Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement

I hardly know what to say about this book. I can say that I enjoyed it. But I can't say that it was a comfortable read, or even one that appealed. My enjoyment came more from the fact that it was informative and challenging, and also the fact that it wasn't presented as "propaganda" but merely a series of facts and observations that allowed the reader to make their own conclusions. Now, I have many Christian friends, and friends of many other denominations as well, and I do not fault these people for having faith. In fact, I think faith is a very important part of life. Faith in what may be debateable, but for the most part I think that if people chose to live good lives that the who is less important. But the message of this book isn't show more about leading that kind of life. It speaks to (far) right Christian fundamentalism in general, and in particular, the Quiverfull movement. Now, what is interesting is that in several places the book makes it clear that leaders of these coupled movements claim that this is non-political. And then, with barely a breath taken, the message goes on to totally refute this - it's actually quite amusing even as it is mind boggling. I have often said that The Handmaid's Tale is one of the most frightening books that I have ever read, and this book here speaks to why. The math, as they put it, is quite simple. If I have two children, and my children each have two children, and their children each have two children - we've got, what, 14? Now, if I'm a member of Quiverfull, and I have ten children and they each have ten children, and each of those children has ten children - well, you do the math and then lets talk about political power. (But remember, they're not a political movement. Right?) I won't even begin to address the matter of women and submission. You really have to read this mix of Old and New Testament theology to begin to get a sense of what is going on. No. Really. You do. show less

Kathryn Joyce takes us on an alarming, enlightening, startling journey through an American subculture most of us are unaware of. Most of us are aware of the influence of the "Christian right" in Republican politics. What's less obvious is that a significant part of that "Christian right" are not our run of the mill evangelical Christians, people who may be more supportive of morality- based laws, and less supportive of sex education, contraception, and teaching the facts of evolution, but who aren't all that different from the mainstream, especially the mainline Protestant mainstream. That's not the "Christian right" that Ms. Joyce is writing about.

This is a different phenomenon, of which the visible tip of the iceberg is Christian show more home-schooling and the Duggar family, of the reality show "19 Kids and Counting."

The Duggars are part of the Quiverfull movement, a movement which advocates letting God determine the number of children a couple will have, strictly traditional gender roles in which even the most traditional work outside the home for women is society-destroying "feminism," modest dress, home-schooling, and chaperoned courtship rather than dating for finding spouses.

Ms. Joyce travels through this subculture, revealing both the sincere belief behind it, and the corruptions and hypocrisies that afflict them. This is a world in which girls are taught to be subservient even to their younger brothers--the servants of the representatives of God on Earth. Women should help support the family, but they should not work outside the home, so they should develop home businesses--and run them while waiting hand and foot on husbands, fathers, brothers.

We follow the stories of several families in different parts of this subculture, families that are still a part of it, and families who have, in various ways and to various degrees, broken with it. Ms. Joyce also traces the surprising international reach of the movement, with alliances not just with conservative Christians in other countries but even, unexpectedly, alliances with some of the "fundamentalist" sects of not only Judaism, but Islam.

This is a fascinating and in some ways scary book, and both well written and well-organized. It's an excellent introduction to a little-recognized but influential American subculture.

Recommended.

I bought this book. show less

Quiverfull is a fascinating look into the culture and personal lives of fundamentalist Christians who are part of the pro-natalist, "Quiverfull" movement. They are completely against any form of birth control--including the rhythm method--and believe in having as many children as God blesses them with...

However, it gets freakier than that. Many of these people go above and beyond, seeing their children as armies of God who will rise up and defeat the enemy (the enemy being Muslims, liberals, atheists, feminists, etc). They look down upon women who have trouble conceiving or who have had miscarriages, believing that sin or rebellion against God causes infertility.

The believe that wives should be submissive to their husbands and women show more submissive to men in general. And some believers take this to the point of telling women who are in abusive relationships to stay in those relationships and "look inside themselves" to discover secret sin, anger, or disloyalty towards their violent husbands and repent.

Some of these Christians belong to churches that practice public discipline--i.e. if someone in the church is accused of sin, they will be subjected to a punishment (usually public apologies, that sort of thing). If they refuse to cooperate, they are shunned by the entire church community and, occasionally, by the larger fundamentalist community. This often leads to loss of business, destitution, and crippling depression and loneliness.

