Are THEY giving Christians a bad reputation? Could their reputation GET any worse?

I was doing odd jobs one summer and wound up serving concessions at a PK get-together. It wasn't so good for the blood pressure.

Mine's up here

Thanks for posting! I pinged Weblogs and Blogrolling so it would show as "recently updated" on people's blogrolls and such.

Are the Promise Keepers still around?

From what I remember, they seemed to have both a good and bad side. On the one hand, they attracted men into committing to be better people though religion, and on the other, they subscribe to a lot of absurd (in my mind) ideas about how men and women should interact. I would suspect that anyone who hung around them this long was probably attracted less to the convivial male environment and more to their extremist tendencies. So, I can kinda see the point Vic made about them becoming a right-wing army. Does anyone know how many Promise Keepers there are today & how active an organization it is?

I have to admit, I'd never heard of the Promise keepers. And, in my tiredness, I'm not sure if I fully understand. It seems as if they define traditional as man-woman, with, and perhaps I am assuming here, a return to traditional roles. Reading this reminds me of as video I saw a few years ago, 'Tough Guise' I think, where it talked about how mens groups and advocates called for a mens liberation, such as a feminist liberation, however, instead of it being a equalizing venture, it was one which returned to sexism and males being 'more equal' than females. I believe that yes, this is all insulting to queers and womyn and that it is another attempt to return a 50s age where the males claim superiority over others.
I hope that I'll get a chance to answer this more completely, and with better spelling soon. Gosh it feels good to respond to a posting!!!

This is my first post on the site, and your reference to the Promise Keepers prompted me to respond.

One of this group's most ominous quality's is its ability to mask its patriarchal underpinnings under a relatively amiable facade, but patriarchal they remain. They officially call for more male responsibility and respect for women, but the PK founder and many of its leaders are unequivocal in their belief that men should dominate the home, and that too much "female influence" will "sissify" men. They also have strong ties to a variety of right-wing groups.

The NOW site has a series of articles at http://www.now.org/issues/right/pk.html

They really peaked a decade ago, but they're still a group to be watched. At one point, they filled stadiums, and had arounf 1 million men attending their meetings annually. More recently, they've focused on smaller venues, and they'll most likely attract around 200,000 to their rallies across the country.

Is there any value in such a movement? That depends on your goals. If you are trying to establish a patrilineal system of inheritance, which was the entire purpose of the Old Testament laws, then yes. If you have any interest as treating a woman as a person rather than property to be traded and controlled, then no.

Are they giving Christians a bad reputation? Define "Christian". If you mean people who have actually read and understood the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, then yes, they are giving them a bad name. If you mean these Bible-thumping hate-mongers that think they have a reserved spot at the right hand of the Almighty because they vote Republican and look down on the poor, then one could hardly make them look worse than they do.

Personally, I could live without Promise Keepers and their ilk altogether. They reduce marriage to a state of slavery and institutionalized prostitution. I'm not willing to be bought or sold, but many women seem to be. If you see marriage as a partnership of equals, it doesn't matter what gender the partners are, since no one is "the head" of the other.

Hey, everyone. I've been doing some research, and I don't think people are taking this movement seriously enough. Promise Keepers is part of a big and, I believe, dangerous movement. I've posted some of my research on my blog under Stop the Federal Marriage Amendment. Please read it an let me know what you think. Thanks.

*** BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE !!! ***
What a swell website, I'm excited. Here I am lighting fires in MSN groups about all these topics and wondering where all the other people of similar mind were, and HERE you are !! YAY !!!
Alrighty, speaking of traditional values, a recent full-page ad was in my local province-wide paper. It was promotional, supporting "traditional family values" and paid for by a group called Focus on the Family. The black and white image showed a very young (18-25 yr olds ???) couple holding a very young toddler. They had pierced noses and "alternative" dress to indicate they are choosing an "alternative" lifestyle, encouraging viewers to think of them as "hip and young", and the large crowd pictured behind them indicates they are widely supported in upholding these traditional family values. Come on in, kids, the water's fine ( or something).
At the base of the page was a website for Focus on the Family, where a host of glaring generalizations reside. It is pro-Christian and pro-life, describing a traditional family as only one of a man-woman-child marriage. Let's avert from the initial obvious argument regarding the young couple pictured; that being the relationship between religious communities and the number of teen pregnancies and marriages. Instead, I'd encourage people to explore this website and its viewpoints on what defining qualities a traditional family or marriage has and the evils that lurk for those outside the box: http://www.family.org/married/comm/a0009568.cfm
Apparently children of single mothers are at increased risk of substance abuse, living in poverty, have lower education, are subject to depression and teen pregnancy. In fact, any children who live with NON BIOLOGICAL parents are also at the same risks. I wondered, upon reading this, if all adopted children then are doomed to these fates ? All this time, and I had no idea.
Reading on, we find a political agenda denouncing gay marriage rights. A recent "leader" of FOF was a recognized politican and the website was careful to disclaim they represented no particular political party. And that religious non profit groups such as they are in jeopardy of not being able to solicit their opinions in print due to their opinions being adverse to the charter of human rights. What abhorence shown by the community at large to their righteousness. How dare we.