New Christan movement within the ranks of Charismatic, Pentecostal, Nondenominational, and other such things organizations are organized, and how the Tea Party has fashioned themselves after this movement. This is not only a great way to get converts to your particular religious views, but also destroys the Separation of Church and State Clause within the Constitution itself. They, the Tea Party, would have one believe that there is no difference, and that what they are doing is justifiable, if not ethical. This too is wrong.
Before we begin to get into the reasons why the Tea Party movement is dangerous and in violations of the Church and State Separation, we must first look at how they are set up. This determines how they are Religious in nature, and why that in and of itself violates the very things that they say they uphold. To do this we must first look at the structure of the Tea Party.
So how is the Tea party structured? Many times we hear that the Tea party doesn’t have a regularly based organization. This in itself we must delve into to try to unravel how the Tea Party is organized, if not in the traditional manner. What led me to come to my conclusions that they took a Korean Christian movement and made it part of the Republican Party is simply by what Former Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin said. She said, “We realize that more and more Americans are starting to see the light there and understand the contrast. And we talk a lot about, OK, we’re confident that we’re going to win on Tuesday, so from there, the first 100 days, how are we going to kick in the plan that will get this economy back on the right track and really shore up the strategies that we need over in Iraq and Iran to win these wars?” –Sarah Palin, suggesting we are at war with Iran, FOX News interview, Nov. 1, 2008. We need to pick that apart, because many times people leave open the truest natures of things they are doing or involved in by not only what they say, but how they say it.
She said, “We realize that more and more American’s are starting to see the light and understand the contrast.” Those are two separate things she is referring to. Let us first deal with “see the light” phrase that was used. This is almost always used by the Evangelical Christians to say that people who previously weren’t Christians, or who thought differently, have since become somehow enlightened to a particular message or theme. The term “understand the contrast” is also a Christian term, in many parts of the World, that signifies even though you have some understanding, you now fully comprehend the differences between why one particular sect of Christianity, usually Pentecostalism or Charismatic, is better than another. These are terms that many in the Pentecostal and Charismatic sects are going to be highly familiar with, or at least the significance may be understood among them if not the entire concept recognized. For example, one might be a Christian, however may not be a “Completed Christian”, or will be “without the Holy Ghost” if they aren’t “Baptized in the Spirit”. That is the simplest way to put the terminology for others to understand, and also the easiest.
So how does this connect to the infrastructure of the Tea Party, and why would it be necessary to understand that its an integral part of the Tea party movement? For that, we must look into how the modern Christian Pentecostal and Charismatic movement is organized. We do not, I hope, need to get into how the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches began in th US, or around the world, as this would take too much time. Suffice it to say that they are all intertwined and mingle quite frequently among themselves. For example the Assemblies of God Evangelists will frequently be accepted among many Pentecostal Church of God congregations. The differences are too insignificant to really go into much detail, and would make for a rather boring lecture.
In the latter part of the 1950′s, 1958 to be exact, there was an Assemblies of God church that started in South Korea. This was shortly after a cease fire was ordered by both the North and South Korean Governments. The South Korean people were ready to evangelize (according to word of mouth sources), and many different Religious Evangelicals came in to make sure their form of Gospel was being heard. The Assemblies of God were one of these groups.
The message of this new South Korean church was three fold, Spirit, Mind, and Body. It also went on to tell people that they weren’t meant to be poor, as that is a tenet of that particular sect, and remains that way to this day. For an example of this we need look no further than the preachings and teachings of Televangelists in the United States of America and across the World such as Benny Hinn, or Rod Parsley. While this may or may not be correct is not the meaning of this article, and will not be discussed here. Sometime between the opening of the Assemblies of God Church and the Pastor of that church being drafted, a man by the name ofJohn Hurston became a missionary to that church, and preached in Pastor Cho’s place when Pastor Cho was unavailable to do so himself.
The church grew rapidly and could not handle the sudden influx of people into the actual church building itself. This led to “Satellite Churches” being formed under the umbrella protection of the “Mother Church”. The reason that this concept was new was in the manner that it was carried out. Rather than have separate Ordained pastors giving separate messages, with separate deliveries, all of this was done under the guise of Lay pastors being under Ordained pastors all giving the same message that Pastor Cho himself gave that particular day. These smaller groups are called Cell Groups. These are the most important things for us to look at, and how they affect the Tea party Movement, and why the Tea Party has utilized them. Let’s develop this picture of what the Cell Group is, and why it is so effective.
Here is the way the look at the Cell Group. imagine the human body. We are not just flesh and bones, but rather groups of cells all formed together to make us who we are. When one of those Cells get large enough, it breaks off from the parent cell, becoming its own separate individual cell, but still subject to the body, and must fulfill its functions to make the body well, and for the body as a whole to function properly. This is exactly how they look at the functions of these home churches. When one group gets so big, they break off into another group, so as to not be a burden upon the original cell group. The survival of that cell group depends not just upon themselves, however, it also depends upon the other cells making sure that it survives.
This might sound familiar to some that know about how the Sleeper Cells of organizations such as Al Quaeda and other such terrorist workings. It is designed the same exact way. The only difference between how they are set up is that with this type of cell Group, the whole knows the other member cells. While Al Quaeda and those organizations know nothing of each others operations. However, they have the same functionality as the Cell Group that we are currently talking about.
So now that we know the history of these cell groups and how they function, it is time to let you in on the secret, and the reason why the Republican Party chose these types of Cell Groups to get their brand of messaging out. There are many people that were involved with starting these types of small groupings within the Republican Party. The Republican Party has always been known to have a grassroots initiative, and many think of these Cell Groups, known as the Tea Party, to be an extension of those grassroots initiatives.
