Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, one of the country's most prominent tea party organizations, really seems to despise the Methodist Church, or as he would call it, "the first Church of Karl Marx."
In a recent blog post (subscription required) the founder of Tea Party Nation recounts his recent experience visiting the United Methodist Building in Washington D.C., where he saw a promotional banner for the DREAM Act, a failed piece of legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who entered the country as children.
Such a stance could only mean one thing, Phillips concluded.
"The Methodist church is pro-illegal immigration," he said. "They have been in the bag for socialist health care, going as far as sending out emails to their membership 'debunking' the myths of Obamacare. Say, where are the liberal complaints on the separation of church and state?"
Phillips was once a member of the so-called "religious arm of socialism," but abandoned its ranks when he found his views diverged from the party line. Among the positions that he now detests:
They want amnesty, they want "economic justice", they opposed "global climate change" (earth to the Methodists, man isn't doing it), fighting global poverty (here is another hint, most poverty is caused by a lack of freedom and lack of a free enterprise system). Not shockingly, the Methodists side with the Islamists against Israel, and of course oppose America in Iraq.
A blogger at "Unsettled Christianity" has unsurprisingly taken issue with Phillips's attack:
I've noticed one thing about all of this - he is lacking in his Scriptural foundation. Where is his scriptural support for those things which he says that the UMC is wrong for? Instead, he uses words which he doesn't understand, like Socialism, Marxism and Communism.
It's not the first time Phillips has offended people with his ham-handed religious criticism. In October, Phillips drew fire first for claiming that Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison should be removed from office in part because he was a Muslim, and then for admitting that he had a "real problem with Islam." Phillips also recently galled the sensibilities of even the most amateur fans of social justice or common sense when he suggested that it would make "a lot of sense" to return to a system where only property owners have the right to vote.