So the Pope is a marxist.... (wait for it)

[kandrathe]

... If you aren't with them, you are against them. There is no gray area. There is no compromise. And I just can't accept that.

Well... This is also my point. A whole bunch of people have a whole bunch of opinions, and not all of them are whack-a-doodle, or closed minded and uncompromising.

What I saw from the emergence of the "Tea Party movement" was a pretty coordinated group of grass roots support around a slim number of populist political points involving pretty basic ideas like broken entitlement programs, federal taxes, and deficit spending.

The "Republican Party, Inc." (in this case, Joe Wierzbicki) saw the movement go off without them, and so they quickly recruited their media extremists, ala. Palin, Hannity, Beck, to literally drive something called "The Tea Party Express" which co-opted the original movement into the tired old worn out Republican tent. So, when people say Tea Party now, what is really meant is Republican.

The original 2009 era Tea Party is dead. What is left is just the branding, owned by the Republican party.

So... Sorry about your dad. I feel you have much anger there, and I'd council you to find a way to let that go and not blame the diaspora of Christianity (even the fundies) for all the pain you suffered. People have the right to believe whatever they like, even if you believe it to be wrong. It's a freedom thing. I mean, things like Joe Smith, golden tablets, and visits by angels really? But, there you go. You can't enlighten people with ridicule, anger or the point of a gun.

It was just your dad's fault in how he treated you. I'd say write him a really, really angry letter, telling him exactly how you feel. Then, burn it. Trust me, it works. I did something similar for dealing with my dad/anger issues.