RSS Feed MenuWhat happens when you hold a candlelight vigil to discuss talking points from Glenn Beck’s show, while a George Washington re-enactor speaks for the president from beyond the grave? You get a Tea Party religious service. In this service, the knowledge is from Glenn Beck, the Bibles are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the country is facing a moral crisis because of the sins of its citizens. We even formed a prayer circle.
After protesting on the Capitol lawn and marching into congressional officers, the majority of Tea Partiers called it a day and went back to their hotels. Not everyone though. A small group of true believers decided to assemble behind the Capitol and in front of the Supreme Court to hold a “Candlelight Vigil.” The group was no larger then 30 and it whittled down to 20 as the night wore on. FrumForum doesn’t know when they first assembled but they were still there at 9pm.
They were huddled in a circle, around a man who later identified himself as Dan Egtvedt. Clasping their candles in their cups, they came in close so they could to listen to Egtvedt and receive his wisdom in the dark of the night. He was holding a flag that looked like the Revolutionary War era Betty Ross — thirteen stars arrayed in a circle — but this one also had two Roman numerals in the middle (“II”). He said this was the flag of the 2nd American Revolution, and Egtvedt was going educate the crowd on the principles of this revolution, with a little help from George Washington.
Yes, George Washington was there too. He was not simply a man in a period-era costume, he was the republic’s first president. People addressed him as George, and pointed out that he was the model citizen. “Didn’t you go down on one knee and tell the people you would not be their King?” inquired Egtvedt, “No you got it wrong” replied George, “I went down on two knees.”
Before the assembled could receive their history lesson, they needed a prayer, and they received it from a Jewish Tea Partier who was going to state the Shema Yisrael. The group even overcame some slight cultural barriers in the moment. Egverdt asked, “Would it be respectful for us to be bow at this point?” and was told “You don’t have to…you actually rise when this is done because you get up in august of the holy presence.”
Even the language of the Old Testament can resonate with the Tea Party movement: “we are an ancient religion…and we are trying to change this country, and get back to virtues that come from Deuteronomy.” A woman listening nodded in agreement, “As Christians, we understand that about our Jewish brothers.”
Although scholars and academics have long explored the differences between Judaism and Christianity (“Trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity to readers of The New Republic is not easy” wrote W.H. Auden) in that moment, the moral absolutism of Judaism was perfectly wed with the Tea Partiers’ desire to see the United States return religion to public life. “There is one all-powerful master of this universe who has no beginning and no ending. He is a just God. He is the ruler of Heaven and of this Earth. ["That's right" said someone in agreement] And it is his will that shall be done tomorrow, and it is his will that will be done the day after tomorrow, and every other day.” Chants of “Amen” were joining in. “We shall live with these repercussions, we shall pray for justice we shall pray for goodness, and we shall live in affliction if that is his will.” The chants of Amen came with agreement. Even if the House does pass a bill, they can’t deny that it is part of the master plan of a lord who works in mysterious ways.
The spirit of the Lord now invoked, Egverdt began explaining why they were there. As he spoke, it became clear that there would be no conservative or Republican talking points. Arguments about being able to sell insurance across state lines or why employer-provided healthcare is preferable, have no place in a time of prayer.
The forum was almost educational. The word ‘almost’ is key because everyone already knew the correct answers to his questions. He would ask the crowd “Can anyone explain what progressivism is?” “Gradual Communism” replied one man. Although everyone already knew that, this was going to be a learning opportunity: “I want everyone to say that” and the crowd obliged. “Gradual Communism” they said, like a troop of middle school students.
Egverdt held the floor of the session, moderating answers as people spoke. His voice was calm but charismatic. People were silent as he spoke and held up the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. He ‘tested’ them by giving them a chance to help complete his sentences. He would start, “They call themselves both Republicans and Democrats…and they’ve acknowledged that they are…” he would let the sentence hang and then turn to someone in the crowd. He would turn to them and state, “say the word”, and someone would respond, “progressive.” “That they are progressives!” he would repeat with agreement.