Essentially, the most hardcore of the Quiverfull Christians are not Christians at all--but members of a large-scale cult. Or, at least, that's what it looks like to an outsider such as myself. Folks like Doug Phillips--head of the Vision Forum--sacrifice basic human decency and kindness in order to gain a kind of impossible moral purity that reminds me of the infamous Pharisees of Jesus' time. Phillips, and the other leaders of the Quiverfull movement believe that "feminists", "liberals", and "secular humanists" have sacrificed their souls to worldly pleasures and, ultimately, to Satan. However, the undercurrent of extreme arrogance, fanatical control, and foamy-mouthed hatred and intolerance prevalent in the preachings and writings of people like Phillips suggest that these men and women have sacrificed their souls to a malevolent and hateful god of their own making. show less

The title, Quiverfull, refers to Psalms 127 which directs us to give birth to a quiverfull of God's arrows. Followers of Quiverfull philosophy are setting out to create a pure church, which strictly follows the Bible literally. They believe in a strict patriarchal structure with all females in total submission to the males in their lives. They leave God to open and close the womb, meaning no birth control, including the rhythm method. This ensures a full quiver of between five and twenty children for each family.

These children are home schooled and kept under tight control to prevent any outside influences. In this way, the movement's leaders hope to flood the US with a powerful group of pure Christians who will save the country while show more preparing for Christ's return.

Although there are only about 10,000 followers in the US (with a smattering in other English speaking countries)--a true fringe group--there are many more people who subscribe to these beliefs without self-identifying as a Quiverfull family. Many protestants who have left the mainstream churches because they aren't Biblical enough stumble into this lifestyle without realizing it has a name. Also, this isn't a strictly cohesive group--they range from the typical Christians who only care about God, Church and the Family all the way to extremist Taliban-like dangerous nutjobs (e.g.: Andrea Yates, who murdered her five children, was a Quiverfull mother who was mixed in with a extremely dangerous pastor)

Unfortunately, in reality, most Quiverfull families are not living the good life as exemplified by the most famous bunch--reality TV's Duggar Family of 19 Kids and Counting fame. Instead, most of these families struggle on one small income and daily life is quite harsh for them. Women live a cycle of housework, birth, breastfeeding and home schooling--oh, and church, of course. Schooling for girls is sometimes neglected and there is certainly no need for post-secondary education for those without a penis. Instead the ideal daughter should focus on serving the men in her life, by doing things such as "fetchng a father's slippers for him in order to free the father up for weightier dominion tasks in reclaiming the world for Christ."

Kathyrn Joyce is a feminist and not a Christian, so obviously her book is not written in support of this lifestyle. However, she stays away from pointed observation and lets the adherents speak for themselves through their own words.

I think the biggest fault of this book is that for all the research she obviously did, the author neglected to cite her sources directly. Otherwise, this was a thought-provoking and eye opening read.

Why I Read This Now: I hadn't planned to, but I was a little bored with the novel I'm reading, and then I read an interesting article at the AlterNet site ( http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/149022/creepy_christian_patriarchy_m..., and I just couldn't NOT read it. I mean, it has it all--cultural studies! wacky fundamentalists! Atrocities against women that get my feminist hackles up! How could I let it just sit on my shelf?

Recommended for: Readers interested in -cultural studies! wacky fundamentalists! Atrocities against women that get your feminist hackles up! show less

Quiverfull is a comprehensive look at the Quiverfull movement -- and other aspects that often co-occur with it, such as homeschooling, the whole purity movement, and anti-feminism. As someone who grew up in religious homeschooling circles, none of this was a surprise to me... but all of it was terrifying. Definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good overview of the Christian patriarchy movement and how toxic it can be.

(Side note: I thought I'd read this book in part to pass the time until the next Handmaid's Tale episode. BOY was that a scary idea.)

I got my first introduction to the Quiverfull movement the same way I'm sure most Americans did--watching the Duggars on TLC and their ever-expanding family. Understanding the movement that spawned the Duggars became a slight obsession for me. I've lurked on blogs, poked around message boards, and read a few of their books. The idea of the Proverbs 31 wife has always been a bit disturbing, but Joyce lays out all the trappings of these patriarchy groups. It goes beyond that and down the road to full subserviance. She tells the story behind the movement and its precipitous rise over the last 50 years, including many of its goals. Most notably, she points out the hardships that come from raising a large brood with one income (when you show more aren't subsidized by a TV show) and how badly women are ignored and left behind in the name of godliness. Her writing is a bit disjointed, but other than this, this was an informative and distubing read. show less

I came into this book expecting to be in basic agreement with the author and her conclusions, knowing that this was a critical look at conservative Christianity. Although I did, I found myself wishing that Joyce would back off somewhat in how she interpreted the material. I would have enjoyed it more if she had let her sources speak for themselves.