Letter: Tea Partiers not patriots

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To the Editor,

In his recent letter to the editor, Jerry Paschal described the Tea Party. The way I see it, his list gives us good reasons NOT to join the Tea movement:

No doubt the U.S.A. is a great nation. However, American exceptionalism is a good reason to avoid the Tea Party. It is arrogant to believe that we are better than others, or that we have nothing to learn from other nations.

Strict adherence to the Constitution is another reason to avoid the Tea Party. The Constitution was designed to be flexible enough to meet our needs. It’s a good framework , but it was meant from the beginning to be amended and interpreted for our common defense and general welfare. It is not a rigid, infallible fount of ideologies.

Its apparent connection with religion is another good reason to avoid the Tea Party. The First Amendment erects a wall of separation between Church and State. Our government is, and must remain, secular in order to protect our freedom of religion.

Its aversion to regulating weapons is another reason to avoid the Tea Party. Ours is among the most barbaric of Western countries when it comes to mass shootings. We desperately need stricter controls, but the Tea Party, by obstructing any reform, turns a blind eye to reality, and a cold heart to victims of gun violence.

Private property rights and individual freedom are good. So is the rule of law. To the extent that they would tear down common-sense regulations that protect us from harming one another, the Tea Party is to be avoided.

To the extent that they would reduce the government to the point they can drown it in a bathtub, the Tea Party is to be avoided. For good reasons, our founders gave us strong and vigorous governments. Anarchy is not a virtue.
Public education is a blessing. It’s a win-win for everyone. To the extent the Tea Party would undermine education, they are to be avoided.

To the extent that they obstruct immigration reform and engage in xenophobia, the Tea Party is to be avoided.
To the extent that they obstruct personal responsibility – to determine whom to marry, whether to use birth control, or choose to have an abortion – the Tea Party is to be avoided.

Mr. Paschal is correct about many Tea Partiers never having been “involved in politics their entire lives.” That’s the problem in the House of Representatives. The Tea Party does not know how to govern. Tea Party members are NOT true patriots. They are ideologues committed to obstructing good legislation, apparently intent on tearing down the government, and opposed to the rule of law. They give lip service to the Constitution, but their hearts are far from it.

Kyle Williams
Woodbury

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December 18, 2013 at 1:11pm
I don’t agree with all of what you have to say Mr. Williams, simply because most of it is inaccurate to put it nicely. However, I do agree with some of your statements in the sense that the Tea Party has unfortunately become a “do or die” kind of group mentality when it comes to governing our nation which I personally do not agree with.

First of all your statement that “The First Amendment erects a wall of separation between Church and State” is false. The First Amendment does not use those words in any capacity, shape or language. As a lawyer you should know that. That statement was written in a letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 and appears nowhere in our Constitution. Also, the idea behind Congress not establishing a religion was a direct result of England forcing the colonies to accept the Church of England as the only religion. Our constitution was designed to prevent that from happening and it has done so for 237 years. I do not believe it was intended to abolish all reference to religion like so many liberals want it to do. The nation was founded on Christian values, laws and precedent and that is indisputable and without question.

I am always amazed at the liberals who pick and choose what part of the Constitution they want to uphold and what part they want to dismiss. You quote the First Amendment and ignore the Second Amendment and the protected right we all have to bear arms. That in itself is hypocritical to say the least. The Constitution and those rights are guaranteed. Why is it ok to you or any other liberal to say the First Amendment cannot be changed, but you can change the Second Amendment?

I am a firm believer in the right to bear arms. Me, you and everyone else has a right to own as many guns as we can afford to buy. The Second Amendment was designed to prevent the government from ruling its people with an iron fist. Having said that, I am not on the extreme side that believes that if the government owns a surface to air missile capable of bringing down a plane that I have the right to own one too. I don’t think I should own a tank, a nuclear bomb, a flame thrower or a box of hand grenades either. That is the part that I think separates me from the extreme right side of the Tea Party members. But, you, the government nor anyone else does not have the right to take away my guns that I buy legally and own without harm to any other individual. Guns NEVER kill anyone. People with guns kill people. Taking away the guns that will not solve the problem because bad people will always find a way to get what they want to do the destruction they want to do. Proof of that lies in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed and maimed a lot of people with nothing more than a pressure cooker and black powder. Do you propose we regulate or remove the average citizen’s right to buy a pressure cooker? No liberal’s argument on gun control will ever make sense because the guns are not the problem; it is the people with hate in their heart that kill innocent people for no reason. In my opinion a lot of that stems from the fact that the liberals have done everything possible to take away God from every aspect of life as we know it.

The other issues you bring up are moral issues we will never agree on. The Constitution gives us both the right to those opinions and the right to express them. Whether you believe me or not, whether you agree with me or not, you and only you will have to answer for all of your words at the end of your days so honestly I don’t have any dogs in your fight as far as that goes.

To me, I see little difference between a liberal and a Tea Party member. One is far right and one is far left. Neither is willing to budge on the issues they present. Both are willing to shut down the entire government to prove the point that they can do it and both are responsible for the ineffectiveness we have today. My best advice for both the liberal and the Tea Party member is to get that plank out of your own eye before you worry about the spec in someone else’s!
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