Two days after Fred’s son died, his neighbor invited him to the first Promise Keepers rally held in Minneapolis.
Fred accepted the invitation on the spot. He needed someone to talk with during the long, grief-filled days to come. After the rally, he joined a small group that met monthly in the homes of members. He seemed to find support in their friendship.
At first, I was happy for Fred’s connection with Promise Keepers. Then, without explanation, Fred skipped our Wednesday prayer group and a church council meeting.
When I pressed him for reasons, he said he no longer saw me as his pastor. Promise Keepers had taught him the godly way was for men to lead and women to follow.
When Promise Keepers gather in our nation’s capitol on Oct. 4, my friend Fred will probably be among them.
He is one of the good guys, looking for answers to important questions. His only sin is not looking below the surface.
At first glance, Promise Keepers appears to be a wholesome, outreach Christian ministry. The 7-year-old tax-exempt empire employs 360 paid staff people and reports annual revenues of $87 million. If numbers are measure of success, Promise Keepers is one of the most important evangelical movements today. Last year, more than 1 million men from 22 cities attended Promise Keepers rallies.
But appearances can be deceiving. Rather than the Christ-centered ministry it pretends to be, it seems like Promise Keepers’s fundamental concern is the power of men over women, men over other men and the United States over every other nation.
The proof of this is in their theology as well as their supporters. The organization is supported by Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition, Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority, television evangelist D. James Kennedy and James Dobson from Focus on the Family. All supply money, speakers, writers and advertising for Promise Keepers. And all are members of the Council for National Policy, an organization hell-bent on steering national politics to the far Right.
The founder of Promise Keepers is Bill McCartney, former head coach of the University of Colorado’s football team. Among McCartney’s credentials is membership on the board of Coloradans for Traditional Values, the organization that sought to limit the civil rights of gays and lesbians in Colorado.
McCartney also has ties to anti-choice groups and has been a featured speaker at events for Operation Rescue, the organization often cited for disruptions at women’s health clinics.
My friend Fred doesn’t have a clue. He joined Promise Keepers for simple reasons. The organization offered him the assurance of his supremacy at a time when his grief and anxiety was becoming unmanageable.
These days, when it comes to male angst, Fred has lots of company. Compared to women, American men are more likely to die of suicide, neglect their children, abandon their spouses, drive fast, shoot to kill, go to prison, suffer from alcoholism, get cancer, use illegal drugs and die young.
Up against this audience, the Promise Keepers do more than glorify manhood. They identify spiritual victories with worldly power. They confuse dominion with domination. They mix religious zeal with patriotism.
No wonder they find an audience. Comforting stuff to men who feel powerless at work and bullied at home.
Too bad it’s heresy.
There are those who wonder why Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and Catholics don’t ride this new wave of manly-man theology.
The reasons are simple. Religious leaders know the authentic spiritual walk is more than a yard-run for Jesus. It begins with humble, baby steps of accepting the unlovable, caring for the less fortunate and forgiving the unforgivable.
Besides, good Christians have always been embarrassed by the glorification of biology.
And heresy, even the sexy heresy of the Promise Keepers, is heresy still.
