4 October 1997

Who’s Really Afraid of the "Promise Keepers"?

According to the National Organization for Women (population 20,000 on a good day) we should all be very afraid of a Christian mens’ organization known as "Promise Keepers", several hundred thousand of whom gathered recently at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to, among other things, reaffirm their absolute dedication to their wives and families.

Where’s the beef? I thought the NOW gang wanted men to be dedicated to their wives and families. I’m very confused. Isn’t this (NOW) the same group that has traditionally portrayed all of maledom as a breed of wife beaters, child abusers, and rapists? So why complain when a group of Christian men (a very, very large group) takes ownership of those accusations and "promises" to atone?

NOW’s real problem, I think, can be found in two words which define the very nature of Promise Keepers: "Christian" and "men".

The "men" part is easy. If NOW had its way, men would be legally prohibited from meeting in groups of more than one. At any time. For any reason (except maybe to publicly beg Patricia Ireland’s forgiveness for consuming oxygen). But according to Promise Keepers President Randy Phillips, the group is all-male precisely because men have the most to atone for in American society, specifically in their relationships with their wives and families. These sentiments are echoed by Promise Keepers founder, Bill McCartney.

"I realized that too many men were getting their priorities out of alignment. I watched my own family suffer as I poured myself into my career," said the former head football coach who once led the Colorado Buffaloes to a national title – while his wife became bitter through neglect and his daughter bore two illegitimate children by different players on the coach’s team.

As for the "Christian" part, NOW is upset because Promise Keepers hold to fundamental Biblical teachings that say that wives should submit to their husband’s authority. Taken in purely that context, many in today’s society snort at such a seemingly antiquated notion. But Promise Keepers are quick to point out that the same passage of scripture goes on to instruct husbands to "love your wives as Christ loved the church", and that husbands should be willing to sacrifice their very lives in defense of their families, just as Christ sacrificed His life for a fallen world.

Well. No wonder the NOW gang is so upset. The very idea that men should love their wives enough to die for them. Rampant radicalism.

"The Promise Keepers are teaching that men are ordained to lead, women to submit or follow," said the Feminist Majority Foundation’s president, Eleanor Smeal.

No, Eleanor. First, the Holy Bible teaches this concept. The Promise Keepers are just inconveniently pointing it out. Second, as stated above, you’ve taken the whole idea out of context. Half truths are better than none?

You know what’s missing in all of this? Where’s the coverage of the Promise Keepers wives? Now, maybe I’m reaching, but I sort of doubt that any avowed NOW members are married to Promise Keepers. And the absolute absence of any press reports of Promise Keepers wives doing any of this complaining sort of tells me that they ain’t to be found.

So once again, where’s the beef?

Any number of leftist organizations have tried to tie Promise Keepers to political ambitions.

"McCartney cut his political teeth speaking at rallies of the violent(?) anti-abortion group Operation Rescue," NOW president Patricia Ireland claims.

Right. Unlike NOW, which of course has no political objective.

And Alfred F. Ross, founder and executive director of the Center for Democracy Studies, said Promise Keepers founder McCartney is covering up a dark, political agenda.

"It (Promise Keepers) was actually created by right-wing groups and leaders," said the left-wing mouthpiece – although he declined to specify any group, any leader.

Former Colorado congresswomen Pat "I never saw a defense cut I didn’t like" Schroeder refers to McCartney as "a self-appointed ayatollah". And when McCartney was still coaching in Colorado the ACLU threatened to sue him because he was reportedly (gasp!) leading his team in prayers!!! Oh no, Bill! Say it wasn’t so!

Promise Keepers membership crosses all racial lines. And while they make no secret that they consider homosexuality and abortion to be sinful (go figure that they’d actually believe all that Biblical stuff) they nonetheless invite homosexuals and those who have advocated abortion into the fold.

Okay, so what do the Promise Keepers really believe? There’s a list of seven "promises" that members pledge to keep: belief in Christ, forming spiritual bonds with male friends, practicing moral and sexual purity, devotion to wives and children, support for their local churches, overcoming racial and denominational prejudice, and encouraging other men to do likewise.

I hate to keep harping on this, but – one more time – WHERE’S THE BEEF? Where’s the dark, radical right-wing political agenda? How can such a group, founded on such noble principles and totally lacking in ANY political agenda be so feared by the left? But they are feared, let there be no doubt. During the Washington rally, a group of 150 Promise Keepers was denied entrance to Taft Junior High School, a D.C. slum . . . ah, I mean school, where the group had planned to trim trees, paint walls, replace windows, etc. In fact this was to be the first in a series of school aid projects in the D.C. area over the period of the Promise Keepers rally.

But Superior Court Judge Kay Christian (no pun intended) gave the men the boot – on the flimsy excuse that their presence might violate a fire code.

Does anyone remember megaliberal Congressman Tom Daschle, during the last national election, going on national television and asking Americans to "send us pictures of your dilapidated schools" so he could make a pitch for higher education spending? Well, Tom, the schools in D.C. are probably the worst, despite a much higher than average per pupil expenditure and a lower than average student-per-teacher ratio.

And who could forget the President’s "volunteer summit"? Remember how all you lazy middle-class Americans need to get up off your duffs and volunteer in your local schools and communities? Remember the President’s pledge to put volunteers in every classroom to help students learn how to read?

Do you remember all that? Well I do. Seems they didn’t mean a word of it – or at least they should have added the caveat, "Conservative Christians need not apply".

The Promise Keepers are a group of decent, God-fearing Americans, and those who have opposed them should be deeply ashamed.