With George Washington in the crowd, Egverdt had an avatar he could point to, a living and breathing representation of what had been lost. He would point to George and say that he fought, “in the first revolution, against Tyranny that came across the sea.” Mr. Washington, as the man who fought back the British and established the Republic, had wisdom from beyond the grave that the crowd listened to: “The Nazis were progressive” he said, to replies of “yes, yes, yes.” He proceeded to explain how passing the healthcare bill would be similar to the Anchluss of Austria.
The crowd could not spend the entire evening only talking about the encroachment of progressivism, they also had to take action. They decided to turn and pray in the direction of the Capitol, raising their arms up at a 60-degree angle, to silently send their prayers to Congress. If a less discriminating journalist had passed by at that very moment, he would have had a golden opportunity to make untoward comments about the Tea Party’s ‘true’ political sympathies. This was poor image control.
Seized in the religious moment, someone in the group decided everyone should join hands and form a circle so that everyone could pray. They placed their candles in the middle, and formed a ring. Many people at the Tea Party rally would agree that there are political problems with the government. This group went further, this was a cultural, and religious crisis.
A woman who initiated the ring said: “Heavenly father we come before you, knowing that the sins of the nation are a stench before you.” Her own issue of preference made itself immediately clear, “forgive us for the millions of children that we have allowed to be killed in abortuaries.” But that was not the only thing that people wanted forgiveness for that night. The members of the ring would chime in with what they wanted to be absolved for, among them being:
“Father forgive us: for our arrogance as a nation.”
“Father forgive us: for the arrogance of man.”
“Father forgive us: for our ingratitude.”
“Father forgive us: for allowing the schools to teach our children that promiscuity is better then chastity and purity.”
“Father forgive us: that we’ve let evil into our lives pervasively…whether it be love for money, or love for sex, or love for inappropriate behavior, or love for anything that is not Godly.”
“Father forgive us: for worshiping idols.”
“Father forgive us, for becoming ‘me the people’ instead of ‘we the people.’”
“Father forgive us, for allowing post-modern society to not have any absolutes as you dictated. All things being equal, all lifestyles, all religions, as opposed to your standards.”
“Father forgive us, for allowing our education system to teach our children that they are the ultimate authority instead of you. May you return the Ten Commandments to our nation’s school. Forgive us for not fighting hard the day that they suggested that they be taken out.”
“Father forgive us: for how we feel about Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Obama.” (They laughed at this one, “love the person, not the philosophy” reminded George Washington.)
Liberals will be pleased to know that they also had someone say: “Father forgive us: for how we have taken advantage of other races.” Advocates of paleo-masculinity on AlternativeRight can also be pleased that a woman made the following remarks:
“This is not so much as a ‘Father forgive us’ but maybe it is…The Lord was the head of the Church, and men were subject to being under the Lord, and women were subject to being under men. And even though we are a nation of equals…I want our men to be men again, and stand up and love their country, and love their women, and love their children.”
By now it had been more then an hour, and it was time to wrap things up. They were making plans for tomorrow, and for prayer sessions to be held in the morning of the healthcare vote. “They are trying to make us look like idiots or racists, we need to show them that we are a godly people” explained Egverdt. After they set their watches, and George Washington explained why the United States was a Christian country, they decided to fold up the giant American flag that they had with them.
The crowd grabbed the sides of the flag, and stretched it out flat. Egverdt reminded them that while they may wave yellow flags that say “Don’t Tread on Me”, that this was the flag they were defending. He then had an idea: he got them to raise the flag above their heads, and they stood under it for the Pledge of Allegiance, “You are now under the liberty flag” he began. They stood under it, and then gave the pledge. The ritual complete, Egverdt announced that they were now worthy of defending the Republic.
The group dispersed and Egverdt became free to answer some questions. He identified that he was from Northern Virginia, and that his initial involvement was actually in John McCain’s campaign, “He was my third choice, because I did my research. I recognized that he was a socialist… it was the lesser of two evils.” His story changed however, and there was a moment when he stopped having to feel guilty about his support, “and then Palin came in, and she was my justification to start rallying. If they got elected, she was strong enough to stand up to McCain.”
