By Carol Howard Merritt
It's hard to watch the YouTube video of Rep. Mark Souder and part-time staffer Tracy Jackson talking about Souder's unwavering commitment to abstinence education. Souder is the latest family-values guy to get poisoned with his own venom, as we find out that he and Jackson had an affair. This grown man, with a wife and children, could not do what he was asking hormonal prom-goers to do - abstain. In the video, Jackson seems to be intelligent and poised, playing the role of newscaster as well as she plays the role of a no-sex champ. It makes me cringe to see this made-for-Christian-TV video in which Rep. Souder pat himself on the back for standing up for abstinence, while talking to his mistress. But it doesn't surprise me. I grew up in that Christian Right world, and I know it's full of opportunities to be bitten.
Souder was part of the House Republican class of 1994, when we began to hear the "family values" message reverberating through our political and religious landscapes.I certainly heard it, at least. In the early 90s, I was young and a student at a Bible college. I remember one afternoon in particular when I sneaked out of the dorms to go to the beach with my friends, six other Christian college students, most of whom were from out of town. The women were from prominent families. Their fathers were pastors of large conservative churches and Evangelical institutions. All of our parents were in the thick of planning for the Republican Revolution, armed with a pro-life, pro-abstinence, and anti-gay agenda. Most of these women were at a Bible college not because they were aspiring to have great careers in the church, but because they were hoping to find men with similar values so that they could become wives, mothers, and supporters of their husbands' careers. I, on the other hand, was a budding feminist, wrestling in the conservative Evangelical milieu. I liked these women. Even as I look back, I have a great fondness for them. Their hopes were different from mine, and I often became frustrated by their willingness to place all their own career ambitions aside for a man. But they were clever, witty, and beautiful. Their families were powerful for a reason, and as we approached the Oak Street Beach, I even felt a bit intimidated by them.
When we got to the sand, we stripped off our outer clothes, and I realized that we were all wearing bikinis, which was strictly against school rules. Thankfully this was a time when no one carried cell-phone cameras, shared YouTube videos, or kept personal blogs. I doubt we could get away with that sort of indiscretion now. But, as I said, it was summer, they were beautiful, and we were young, so it seemed natural. As we settled ourselves onto the towels, passed around the suntan oil, and slathered it on our bare bellies, we began to talk about abortion. Abortion in those circles was akin to murder, so I was surprised to hear one woman quickly confess, "I would get one." My ears perked as she explained, "I wouldn't even think twice about it. If I got pregnant, it would ruin my father's career. I would never tell my parents or anyone. I would just do it, as soon as I found out." The chorus of women agreed.
I sat silent, looking out into the water. It didn't bother me that one of the women would get an abortion. What concerned me was that she would have an abortion for her family, in order to keep up the appearance of abstinence. She would have it to protect her pro-life father. Watching the lakeshore, I thought of all the strange traps in which we were entangled in order to uphold those "family values." As women, we were the sexual gatekeepers: we were to wear the purity ring and keep vigilant in fighting off men. We were told that masturbating was a sin, and that Joycelyn Elders was a purveyor of evil. If we had sex, we were tainted and immoral. We believed in abstinence, so securing contraceptive pills or buying condoms was like premeditated sin. And now, was it understood that if we became pregnant, we were to quietly get an abortion in order to protect our father's job?
I don't want to universalize that moment and say that all women who grew up in the Religious Right thought these things. But for me, it became too much to bear, and I had to begin imagining values that supported every person in the family. Now that 1994 is far behind us and we are almost numb to the scandals of that "family values" class, can we begin rethinking all of this? And when we do, can we start focusing on the young women? Can we support couples when they need to say "no" and encourage birth control when they are ready to say "yes"? Can we nurture women in all of their choices and urge them to make decisions in light of their own futures? Can we begin to support loving, same-sex couples as they look to start families? As Mark Souder and Tracy Jackson sort through their personal failings, as they adjust and make necessary changes in their own lives, I hope we can change our national dialogue, as well, and use this time to recognize the failings of those "family values" ideas.
In my humble opinion politicians (from both sides of the aisle) play up these ideological, religious and ethical issues in order to garner support from whichever demographic or constituency they're catering to but it's basically little more than window-dressing.
What drives policy and legislation in Washington is money. Money talks and family values/ideology walks...
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