When the Republican Party lost its bid for the White House and the Executive branch of the Government of the Untied States of America, they already had a plan in place. They had this plan from the time that David Cho, the pastor we formerly talked about, became the President of the Worldwide Assemblies of God. They saw how his organization worked, and then looked at how other Cell Groups work. After the loss in 2008 to the Democratic Nominee, Barak Obama, they decided that it was time to fully implement it. This can be seen when Rubert Murdoch said that, ”
In motivating people, you’ve got to engage their minds and their hearts.” Rupert Murdoch Before Congress, 2010.
The next question is why do these Cell Groups function so well. For this we need a good understanding of the Human Psychology as it relates to those that feel oppressed. Whether that oppression is imagined or real isn’t at issue, at this point. What is at issue is why they function, because we already know how they function, or rather the basic concept behind how it functions. This type of Cell group is designed to promote the feelings of disenfranchisement from the Government, which is like with most Cell groups, that is why they function so well. For the next part I am going to quote, word for word from the New World Encyclopedia as to the Reasons for Cell Churches, and remember, whenever you read the word Church, when we are talking about the Tea party, we can substitute for Politics or Government as needed.
Reasons for Cell Churches
Communities of three to fifteen people are a size in which people can experience close personal interaction, share with one another, support one another, and develop open and honest communication. Traditional natural communities are rooted in the extended family, and among neighbors in sparsely inhabited areas. Large population shifts to urban areas lead to a breakdown of these traditional communal bonds because individuals migrating to cities for work find themselves alone and without traditional community support. A cell group in an urban area can therefore become a substitute for natural community.
Religious Intolerance In many parts of the world, cell churches have developed where public worship is highly controlled or forbidden. Christianity in Maoist China is an example of where the number of Christians spread in the country even while churches were officially forbidden and repressed. Underground churches also flourished in Eastern Europe under communism.
Official state churches are often a source of religious intolerance as well. Monopoly on religious doctrine is frequently used in collusion with government officials in an effort to perpetuate a status quo. In some cases only the official religion is allowed to hold public worship services. In other cases the state funds the official churches and enacts laws that make it very difficult for other religions to operate. This is the case in much of Europe.
In Latin America in the 1970s, base communities, a form of a cell church, were organized among the poorest groups of people by priests desiring to lift people out of dire poverty. The liberation theology used by some of these base communities was frequently condemned by political regimes in Latin America. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the theological guardian of the Roman Catholic faith (he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005), condemned liberation theology as heretical.
The failure of traditional churches is frequently cited by promoters of cell churches. There are many reasons for failure of traditional churches, which include:
Lack of experience or charisma of the pastor.
Doctrine that appears obsolete.
Lack of flexibility of the denomination.
Church boards stifle pastor creativity.
Demographic changes in the neighborhood.
When traditional churches fail to provide community and spiritual resources to members, they will seek alternative sources. In areas where several cell churches are active, the members may hold a Sunday service as an extension of the cells, thereby creating a new traditional-type church.
Traditional churches that have experienced tremendous growth due to the success of their ministry become too large to provide a community experience. Such churches include those which broadcast services over wide areas like Robert Schuler’s Crystal Cathedral, or the Yoido Full Gospel Church. People want to remain members of these churches because they identify with the mission or the minister, yet they need the community found in traditional churches or the cell churches. Cell churches form a necessary and integral part of the overall structure of a successful megachurch.
Megachurches that work on a traditional worship pattern with one or more weekly services, including the Sunday morning service, operate cell churches as an extension of these worship activities. These cell church meetings are primarily Bible study meetings with discussion and sharing, but can work as a group-focused evangelism program, or other activities based on a common interest.
After reading this we can now have a better understanding of how and why the Tea Party was organized by the Republican Party. It became integral for the republican Party to have something that people could be connected with. Becoming a part of these Tea Party Cell Groups meant that people could become part of that smaller community. Being a part of that smaller community also means that they are part of the larger community, giving the false sense of belonging to something that they agree with, or at the minimum giving the sense that they are with like minded people.
Many times we forget that people want to belong to some Political Party where they can voice their opinions. This hasn’t happened in many years within the United States. When this concept by the Republican Party was talked about, they needed to get people who would be open to this type of politics. They looked to the people that were already having great successes with this type of Cell Organizations, and asked them to help get the Republican message out. This was readily acceptable to the Christians who were already looking at becoming more like the Cho Church. This is evidenced by Rod Parsley’s Church in Columbus, Ohio and other such churches, when many members readily started saying that, “Liberals are from the Devil, they must be eradicated from this nation if it is to achieve the Greatness that God has for it.” (Rod Parsley at Dr. Lester Sumrall’s Church in South Bend, Indiana, 1994.)
When grouped with the other things that the Republican Party had already put in place to make the Liberal Agenda look evil, you can understand why these Cell Groups were readily accepting of these type of groupings. For example, many had already started listening to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilley, Gretchen Carlson and those types of anti-Liberty media personalities, while also having a huge selection of both perceived unbiased and Conservative Media outlets. These Republican Media outlets allowed for people who were already Conservatives to never be allowed to hear, with unbiased retorts of, Liberal or even Centrist views. This further allowed for a perception of disenfranchisement.
Why is this wrong and Unconstitutional? That isn’t so easily answered. We should take the time to review what makes a Cult at this point, but I do not have the space to do so. It would be interesting to look into, for a personal project, as to why the Tea party is a Cult, and therefore Religious on nature, and by being Religious in nature, violates the premise found in the Constitution of Separation of Church and State. While that may not go anywhere legally, it is nonetheless the facts.
I hope you have found this article both informative, and interesting. There is much more that I could write concerning why, what, and how, but time and space both do not permit that.