When asked which leaders got it, he responded without missing a beat, “The one that most gets it? Glenn Beck, he understands what’s going on.” As for his opinion on Ron Paul, the CPAC presidential straw poll winner: “I got to put him in the middle of the road… I think that financially he is a wonderful guy, and he has some other things that I don’t agree with.”
As the interview wrapped up, Egverdt was caught up in a discussion with a fellow Tea Partier about the role of environmentalism, “There are people in the progressive movement who want to demonize God, the latest thing they are doing is saying that Mother Earth [matters]…they’re saying that God doesn’t matter anymore.” Accusations that environmentalism is a sort of liberal religion are not new, but when cap-and-trade bills get debated in congress, no one holds a pow-wow in front of the Supreme Court to pray that Gaia will inspire the senators to vote for cloture.
At this candlelight vigil, the teachings of St. Glenn Beck were treated as holy writ. George Washington had reached a level of deification amongst the people there so they played along with the man in costume because he said what they wished George Washington would say if he was alive today. Egverdt had used a highlighter pen to circle the 10th amendment so he could find it as he read it out to the crowd, as if quoting scripture.
This may have only been a group no larger then 30, but no one in the group felt they were witnessing anything surreal. Of the estimated 40,000 people who descended on Capitol Hill, how many of them would have found it abnormal that they were chanting back amateurish political history, oblivious to the pedagogical patterns being implemented?
This event is tribute to the astounding influence of Glenn Beck’s program upon the conservative world. Some conservatives criticize Beck for suggesting that Republicans are no better then Democrats. But the problem runs deeper: Here is a man who packages and disseminates a world view about governance that is totally out of step with reality and history. This world view is being propagated and utilized by religiously inspired populists who pretend that they are imparting ‘knowledge’ to one another when they are really just regurgitating the same lines that they saw from the chalkboard that day.
This worldview lends itself to paranoia. It lends itself to viewing the passage of a healthcare bill not as the unwanted result of a legislative process run by wrong-headed people, but as a sin sent to America by a God who is displeased that we don’t teach abstinence in the schools.
William F. Buckley’s campaign against the conservative fringe in the 1960’s is well-documented. He once wrote: “How can the John Birch Society be an effective political instrument while it is led by a man whose views on current affairs are, at so many critical points . . . so far removed from common sense? That dilemma weighs on conservatives across America.”
My pieces on FrumForum: http://www.frumforum.com/author/noah-kristula-green
Follow me on Twitter: @noahkgreen
mlindroo // Mar 21, 2010 at 12:25 pm
What a *ridiculous* group of people!
After watching these videos, the likes of Sean Linnane, John Guardiano and others in this forum who frequently express admiration for the Tea Party crowd ought to feel deep embarrassment.
MARCU$
JeninCT // Mar 21, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Apparently this group feels passionately about what they believe, and isn’t that their right as Americans? More power to them.
Not all of Beck’s fans are religious, either. I haven’t been to church on over 20 years and I watch regularly (as do my kids) and frankly, I think he’s done more to educate people about what’s really going on in our country than all the other media outlets combined. Am I paranoid? No, I’m the daughter of a historian who saw the handwriting on the wall long before Beck ever showed up on the scene.
wonda // Mar 21, 2010 at 12:47 pm
I’m confused. Isn’t the point of health care that America IS about “we the people” and not “me the people”? Isn’t “we the people” socialism ?
It’s hard to believe that a bill about health care reform has become symbolic of evil. I could see it as a symbol of economic stupidity, but EVIL?
And it’s not getting rid of private health insurance — in fact, now private health insurers will have 30 million more customers.
Blog Ethics | Pats Money Makin blog.com // Mar 21, 2010 at 12:57 pm
[...] St. Glenn Beck’s Religious Followers | FrumForum [...]
ottovbvs // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:04 pm
“After watching these videos, the likes of Sean Linnane, John Guardiano and others in this forum who frequently express admiration for the Tea Party crowd ought to feel deep embarrassment.”
