From: Patricia Ireland,
Kim Gandy, Karen
Johnson & Elizabeth Toledo
Date: August 15, 1997
We are writing to ask you to take action in response to a dangerous, new group quietly building a mass movement in the United States. Promise Keepers is the fastest growing segment of the religious right wing with a 1996 budget in excess of $115 million dollars, which is expected to double in 1998. Promise Keepers is sweeping the country with local actions and is planning a national show of strength in Washington, DC on October 4, 1997. Our goal is to change public opinion about this stealth male supremacist group.
Promise Keepers, Inc. was founded in 1990 by former Colorado University football coach, Bill McCartney. McCartney has been associated with such right-wing extremists as the violent anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue and Colorado for Family Values, a group that fought for legislation to deprive lesbian and gays of their civil rights in Colorado. The top leadership behind McCartney reads like a who's who of the political religious right, such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson -- people who consider the Republican Party too moderate!
The Promise Keepers call on men to take more responsibility in their families, and who can argue with that? However, they define responsibility as taking control and women taking a back seat. They extol the "God-given" right of men to lead and repeatedly call on wives to "submit" to their husbands.
Promise Keepers speaker Tony
Evans has articulated this in no uncertain terms. In Seven Promises
of a Promise Keeper, he admonishes men to re-take their role as the
heads and masters of the family. "..I'm not suggesting you ask for
your role back, I'm urging you to take it back. There can be no compromise
here... If you're going to lead, you must lead." This is only the
beginning.
The Promise Keepers are also anti-lesbian and anti-gay. Founder Bill
McCartney stated publicly that homosexuality is "an abomination
of Almighty God". The Promise Keepers claim to be preaching love but
continue to practice hate.
The national rally on October 4 is not the end for the Promise Keepers,
it is only the beginning. The Promise Keepers have already set up a nationwide
system of small accountability groups. These cells have been set up in
over 10,000 communities, including in the military. Unlike a CR format
of group support, these groups foster a dependence on the PK-trained "leader."
PK is hoping to expand these groups to further carry out their agenda.
The stadium events are only the most visible result of the Promise Keepers'
organizing; the under-the-radar small groups may be the most ominous.
TAKE ACTION
Our mission is to change public opinion and to create a true and accurate portrait of the Promise Keepers. We are asking you to help us expose their male-supremacist agenda. Because PK has been so successful in obtaining positive, even glowing media coverage, it is critical that we confront them in that arena. Our activists must provide the alternative voice, the true voice of tolerance and acceptance.
We need you to pitch our side of the story to your local newspaper, television station or radio station. We also need you to reach out to potential allies with the real story about the Promise Keepers. To help you educate the media and organize in your community we have enclosed talking points on the Promise Keepers, as well as a sample press release, editorial (op-ed), media tips and much more.
This right-wing group stands against nearly everything we believe in, so it should not be difficult to build PK awareness into the actions you have scheduled in the upcoming months, whether they are on the Women-Friendly Workplace Campaign, Take Back the Night Rallies and other Domestic Violence Awareness actions or National Coming Out Day events. Or you may want to plan an action and/or a coalition press conference to respond specifically to the Promise Keepers
We are also including a sample petition and ask you to make every effort to gather supporters' signatures so that we can build an anti-PK database. This should be an ongoing project, since PK is likely to continue growing until we have the strength to stop them.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please don't hesitate to call Beth Myers at (202) 331-0066, ext. 775 or E-mail at rightwatch@now.org. Also, we will continue to update our website on our ongoing work on the Promise Keepers, at http://www.now.org/issues/right/pk.html .
Our thanks for your ongoing work on this issue and all of the other work you take on for the continued success of NOW.
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