Phyllis Schlafly died on Monday September 5. Phyllis who? Exactly. Unless you’re over 70 -- or you’re Sarah Palin -- the name Phyllis Schlafly probably draws a mental blank. Newspaper obituaries in the U.S described Schlafly as an icon of the right-wing, the woman who re-shaped American politics. Her influence continues in the Eagle Foundation based in St. Louis, Missouri. She was anti-communist. Anti-abortion. Anti-immigration. Anti- legalized same sex marriage. But above all, anti-ERA. She saw the Equal Rights Amendment as taking away women’s privileges. It would make women eligible for conscription to the Vietnam war, for example. It might abolish their unquestioned right to alimony in a divorce. A woman’s natural place was in the home, she argued: "Since the women are the ones who bear the babies and there's nothing we can do about that, our laws and customs then make it the financial obligation of the husband to provide the support. It is his obligation and his sole obligation. And this is exactly and precisely what we will lose if the Equal Rights Amendment is passed." She didn’t see that this attitude sentenced husbands to be their wives’ wage slaves.
Inflammatory views
She was vicious about feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan -- a feeling they reciprocated. They accused Schlafly of supporting the welfare of women who had married into wealth and leisure, like herself, not of ordinary working women. Ironically, Schlafly’s own mother had supported her family with a series of relatively low-status jobs: department store saleswoman, elementary school teacher, librarian at the St. Louis Art Museum. Schlafly herself had worked nights at a munitions factory during World War II. Her views were often inflammatory. “Sexual harassment on the job is not a problem for virtuous women,” she declared. She called sex-education classes “in-home sales parties for abortions,” and the atom bomb “a marvelous gift that was given to our country by a wise God.” She denied charges of being a shill for male domination: “My husband was very supportive. I told the feminists the only person's permission I had to get was my husband's." Politically, though, she regularly backed losers -- most notably presidential candidates Barry Goldwater, Robert Taft, and Pat Buchanan. She ran twice for political office, and lost both times. Shortly before her death, she endorsed Donald Trump. I can only hope that her record remains unbroken.
Never static
The story of Phyllis Schlafly leads me to suggest that defenders of the status quo are always wrong. Yes, always. I say that with some hesitation. I have myself defended the status quo against what I have seen as dangerous innovations, risky precedents, deviations from the norm. But not because the status quo is best. Rather, because the alternative was worse. Not every rebel or radical is right. (Or left, for that matter). Contrarians and conspiracy theorists flourish like fruit flies; off-the-wall theorists abound. Most of the multitude of concepts they so vigorously propose have the lifespan of fireworks -- a brief flash in the darkness, and then nothing. But somewhere among all those disparaged ideas lurks the next truth. New truths are not found among defenders of the status quo. Because the status quo itself isn’t static. Nothing stays the same. The universe itself is constantly evolving. Galaxies move relative to each other. Stars shrink or grow, explode or implode. All societies keep changing. Our standards of beauty and morality and conduct have changed -- thank God! I would not want to live under, say, the ruthless repression of either puritan Thomas Cromwell or Catholic Bloody Mary. Our knowledge base expands exponentially. I would not want to have my illnesses treated by a 17th century physician, or even to have my teeth drilled by a 1950s dentist.
Biblical precedent
None of the biblical prophets endorsed the status quo. The book of Jeremiah offers an illustration. As Babylonian forces threatened the tiny kingdom of Judah, the prophet Hananiah represented the religious establishment. He had the king’s ear; he defended current practices. Jeremiah was a young man, an outsider saying unpopular things, demanding different tactics. Both used the same formula to validate their claims: “Thus says the Lord.” Twenty-six centuries ago, the populace respected Hananiah; they laughed at Jeremiah. Does anyone still remember Hananiah? A few generations from now, with anyone still remember Phyllis Schlafly? I rather hope not. ********************************************************
Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN
I got a very full mailbag in response to last week’s column about being a terrified rider on a runaway planet. So I’m going to have to leave out some of your letters.
Tom Watson: “It seems that when it's a choice between the environment and economic interest, the environment loses every time.”
Barb Taft wrote, “The information regarding the destruction of our planet needs to be taken seriously .The tasteless jokes were not needed.”
Laurna Tallman wrote at considerable length about the power of prayer.
Steve Roney denied that the derivatives sold by bankers in 2008 were based on a fallacy: “It is the principle on which insurance operates. If you hold one mortgage, and the debtor defaults, you may lose the investment. But if you hold bits of a hundred, you spread the risk, so that you can reliably predict statistically what your return should be. The problem was, nobody thought the value of real estate could go down; suddenly a lot of people were liable to default at once. And the difference could no longer be made up by taking possession. But it was not just bankers who made this mistake. So did governments, so did developers, so did investors, and so did homeowners.” Steve also confirmed my daughter’s experience: “Yes, we grew up with the assumption that the world was going to end at any moment. And we came to the definite conclusion that world leaders had no common sense at all. They were MAD indeed.”
