Zealots

The term “zealot” has come to mean a person or set of persons who think and act with great zeal- zeal being a strong feeling of interest and enthusiasm that makes someone eager or determined to do something. Historically zealots are associated with religious zeal. In ancient times there was a specific group of Jewish people who existed in the early first century who were called the Zealots. They were the most notable group of all in casting the meaning of "zealotry". The historian Josephus wrote in Jewish Antiquities that there were three main Jewish sects at the time, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. The Zealots were the “fourth sect”. The Zealots formed in protest to Roman occupation and taxation of the land of Judea. They were radical and absolute in their beliefs and their actions against Roman rule, and violently objected to the other three sects of Jews who sought compromise and a peaceful coexistence with the Romans.

In the Talmud, the Zealots were seen as non-religious because they did not follow their religious leaders, and were also called Biryonim, meaning “boorish”, “wild”, or “ruffians” and were condemned for their aggression, their unwillingness to compromise even to save the survivors of besieged Jerusalem when Rome retaliated against them. They were also condemned for their blind militarism against the Rabbis who sought to make peace. In that way, the Zealots were blamed for contributing to the demise of Jerusalem and the Second Temple because their actions ensured Rome’s retributions and stranglehold on Judea. They were noted for turning on other Jews who did not agree with their extreme positions and often murdered political rivals within the Jewish community rather tolerate Jews who did not take their same radical position against the Romans.

All of this is an interesting facet of the history of Judea and the Jews under Roman rule; but as I was trying to make sense of our own political activities over the last month and even over the last few years I kept coming back to the idea of the Zealots. As we all lived through and witnessed the incredible waste and pain that accompanied the government shut down in the first two weeks of October, nothing else described how this came to be better than the “zealotry” of those who caused it. A small bit of research on the Zealots of ancient Judea confirmed my instinct on this notion and crystallized the comparison between the Zealots of first century in Judea and the Tea Party Republicans of today.

There are those who continue to claim that the shut-down of government was not the fault of the radical Republicans, but was instead the fault of President Obama who refused to deal with them while they openly threatened a shut down- then openly caused it. The record is very clear that Tea Party House Republicans planned for months to use this tactic in their zeal to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They saw the debt ceiling date on the calendar, as we all did, and staged their rebellion to use that crisis specifically to get their way. Any attempt to say that President Obama was the one who wanted the shut-down is pure fantasy springing from the minds of these modern-day zealots. Remember that in ancient times the Zealots were so consumed with their cause that they harmed their own kind and took actions that ultimately led to their own destruction. Senators Cruz and Lee, and the handful of Tea Party Republicans in the House did exactly the same thing.

Zealots, by their nature, can only see events and judge reality through the very narrow lens of their own extreme beliefs. The Zealots of ancient times were so consumed with hatred toward their Roman enemy that they lost sight of the reality of their situation and became so entrenched in their hatred that they saw anyone who questioned them as the enemy too- even their own people. Is there any anyone among us now who would not admit that is exactly the same situation the Tea Party, and the entire Republican Party finds itself in? Those who caused the shut-down had no regard for the consequences of their actions. In many instances they actually said that the consequences weren’t happening, or if they happened it might be a good thing. The Tea Party talking point, faithfully echoed constantly on right-wing talk radio and Fox News, is that it was a “slim-down”. In that way they could absolve themselves of the harm, and claim that the reduced services were a much needed haircut for government. The facts are that the shut-down put a million and a half people out of work for 16 days and cost the national economy over $24 billion. When 800,000 government workers aren’t working it effects all the local businesses that rely on those workers in their customer base. The Republicans, who champion small business in front of the cameras, really screwed  small business on this little trick.

As our debt limit approached, the Tea Party folk who shut down the government began circulating the ridiculous notion that default on U.S. credit could be a good thing. This is the clearest example of zealotry run amok. It would be laughable were it not so deadly dangerous. Every economist and every world leader warned that allowing the U.S. Government to default on its debts would have catastrophic consequences leading to a world-wide recession. But right up to the last minute and even now the zealots just said, “No, we don’t believe it”. And, of course this is the danger of following zealots- they don’t see the world’s reality. They only see what they want and actually deny reality to the rest of us. It’s better to listen to people who actually know things instead of people who just believe things. But for the Zealot the axiom is – “Believing is seeing”, instead of “Seeing is believing”.

