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Jewish World Review/ Feb. 24, 1999/ 7 Adar, 5759
Linda Chavez
Unsettling news about ‘feminism’ --- for the NOW gang
(JWR) --- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com) FOR YEARS, CONSERVATIVES HAVE CLAIMED that the national feminist
organizations don't represent the views of most American women on issues
ranging from abortion to women's role in the family.
Now, a new poll confirms how out-of-sync with the average women groups like
the National Organization for Women really are. But what's most surprising
is that the poll was paid for by the Center for Gender Equality, a group
headed up by former Planned Parenthood director Faye Wattleton -- every bit
a strident feminist in the Patricia Ireland mode.
Wattleton admitted during a press conference to release the study earlier
this month that she "found disturbing the more conservative positions that
women hold." So what were these disturbing views?
The study, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, set out to
measure women's attitudes about religion, religious organizations and public
policy. Among its findings, the study showed that women are quite religious
and becoming more so. Three quarters of women said religion is very
important in their lives, up from about two thirds who responded similarly
to the same question just two years ago. But from its sponsor's viewpoint,
even more unsettling were the study's revelations concerning women's
attitudes toward conservative religious organizations.
According to the survey, women hold a very favorable view of religious
groups and denominations, from the Catholic Church to the Christian
Coalition. Overall, 76 percent of the women polled think religious
organizations play a positive role in American life. When asked
specifically, "Would the things this group stands for improve the lives of
most women, or make the lives of most women worse?" by more than two-to-one,
women said the Southern Baptists and the Christian Coalition would improve
women's lives, and 48 percent of those surveyed said the Catholic Church
would, as well.
Nearly half of all women want to see more involvement of religion and
religious organizations in politics -- not less -- a marked change in
attitudes from previous surveys, which showed two thirds of women believed
that religion and politics don't mix. Even more troublesome for its
sponsors, however, were the study's findings on specific public policy
issues, especially abortion.
Wattleton has been a leader in the abortion rights movement for a
generation. How galled she must be that the survey she commissioned reveals
her own position is poles apart from that of most American women. The
center's study isn't the first to confirm that a large majority of American
women want to see more restrictions on abortion -- 70 percent in this poll.
But the fact it was commissioned by a pro-abortion group makes it clear the
numbers are real and haven't been manipulated by any pro-life language in
the survey itself. What's more, 40 percent of those polled said they oppose
all abortions, except those performed to save the mother's life or in cases
of rape and incest -- a position identical to the Republican Party platform
position -- and another 13 percent said abortion should never be permitted
for any reason.
These results would seem to be good news for organized religion --
especially the more conservative denominations. The study shows women have
been heeding their church's message. Or maybe not.
Surprisingly, the survey found that women's views on moral issues were
little affected by their church's teaching or preaching. Only about one
third of women said their own views of abortion, for example, were primarily
influenced by their religion's teachings on the issue. And less than one
quarter of women said their religion's tenets influenced their views about
marriage.
The reason churches have so little direct influence may be that clergy
today seem generally hesitant to speak out on controversial moral issues.
The study found, for example, that a majority of women who attend church
regularly reported their pastors either never spoke about divorce or spoke
in its favor. And although church-going women are more likely to hear their
pastors speak against abortion, even among Catholics, fully one quarter say
they never hear any statements against abortion from the pulpit.
Maybe it's not just feminist organizations that are out of step with
women's conservative views. It seems women may be more conservative than the
eager-to-please, let's-not be-too-judgmental clergy who have gained such a
strong foothold in many religious denominations in recent years.
Both the
feminists and the clergy would do well to listen to what these women are
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