Women of Faith's conference no joyride

Off Our Backs, Apr 1998 by Oelfke, Lisa

Women of Faith's Conference No Joyride

As the stage was being set for one of Women of Faith's "Bring Back the Joy" conferences, a network of concerned women's, gay/lesbian and civil liberties organizations in the New York metropolitan area joined to expose the organization's religious right agenda to the media and public at large. The conference was held February 6 - 7 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The response, organized by the three-month-old Coalition Against the Promise Keepers, had the support of the National Organization for Women-New Jersey, ACLU-New Jersey, New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition, Center for Democracy Studies, Refuse & Resist!, and Radical Women. The opposition prompted a flat denial by Women of Faith founder Stephen Arterburn of his organization having any political agenda. But, Women of Faith, an organization based in Texas, is closely linked to the anti-abortion and homophobic Campus Crusade for Christ and New Life Clinics, a chain of Christian psychological counseling centers. Both organizations are co-sponsors of the over twenty women's conferences in US cities this year that highlight evangelical women speakers who tackle women's issues. The conference in New Jersey attracted 10,500 mostly Christian women.

"Focus on the Family has these kinds of conferences. I don't think they have a political agenda, but if someone at their rallies mentions abortion they get a big cheer. You don't have that feeling at our events. If you mention homosexuality, you don't hear a murmur go through the crowd. It's just not there. We're pretty radically free of that kind of thing," says Arterburn following the negative publicity. But, despite the denial, Women of Faith speakers did mention abortion at the New Jersey conference and are active leaders within the religious right. Betsy Johnson, for example, a featured speaker on the tour, operates "Spatula Ministries," whose purpose is "to help Christian families who discovered that homosexuality had hit their nice, safe, protected families." Sheila Walsh, also a speaker, was formally a co-host on Pat Robertson's "700 Club." Other speakers have equally revealing background, making the conferences about something more than just faith.

As Women of Faith's "team" of organizers book public arenas into the next millennium, just how free of having a political agenda they and other groups on the religious right, like the Promise Keepers, really aren't remains to be seen by the larger public. The media continues to believe, without investigation, any and all promotional materials they're given. This gullibility serves only to soft-peddle the group's agenda while framing feminists as a group of angry women. So, this writer and activist, a radical feminist, went behind the lines at "Bring Back the Joy" to investigate this so-called "new women's movement."

Eating disorders, depression, body image, and abuse were among the issues targeted by conference speakers and organizers at "Bring Back the Joy." Tactfully, the speakers placed these issues of traditionally feminist concern into a right-wing context, while not mentioning the women's movement -- a truly spectacular attempt to subvert feminist paradigms and mobilize women into striving for religious revival. The message from each speaker: that accepting God is the remedy for women's oppression, as opposed to empowerment, was a consistent theme at "Bring Back the Joy." This notion conflicts with the longstanding feminist mantra that "the personal is political." When women's rights activists talk about issues like sexual assault, domestic violence, fair pay, etc., they do not separate between the personal and political. These very issues have been disregarded by male-dominated society, which has forced them to be dealt with in political and judicial arenas through the women's movement.

Women of Faith are claiming nothing short of being a new women's movement. As their own literature states: "Momentum is building all over America as women respond to opportunities for personal growth that go beyond the weekend event. This national movement involves women of all ages from churches of all denominations." But, how much the women are being manipulated, as opposed to responding back needs to be considered. While playing upon women experiences, "Bring Back the Joy" speakers presented conservative demagoguery about them. Their perspective on them was as lessons of faith requiring acceptance, a new perspective on life, and deeper relationship with God.

Women of Faith conference organizers used eight jumbotron screens and three stationary cameras to hone in on the evangelical speakers. With amazing charismatic style, the speakers promenaded around a purple flower center stage. They related to women's experiences with deep personal stories. The moral of the stories was that accepting God as Savior was the only answer to their suffering. With the speakers acting like therapists and role models discussing women's experiences, the conference quickly became a mass therapy/consciousness-raising session, offering"opportunities for personal growth," for "a new beginning," and for "transforming women's lives" as the literature further stated.