DCF, I have been doing a little reading about the Promise Keepers. Did you know that their founder, coach Bill McCartney, defended a couple of his players who were accused of date rape, on the grounds that non-violent rape was not really rape? Lovely guy!
outnow.com
Anyway, here are some comments from various groups who are concerned about the Promise Keepers:
Promise Keepers Watch
Promise Keepers is one of the most important new
organizations on the right. Deceptive and carefully
conceived, Promise Keepers attempts to mainstream its
image by using a seductive vocabulary of male-only
self-improvement, opposition to religious
"denominationalism," and an alleged commitment to racial
"reconciliation," to advance the strategic political agenda
of the Christian right.
Along with many organizations of the Right, at the present time Promise Keepers is directing its
attack mainly at the position of women in society. Promise Keepers' leaders understand that they
can never reach their goal of creating a theocratic, male supremacist society unless they reverse the
legal and social gains made by women.
The Promise Keepers movement represents an
extreme, charismatic-evangelical theology which
makes even other religious groups uncomfortable.
Promise Keepers grew out of the "Latter Rain
Movement," which embraces extreme, even bizarre
and cultish religious practices-- speaking in tongues,
direct revelation, and even the authoritarian
"Shepherding-Discipleship" tradition which teaches a
dangerous, manipulative "leader-follower"
relationship. Theologically, this group's roots are
apocalyptic, concerning Armageddon and raising
"Joel's Army" to combat transgressors and sinners,
and prepare the way for a "Kingdom" at the end of
the world. This sect follows the theology of
"Dominionism," which teaches that Christians are
commanded by god to occupy and govern all
institutions in anticipation of the "final days" and the
Second Coming. "Bible Law" must govern the person,
families, neighborhoods, communities and
governmental institutions; there is no separating of
state and church; the police powers of the
government are harnessed to ensure that Bible law is
enforced. Reconstructionist members of the Promise
Keepers call for a judicial system and government
based literally upon Old Testament Bible law, and
proscribes the penalty of death for a wide range of
offenses including adultery, "witchcraft," blasphemy
or disobedience to parents. It is no accident that
these doctrines are never mentioned in Promise
Keeper literature intended for their rank-and-file
members.
Promise Keepers is a male-centered movement
with a homophobic agenda -- and a questionable
record concerning racial justice. Despite lipservice
about "being worthy of women," PK'ers are exhorted
to "take back" governance of the heterosexual,
nuclear family . "Women, keep silent in the churches;
men are heads of the household, as Christ is the
head of the church", paraphrasing St. Paul. Promise
Keepers defines a "godly man" as one who obeys the
church and is involved in a monogamous,
heterosexual relationship. What about gays and
lesbians? Single moms? Divorcees? Are they "godly"?
It's true that some women do want men to become
more involved in domestic relationships. But not all
women opt for that; presuming that all or even most
women want the sort of male-dominated marital
situation in a nuclear family which PK leaders say
they do is arrogant and presumptive. And the record
concerning blacks is highly problematic. The Promise
Keepers seem to distinguish between what they term
"reconciliation" and true equality. Black men are
"godly" if they fit into the PK heterosexual template.
Is this a manipulative movement? Just as PK
literature, with its abundance of sports metaphors
and catchy, yet amorphous slogans renders it difficult
for participants to get "a handle" on, is manipulative,
so is the role of the PK movement. Men in the
Promise Keepers movement are given a steady
stream of literature and teachings, most of which are
based on emotionally evocative, but vague slogans.
Worse yet, the PK "huddles" or local groups reinforce
the group's doctrines through peer pressure -- not
rational persuasion and discourse-- where men are
probed by other participants and compelled to
"confess" and reveal highly personal, even
confidential facts about their life. PK events are
orchestrated through the use of literally hours of
verbal pounding, repetitive use of content-void
slogans (often employing a sports vocabulary), group
reinforcement, heightened states of emotional
excitement bordering on the hysterical (accounting for
the "waves" of joyous weeping, crying, public praying
and other emotive outbursts) and more. Promise
Keepers plays on all sides of men's emotions and
upbringing. It exploits doubts about being "worthy"
but then caters to a fantasy of "taking charge" and
being "head of household." Any dispassionate
examination of twentieth century political and social
movements would suggest a red flag about any group
that bases so much on emotional outburst,
outpourings and sloganeering.
Promise Keepers should also be scrutinized for
another reason -- it offers simplistic solutions to
complex problems. The world isn't like that. Is there
any evidence, other than the anecdotal tales in PK
literature, to suggest that followers of this movement
really do become "better fathers and husbands"? If
so, where? How long does this change last? There are
other alternatives besides the exclusively Christian
religious conversion offered as a solution by PK,
which can help families cope, even in today's
stressful environment.
Promise Keepers is a threat to one of the most
important pillars of contemporary civil society --
the survival of secular institutions, and the
preservation of state-church separation. "Joel's
Army" of "godly men" seek to prepare the way for the
Second Coming of Christ. In a diverse, pluralistic
America founded upon the Bill of Rights and the
Constitution, Promise Keepers represents a backlash
against the rights of women, gays and other
segments of society who don't conform to
fundamentalist dictates and stereotypes. We consider
Promise Keepers as just another religious ploy to
promote a fundamentalist social and religious
agenda, and to create a cultural environment wherein
one must be religious in order to be considered a
decent human being. The Promise Keepers threaten
the cherished principles of First Amendment based
state-church separation, and the liberties of Atheists,
other nonbelievers, and minority religious groups --
male or female, gay or straight.
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