Quiverfull

[osprey_archer]

The subtitle of Kevin Roose's The Unlikely Disciple claims that Jerry Falwell's Liberty is "America's Holiest University," but it isn't by a long stretch. Liberty allows wild and crazy activities like hand-holding and those three-second hugs. Places like Pensacola, on the other hand, don't even allow men and women to look at each other for overly long. They call it "making eye babies."

You might think that Pensacola would mark the outer bounds of the far right, but you would be far wrong. In her book Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement, Kathryn Joyce explores the Quiverfull movement, who would think sending their children to Pensacola a dangerously liberal and corrupting act. Quiverful believers abjure all forms of birth control and instead attempt to have as many children as possible in order to homeschool them up as good Christian soldiers.

The martial imagery here is not inapt: the movement's name comes from a Bible verse comparing children to arrows in a quiver. You need a quiver full of them, the idea goes, if you want to win the culture wars in America and defeat the Muslims abroad.

(Though it seems to me that Quiverfull leaders would find they have a lot in common with Iran's ayatollahs if they all sat down to a glass of tea. Theocracy guiding democracy! No more eye babies! Hair coverings! I think they would come to a fruitful interfaith understanding.)

Joyrce seems to have caught some of the cataclysmic urgency that drives her subjects, although in the opposite direction: "You GUYS, the crazy Christians OUTBREEDING us. We have to do something!"

On the one hand, this seems a little alarmist. On the other hand, if you go out and read some Quiverfull materials - like, say, So Much More or its companion website, written by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin (who seem, leaving their beliefs aside, quite charming and thoughtful) to instruct young women how to be proper Quiverfull girls - well...

No college, naturally - too much chance for corruption. Not even missionary work is allowed, because it takes a girl's focus outside of her home. Defer to your brothers, even much younger brothers, to teach them how to be properly masterful men.

Read that, and it's hard not to feel a little alarmist about it.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

My consolation is that their training isn't going to "stick" for each and every kid.

But yeah, religious extremists are all into EXTREME RULES for your life.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. They can try to keep the outside world out, but it will worm its way in and lure some of the kids away.

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the folks at No Longer Quivering can tell you, you can leave the lifestyle, but it won't entirely leave you.

[exuberantself.livejournal.com]

Even within Roose's book, however, he notes that there are more extreme colleges than Liberty. I suspect some ambitious editor thought it sounded catchier than the more accurate options. For example, at Bob Jones University, chaperones are required for all dates. I don't know if it's still in effect, but ten years ago, male and female students at North Greenville College weren't even allowed to use the same sidewalks.

I'm actually familiar with the Quiverful movement. It's a bit terrifying, especially since so many of the families can't financially support that many children--much less supply them with enough attention.

Anecdotally: I know a particular family with six children ranging from sixteen years to six months. This worked out pretty well for them as now the oldest two children do most of the taking care of the younger ones, but that's neither here nor there. After four daughters the parents said they were going to try one more time for a son; they got a fifth daughter. There were pretty satisfied after that, but after a few more births in the family and still no boys with the family name, they gave it another go. After the sixth daughter, the father said, "That's it. My quiver is full; my cup runneth over."

It's a bit of a long story, but I think his ultimate point was a good one: a full quiver isn't the same as breeding like bunnies--he needed to be able to raise the girls properly as well.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think it's Roose's fault. It's such a catchy subtitle that he probably couldn't have stopped the marketing department with a rocket launcher.

One of my friends in elementary school was from a family which was, if not actually Quiverfull, definitely had similar aims. They could support the children financially, so that wasn't a problem, but when she came over to my house she used to hide for the joy of having us all look for her. So, yeah. Providing six children (at the time; I think it's up to ten now) with enough attention is tough even when there are the financial means to raise them.