January 29, 2008
Experiential Blog 1b: Men's Movements
If you personally know someone who has attended a Promise Keepers rally or the Million Man March, talk to him and find out more. What motivated him to get involved? What was the experience like? What was the most memorable thing about the experience? What changes does he perceive in his life because of the experience?
2 comments:
I personally do not know a man who has attended a Promise Keepers conference. However, I do know a woman who has attended a Women of Faith conference, which is considered the equivalent to Promise Keepers. I asked her about her experiences at a Women of Faith conference, and she told me that it was a time when women get together, listen to motivational speakers, fellowship with other women, and come away feeling refreshed and encouraged. Her experience was a positive one, as she said she would continue to attend these conferences as long as she possibly could!
My uncle has been a part of Promise Keepers for about ten years now. What motivated him to join was the fact that he cheated on my Aunt (she decided to stay with him even after finding out) so he felt the need to reconnect with Jesus Christ and the Christian belief system. He has grown into a loving and loyal husband, he volunteers at our church, and works with troubled youth to help rehabilitate them. Obviously his experience was about purifying his life and reinstalling his Christian values.
While Promise Keepers obviously aided my Uncle during a dark period of his life, personally I have a huge problem with what Promise Keepers stands for. I think it’s great that these men can come together in a comfortable atmosphere and reinvest themselves in their faith, marriages, and families, but is this type of redemption really servicing the greater good of society? Or is it merely an outlet for men to feel forgiven? Another problem I have is their reinforcement of male superiority and promotion of the subjugations of women.
One of my favorite comedians, David Cross, has had a lot to say about the Promise Keepers. In one of his bits he read from a booklet provided by the group. He read from the book Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper. In short, the story was about a boy who comes home from college and has his ear pierced. His mother sees the piercing and immediately worries about what his father is going to say. When the father finally notices the piercing, he says, “If you want to wear the earring, that’s your business. It’s not up to me. Only God knows how much I love you.” Then he goes on to say, “We need to support our son, actually I’d like to do something about it, but I don’t think anything will help.”
Keep in mind this story is supposed to be true.
Basically Mr. Cross’s argument was that this group makes up these bullshit stories to relate their ideology to today’s man. From a secular point of view these types of organizations only deteriorate our progress as critically thinking, technology using humans. All in all I think Promise Keepers benefits some, but their approach is completely backwards.
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