……don’t hold your breath
ottovbvs // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:06 pm
JeninCT // Mar 21, 2010 at 12:45 pm
“No, I’m the daughter of a historian who saw the handwriting on the wall long before Beck ever showed up on the scene.”
……Genetic was it?
JeninCT // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:08 pm
wonda wrote:
“I’m confused”
That’s true. It’s not about getting 30 million more customers it’s about making the federal government their biggest customer, who therefore calls all the shots. It’s also about the federal government assigning the states unfunded mandates in the form of 15 million more medicaid clients.
TerryF98 // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:09 pm
This would be so funny, if it was not truly pathetic!
ottovbvs // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:37 pm
“This would be so funny, if it was not truly pathetic!’
…..oh come off it Terry……..it’s pathetic AND funny…….ridiculous pathos always is
ottovbvs // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:39 pm
JeninCT // Mar 21, 2010 at 1:08 pm
…..actually both your claims are untrue
rbottoms // Mar 21, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Apparently this group feels passionately about what they believe, and isn’t that their right as Americans?
Yes, one could believe passionately that Elvis is still alive. But why would you? A passionate belief doesn’t obviate the fact of being a nitwit and a nutcase, which many of these people are.
Get the government out of my Medicare, dammit!!
Republican David Frum: Republicans Blew It Badly « America Doomed // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:14 pm
[...] done, David Frum. No Comment Ping [...]
JeninCT // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:16 pm
“Get the government out of my Medicare, dammit!!”
Yeah, that’s one of my personal favorite oxymorons. Still, I think this group has the right to do what they’re doing, and Beck is doing alot of good.
rbottoms // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Yeah, that’s one of my personal favorite oxymorons. Still, I think this group has the right to do what they’re doing, and Beck is doing alot of good.
Nothing oxy- about these morons.
I’m not disputing their right to be stupid, just pointing out that they are.
Independent // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Hey Noah, when did FF move “Bash Glenn Beck” day to Sunday?
I thought it was always on Thursday around here… when will FF and the farLeft trolls get to bash Karl Rove if Sunday is no longer his day to be bashed at FF?
Talk about yet another meaningless, marginal moment from Noah-the-Intern. Gheesh.
rbottoms // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:31 pm
D’oh! Stupak is on board.
Ha. Ha.
TerryF98 // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Keep it up Noah.
Anything that pisses of MIGoproudindependent means normal people applaud you.
TerryF98 // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:36 pm
RB
They had the votes without Stupak. This will give cover for vulnerable Dems to vote no. I am thinking it will pass with 120 votes. A great victory for common sense and the progressive agenda.
Long Live Obama
ottovbvs // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:57 pm
TerryF98 // Mar 21, 2010 at 4:36 pm
“They had the votes without Stupak.”
……I agree…..she wasn’t leading that procession of dems with Dingell’s mallet without knowing the outcome…..Long live Nancy…….She deserves a lot of credit for navigating this through and totally rebuts the conservative lies about her competence as first woman speaker……the number will be interesting……it could be higher………how many democrats really want to go down in history as voting no (the “what did you do in the war daddy” factor) and these guys must be under tremendous pressure from the activists and unions……..if I was a rep even in marginal seat it’s suicide to switch of your own caucus……you’re going to get no thanks for it from your opponent
rbottoms // Mar 21, 2010 at 5:04 pm
The GOP is going to go off way past insanity, and the teabaggers are already living on Alpha Centauri so voting yes, or no either way Democrats will be showered with teh crazy this fall.
I’m still giving my support to any Democrat who challenges Stupak, Lincoln and the rest of the people supposedly on our side who made this such a circus.
kmort // Mar 21, 2010 at 6:12 pm
What proportion of the overall demonstration is represented in these quaint and slightly bizarre people? Seems to me they are very few and much too much is being made of their oddity. Could it be that the point is to paint the entire demonstration with the oddity of this small group, thereby discrediting the whole movement? I, too, believe the Tea Bag Movement is unrealistic and extreme in its view and goals. But I suspect most Tea Bag Movement members would also find this group odd. I suspect this is “much ado about nothing”.
ottovbvs // Mar 21, 2010 at 8:25 pm
kmort // Mar 21, 2010 at 6:12 pm
“But I suspect most Tea Bag Movement members would also find this group odd. I suspect this is “much ado about nothing”.
