I Hope She Didn't Realize What She Was Doing

First, let me say again as I have in the past: This is not a political blog.  When I do comment on a political subject, it is because it touches on some religious issue.  I am not a member of any political party or movement and do not intend to be in the future.

Froma Harrop is a syndicated columnist whose columns appear in over two hundred newspapers  She comments on business, economics, and politics. On 25 March 2011 her posted article was "Some praise for a few tea partyers."  The word "partyers" appears at first glance to be misspelled, but instead of "partiers," she is referring to members of the American Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party is a conservative political movement named for the Boston Tea Party (1773) in which a group of men boarded a British ship in Boston harbor.  In protest of what they considered to be unfair taxation and a lack of political representation, they dumped overboard the entire cargo of British tea, turning the harbor into a giant teacup.

In discussing issues concerning the Tea Party movement., Ms. Harrop said, "When it comes to my sanity, the tea party often taketh away. ... Nothing else they do would earneth more praise."

Ms. Harrop probably intended to be "cute."  What struck me almost immediately was something else.
The use of archaic English brings to mind the English of the King James Bible. and the phrase, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away," which, by the way, does not occur in the King James Bible.  The popular phrase is a misquotation of Job 1:20-21.

"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:20-21.  Read the book of Job and you will know what this holy man was talking about.

What I perceived when I read Ms, Harrop's article was twofold:
1. An erroneous identification of the Tea Party with conservative Christianity.  While many Tea Partyers are Christian, many are not.  Some are motivated by social, economic, historical, and philosophical concerns.  Many conservative Christians are wary of investing their allegiance in political parties.
2. The use of "taketh" and "earneth" could be viewed as a sarcastic swipe at conservative Christians. This may not have been Ms. Harrop's intent.

Coakley vs. Brown

Saints on the Loose! is not a political blog and I don't intend for it to become one. I will comment on political issues only when they shed light on a point that I'm trying to make. As a traditional Baptist, I have a very HEALTHY distrust of politics and politicians. Though some have forgotten, we have always strongly believed in the separation of church and state. Sometimes though, you just have to say something.

Martha Coakley, a Democrat, and Scott Brown, a Republican, are engaged in a very intense race for the US Senatorial seat vacated by the death of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. As the race has tightened, Ms. Coakley seems to have become abusive and derisive toward Brown. She recently referred to him as an extreme right wing teabagger. The term has also been used by leftist poliltical commentatotrs such as Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Anderson Cooper.

"Teabagger" was a reference to the 2009 Tea Party protests which arose to oppose the tax and spending policies of the Democrat-controlled United States government. "Tea Party" was a reference to the Boston Tea Party in which a group of men stormed a ship and threw its cargo of tea into Boston Harbor to protest King George's excessive taxation policy.

Using the word "teabagger" as an insult exposes what radio and television commentator Glen Beck spoke of on 15 Jan 2009. This is an offensive word and is so, especially, since some conservatives have adopted it without knowing its origin, which Beck declined to elaborate upon. I think adults can handle the truth so here is the explanation.

"Teabagging" is a slang term referring to a sexual act in which a man repeatedly places his scrotum into the mouth or on the face of another person, like dipping a tea bag into a cup of tea. In pornography, the act is a form of sado-masochism stressing male dominance and erotic humiliation. In its political usage, the term is an insult because it implies that those against whom it is directed are too stupid or innocent (read as "naive") to know what it means. Why, some of them even use it of themselves.

Recently, I had to tell an Indian co-worker why others were quietly giggling as he ran around searching and saying, "I lost my lunch! I lost my lunch!" When conservatives proudly declare, "I'm a teabagger!," progressives are silently giggling.