When you analyze the mind-set of the Tea Party zealots you come to realize that the denial of reality permeates almost every issue. They are so strident in their belief system and their hatred of this President that they can always be counted on to say and do things that leave the rest of us scratching our heads. In the matter of the President refusing to give in to their ransom demand of destroying the world economy, they failed to recognize the simple truth that the President could not negotiate with opponents, who for five years, simply said they would never agree with anything he wanted. This isn’t just an opinion; it is the stated position of the Republican Party. These Zealots cannot, it seems, even accept the fact that they lost the last two general elections. When the country rejected their policies and their candidates in 2008 and 2012 their response was not to say, “We need to reexamine our message to the American people” rather is was to insist that either the voters are stupid, or they just didn’t scream their own message loud enough. The 2012 election results clearly indicated a changing demographic in the country and overwhelmingly taught us that new political realities must be recognized and incorporated into the changing body-politic.  But today’s Republicans, being led around by the most radical and extreme members of their party, are still ignoring this reality -ultimately leading to their failure to convince the public of their (self proclaimed) righteousness. 

Republican insistence on seeing their own reality has caused our government to be non-functioning. The last years under the leadership of Republicans in the House has produced the lowest output of legislation in the history of the institution. It all stems back to the pledge to deny our President any policy that might work or improve the nation. 95% of us want background checks on gun sales legislation- passed the Senate and Mr. Boehner wont schedule a vote. 70% of us want immigration reform and Mr. Boehner won’t schedule a vote on an Immigration bill the Republicans (Rubio) crafted and passed in the Senate. A much needed Farm Bill sits in the House without resolution and the Budget bills are not moving forward because Mr. Boehner refuses to appoint a conference committee. In the first two years of the Obama administration House Republicans did not give one single vote for the Stimulus Package, the Auto bailout legislation, the ACA, or even the Lilly Ledbetter legislation. They wouldn’t even state a reason on the Lilly Ledbetter bill- they just wouldn’t support it because the President did.  In 2009 and 2010 the House (under Pelosi) passed over 400 pieces of legislation to address the crisis in the economy and other significant national issues. They were all filibustered by Republicans in the Senate and died. Senate Republicans set the all-time filibuster record that term. The result of this tactic of “giving nothing” has caused the Congress to have the lowest public approval rating of all time, and yet Republicans and the Tea Party types are threatening to shut down government again in February. The people (I think) have now finally recognized that the Tea Party and the whole Republican Party did not come to govern but to obstruct and destroy the institutions of government. Most Americans want their government to function, and seeing the outright obstruction of government caused by these latter-day zealots easily explains why Congress is so reviled.

To make the comparison of the Tea Party and the ancient Zealots complete, consider that the most strident zealots in the Tea Party were taking out political ads during the shut-down against other Republicans threatening them with primary opponents in their next election if they didn’t go along. This is unprecedented and a clear violation of Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment to never speak ill of another Republican. But it goes to show you the dangers of zealotry: (political) death to those who oppose them- even if they have to kill their own.

Thankfully the efforts of those who only want destroy government, and who would have destroyed the economy in support of their narrow agenda have been thwarted- at least for another few months. I hope this will give members of Congress time to challenge their enemies within, the Zealots, and convince them to be real patriots. The country needs solutions to the serious problems that face us. As strongly as I lean in the direction of the Democrats in government, I still believe we need a functioning Republican Party to make the system work. I think the great majority of the country would much rather see a Republican Party that is more interested in fixing problems, than one bent the destruction of government and the dismantling of the middle class- but we only see zealots who haven't put forth any solutions of their own. A destructive Republican Party, led by Zealots who threaten chaos and destruction does not serve the greater good. It only serves to foster the dysfunction of government, to the detriment of us all. Now that we have seen what they are willing to do, the time has come to say “enough”. It makes me long for the time when the opposition worked to improve or change the things they didn't like instead of merely saying "no" to everything and concentrating their efforts on tearing down rather than building up. I actually believe that is the way government is supposed to work.

Thanks for looking in.