…..Possibly true although I suspect it’s a good half of them and in any case as father used to remind me “You’re known by the company you keep.”
Sean Linnane // Mar 21, 2010 at 11:26 pm
This is downright TAME compared to some of the Liberal weirdness I’ve witnessed in Berkeley and San Francisco – or Code Pink rituals in Washington DC come to think of it . . .
224-206 « The Word Warrior // Mar 21, 2010 at 11:43 pm
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Marsh626 // Mar 22, 2010 at 12:28 am
I used to be a hardcore Leftist until a couple of years ago. Glenn Beck is actually right on target most of the time. He obviously has some emotional issues due to his rocky past and childhood and he sometimes goes too far when dabbling in a particularly odd version of anti-communist Mormon ideology. But for all his imperfections I still watch his show as often as I can and strongly support his actvism. He’s simply the only person on TV who thoroughly understands the quite radical and deranged Leftist world view and has the courage to talk about it. There ~really~ is a global Leftist conspiracy to create a kind of internationalist Marxist utopia – in their view at least.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m generally not a conspiracy theorist and I cringe just as much as the next person when the New World Order types come out of the woodworks. But in this instance the conspiracy theorists ~are~ right. At least partially. The NWO types might go overboard with their accusations that the Marxist progressives want to round us all up and put us into FEMA camps and force us to take sterilizing vaccines. But the Left certainly does give these people plenty of ammunition to work with…
The Left ~really~ does advocate population control. ~Especially~ the environ-mentalists. They’ve been harping on supposed human over-population fear mongering for decades. And they systematically went about instilling a sort of neurotic form of self-loathing throughout our popular culture which has actually managed to convince most us of that humanity itself is evil and that capitalism and economic growth is also “evil” and “bad” because it supposedly destroys the natural world. They ~literally~ view humanity itself as a kind of cancer which is killing “Mother Earth”.
When I was a leftist It was widely acknowledged that having more than two children was absolutely a crime against humanity without question. They even encouraged the practice of making yourself infertile – I kid you not. They also strongly opposed – and still do – genetically modified crops – which is a position that has absolutely no scientific basis in reality. And of course genetically modified crops are the key to ending global starvation.
Now it might seem like I’m stretching the connection between opposition to genetically modified crops and support for human population control. And it probably is for the rank and file on the actvist Left (to be completely honest I’m not actually sure about that after some troubling experiences that I’ll get into later…); but it most likely isn’t for the intellectual leadership of those Leftist groups.
The disturbing reality is that many intellectual elites on the Left are actually quite creepy. Especially the ~scientific~ elites. Now please don’t misinterpret that as me being anti-intellectual or anti-science because I’m definitely not. But the sad truth is that the scinetific community attracts a lot of weirdos frankly who sometimes have an anti-social superiority complex. Quite of few of them actually believe that ~they’re~ the “enlightened ones” and that they know what’s best for the rest of us – a lot like the Left in general in fact. ~Those~ are the kinds of people you have to be especially weary of.
Afterall, they enthusiastically supported the eugenics programs of the early 20th century and elements of that same kind of twisted world view very much lives on today on the Left. Even Obama’s current “science czar” supported the policy of depopulation through forced sterilzation in the 1970s – a fact which Glenn Beck pointed out and is indeed true.
So is it really a stretch to purpose that this is still a popular idea amongst the actvist Left today? Especially considering their almost religious support of abortion and their complete refusal to acknowledge or apologize for the DDT genocide which have both literally killed countless millions of human beings? I’m afraid you give the Left far too much credit when you refuse to believe they’d ever purposely support such grave crimes against humanity.