Most of the letters shared my pessimism about the future. Charles Hill, for example, wrote, “Very accurate and very scary. It makes being 79 easier for me, but terrifying for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Dale Perkins admitted to feeling “Hopeless. The only important question facing us -- and I’m wondering if even the Church is capable of getting engaged in answering it -- can we locate hope anywhere, or if more of us actually got engaged in an activity which might offer some hope what would that activity be? The old organizer's mantra was "doing what we can with what we've got." Have we got anything we might totally dedicate our last remaining days doing, which is hopeful? I'm now 75, and most of my children are into their 50s. Most of my grandchildren are into their late 20s. What's a 75-year-old guy like me to do with my remaining days/years? “Your item didn't put me in a funk; just forced me to acknowledge my own sense of hopelessness.”
Marion Logan agreed: “I find this recent column depressing -- but you just clarified and confirmed my own sadness about what has been happening in our world. “How will people live and how will people govern when the next generations reach 65 or 75 and don't have adequate pensions and savings or health care? Many people complain about taxes -- where do they think the money comes from to provide free health care and good roads and good educations? And the Faith groups seem to have lost their message of hope and how to exist in this 'new ' environment….My home church (Wesley) became an affirming congregation about 15 years ago. But ‘Wesley’ has lost most of its ‘thinking people,’ professionals who have read Butler-Bass, Spong, Borg, Wiesel, and many others…who have creative ideas... “Should I send you an oxygen mask to survive? “Keep up the struggle!”
Brian Ames also felt hopelessness, based on his observations: “I live in a farming community and I have become astounded at the beliefs of many of the locals when it comes to things like global warming, conspiracy theories, why we shouldn't accept immigrants, and so on. I join a morning coffee seniors group once a week and it is a veritable eye-opener to small-minded prejudice. I have spoken out a couple times and it evokes either silence or a tirade of ‘You can't possibly believe all that crap’ and ‘Climate change has made Al Gore and David Suzuki very wealthy’. Many people do not have a ‘belief’ in anything but themselves and ‘that's the way we always did it’.”
Balanced against those views came this letter from Cliff Boldt: “ We just got back from an extended trip to Europe, visiting friends and gawking around. What I saw gave me some hope. Number one, Europe is filled with young people who are excited, exciting, and looking for opportunities. This was especially evident in Sweden where we stayed with young relatives who have children. “I was impressed with the literally acres and acres of solar panels, roofs covered with solar panels, thousands of wind turbines. Sweden will be carbon neutral by 2020.
“My biggest takeaway? Europe is a more mature society than North America. Compared to them, we are entering pubescence with hormones raging, dulling our senses with sex, drugs, , and other escapist activities. Donald Trump is an accurate reflection of our immaturity.. “Winston Churchill famously said of the USA: ‘Americans will always do the right thing, after they have tried everything else.’ “My point: I have days like today where I do feel positive about the future of Earth.”
Cliff brought up the subject of Donald Trump. Sally Stoddard asked, “Ever notice, Jim, how Donald Trump (DT) gives us the DTs? Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal include anxiety, depression, fatigue, headache, insomnia (difficulty falling and staying asleep,) irritability, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, nervousness, jumpiness….”
To which John Hatchard added, “Trump is a superb egotist, always has been. Lady Macbeth is a psychopath who has no empathy for anything or anyone.” John sent along some news stories, about elements of the presidential campaign “that the media is not picking up on -- because they are paid NOT to! Lord knows it’s a Hobson's Choice the US electorate has been presented with but ever since Bush Senior every president has been a puppet chosen for their acting ability (George W was a humorous interlude!) That being so, neither candidate will have the power you currently think they will have.”
Ruth Gilbert got the column because a friend forwarded it to her: “You tell the story well of how it is at the moment. It is unfortunate that greed, hate, and fear have led to these circumstances. But is there any response, other than wanting to get off this world, that might help heal ourselves, others, and the planet? Could we try spreading as much love as we can to everything including those that are holding so much hate and fear? Could we turn to trusting the process and hoping?”
Gordon McNaughton wrote, “I too, am terrified, especially when I realize how agonizingly slow we are at even beginning to take real action to mitigate the causes of climate change. “[Former United Church Moderator]
Mardi Tindal said ‘Climate change is among the most urgent spiritual and moral challenges of our day.’ I would add that saving our future civilization is indeed loving our grandchildren’s neighbors as ourselves. “A couple of years ago I heard retired Prof. Larry L. Rasmussen say ‘ we need a movement greater than the civil rights movement to tackle climate change, only we have fewer than five years to create such a movement’. “
Finally, this note from Helen Reid: “The only way I can retain my sanity is to remember that it is God's world, who started it and will finish it. The first chapter of Habakkuk was surprisingly modern this morning.” Yes, I went and read Habbakuk, a prophet often ignored. Helen’s right
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com. If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank email (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Unfortunately, the archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net have disappeared. The site was hijacked, and I haven’t been able to get it back I’m hoping to have a new website up fairly soon. I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca
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