A few weeks ago I was sitting in a lab waiting to get my blood drawn when a news story about the Tea Party was shown on the TV in the waiting room. A young woman seated across from me, there were only two of us, rolled her eyes in disgust.
Of course not wanting to let that go by unnoticed I asked her, “I guess you’re not a member of the Tea Party?” It clearly took her aback, so I leaned in waiting. She uncomfortably giggled, “Well I guess I am just a member of the coffee party. I just can’t stand the Tea Party.”
Lucky for her she was called back, because I was prepared to ask more…..for I was fairly certain she was just spewing what she had heard, and behind it there was not a lot of substance.
Why did this bother me so? Well for one, the Tea Party is a reference to the Boston Tea Party, where patriots dumped tons of tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the government at the time. Yep, guys like Paul Revere and Sam Adams were involved too….and before revisionist history, I was taught that this was a good thing.
So now patriotic Americans, sick of the policies of what they feel to be a government gone awry, gather together to try and make a difference……and they are.
What is happening is astounding to me. People who feel threatened by these people exercising their basic rights as Americans now label them “bigots” and “racists”. They impugn their character, and question their intellect. And quite honestly, it is a shameful and cowardly act, and does more to erode the values of this country than anything I have seen in my lifetime.
And it strikes a nerve with me, because of where I have been. I was a member of the Episcopal Church the majority of my life. I was a member of its clergy for 18 years. I read the Bible, I prayed and I stood for what I believed. I didn’t take a parish out, I retired…..but did so with my dignity and integrity.
But because I was a conservative, I was also labeled a “bigot” (I am not), a “racist” (which I could never understand), “intolerant” (because I would not believe that “anything goes”), and a “homophobe” (which actually means fearful of homosexuals, I am not, when I expressed a belief in the Church’s traditional teachings on the subject). All my life I was told to stand up for what I believed, but when what I believed threatened the power of those in control, things became too much. I retired without fanfare, and went to work for what I believed. Ironically, I was still charged and tried by a church that while espousing “tolerance” just could not stand anyone like me.
Bigotry? Hatred? You bet my friends…..it’s all around us. The question is just who is selling it. They are all in my prayers.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+