On those previously mentioned disturbing experiences I had during my time on the Left, in my circles at college we used to literally ~celebrate~ the news of innocent people dying. ~Especially~ if it came from the hands of nature in some way such as the earth quakes in China or the Tsunami or when say a wild animal killed someone. I literally watched my Leftist friends ~cheer~ over the news on TV of a tiger mauling some kids to death at a zoo. In our eyes it was Mother Nature getting back at us “evil” humans – a story element even protrayed in a wildly popular movie recently *cough*Avatar*cough*…
If you think this is too unbelievable to be true, then why do you think I finally left the Left after being a loyal Marxist foot soldier all of my life? It’s because it was honestly eating away at my conscience and I was becoming more aware of how truly radical and twisted my views were after becoming exposed more and more to criticism from the Right. I realized they were right…
The Left also ~really~ are Marxists. The only reason why they ridiculously try to deny it is of course because Marxism/Socialism/Communism is (rightly) frowned at – at least here in America. Being a Collectivist is nowhere near as taboo in the rest of the world as it is in America. That’s because we’ve miracously and stubborningly remained a very conservative country against all the odds. I mean, it really is quite amazing to me that a Republican could ever get elected in this country considering that the Left completely and utterly controls our popular culture with an iron fist.
The Left dominates the media, academia, the entertainment industry, etc. And please leftists, don’t try to argue those points with me. Even when I was a dedicated Marxist I knew that was obviously the case. You honestly only make yourself look like either a goose-stepping foot soldier for the Left or a mouth breathing moron when you try and deny those blatant realities. In fact, my only real problems with the Left in the media is that they weren’t anywhere near left wing ~enough~ for my tastes – which should give you an idea of just how far to the Left I was.
The reason why the Left are Marxists is because honestly most of them are actually quite dumb, ignorant and brainwashed. They might like to think of themselves as enlightened intellectuals who boldy question the status quo and worship logic and reason, but the reality is most of them have been spoonfed liberalism since childhood and shape their political world views around what they see on Comedy Central and in blockbuster Hollywood films. They’re extremely vulnerable to Leftist propaganda frankly.
They generally don’t read very much (as evidenced by conservatives completely dominating best seller lists year round) and they certainly don’t “seriously question their most deeply held beliefs” despite constant rhetoric to the contrary. The leftist elites on the other hand genuinely believe socialism is the best way to run a society and the world. They simply think it’s the most humane and the most “rational” form of government.
Those views are generally confirmed in their minds when they look at the socialist systems in Canada, Europe, Japan, etc. But what they don’t seem to realize is that socialism is basically just a watered down version of communism which will simply take a little longer to devolve into government tyranny and eventual collapse and that those “socialist utopias” (which are nowhere near as perfect as they think they are) aren’t really possible without an “ugly”, “fat”, “cold hearted”, “redneck”, “militaristic capitalist hyperpower” such as – oh I don’t know – America perhaps…?
We all know that there’s absolutely no way that they could get away with such absurdly generous welfare states and subsequently irresponsibily chronically underfunded militaries without heavy subsidization from American global security and innovation. If America goes down the road of socialism and becomes Canada, who is the West then going to lean on next? Which is another subject that goes into the dark side of Leftist ideology.
Like I essentially alluded to earlier when commenting on the honestly bizarre Leftist environ-mental activism, the Left is truly pathological in their all-encompassing self-loathing. They ~really~ do hate America – and the West in general. They think we’re racist, imperialist capitalists and they ~really~ are cheering for our own demise.
At the very least they’d like to see a giant international redistribution of wealth to the “developing world” as kind of giant reparation for our past colonialism (which is absurd history revisionism but nevermind on that for now). It’s simply a natural extension of their domestic policies to the foreign arena.
And the Left ~really~ does support a one world government. They believe nationalism and patriotism is barbaric and primitive and the best way to achieve the lofty goal of world peace and social and economic equality is through a kind of giant UN on steroids. Just look at leftist dominated Europe with the rapid creation and growth of the EU to see this world view turned into a reality. And the Left is indeed cleverly trying to drag a weary and xenophobic conservative America into this “multi-polar” world through global warming hysteria and many other ways.
God forbid Glenn Beck shock people by pointing this out. We all know it’s true.