Episode 43: Roberta Francis
Roberta Francis has been advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment for over thirty years, chairs the ERA Taskforce for the National Council of Women’s Organizations and administers equalrightsamendment.org. She has also been active with the New Jersey League of Women Voters.
There’s something ridiculous about needing to include the ERA in a project about the future—why didn’t we take care of this ninety years ago? If the ERA reminds us of anything, it’s that old ideas can remain new and common sense can be remarkably controversial. I will revisit this theme in my upcoming conversation with Scott Douglas of Greater Birmingham Ministries.
Roberta and I talk about why the ERA failed and why it’s still necessary to a population that, largely, believes sex equality is already guaranteed by the Constitution. We conclude by talking about the tension between individual and collective good, the role of government, and compromise. You will hear echos of Peter Warren, Lawrence Torcello and, in the last coda, John Fife.
Artwork by Eleanor Davis.
To call religion a “hindrance” because God is presented as male shows an ignorance of religion, especially Christianity. It’s not surprising she makes it an enemy, considering Christianity has been hijacked at many points in history by misogynists, not the least of whom are faithless politicians, but this is no different than accusing current believers of the Crusades. I think it’s rude to the forbearers of equality to assert the very thing motivating many them is now the problem, especially to Martin Luther King Jr., whom she actually quotes.
Alienating what could be the ERA’s strongest champion isn’t helpful. Christianity asserts male and female together represent the image of God, in marriage they are one flesh, and a man who treats his wife badly does violence to himself. My wife is happiest when I love her and I am happiest when she respects me, as Scripture commands us too. Scripture doesn’t call us to love or respect other people in the same way, yet many fathers have ignored the command to love and instead abused their need to be respected. That’s to be expected, as original sin destroys their relationship – “you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” The extension of this battle into modern society extends to all households, yet its extension from Christian households directly opposes the teaching of Jesus.
I could go on about Christianity being the first world religion to empower women and more, but my point is the ERA supporters are alienating their greatest ally. Adding abortion and gay marriage to the list only hurts Roberta’s cause further. Abortion is actually opposed to the ERA’s principle it currently strips the father of his rights (as all good fathers will tell you) and ignores the rights of an unborn child. Gay marriage also isn’t of any help, because marriage is a religious institution. (I’m tempted to listen to the next episode before posting, but I won’t cheat!)
The ERA would be better served by being more rational and less religiously secular in its goals. If they would champion equal rights of the father and child, and if they would champion civil unions and the separation of marriage from the state, they would find their support base growing exponentially.