On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:23:31 pm PDT, Charles Johnson’s blog Littlegreenfootballs.com (“LGF”) posted a “Friday Night Book Thread” advertising, um I mean suggesting “Some recommended books now on [Charle’s] Kindle.” (I presume it is Charles as I don’t know of anyone else posting Threads at LGF)

The link to this post at LGF, http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/34048_Friday_Night_Book_Thread.  (copy and paste to avoid the block)

One books “recommended” by Charles at LGF (btw: I would love a screen shot of it, to add to this post, if I could get some help) is “Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement” by Kathryn Joyce”

Who Is Kathryn Joyce?

A bio states “Kathryn Joyce received her B.A. from Hampshire College and her M.A. in cultural reporting and criticism from New York University. Her freelance writing has appeared in The Nation, Mother Jones, Newsweek, The Massachusetts Review, and other publications (Ed- such as Double X). She has received support from The MacDowell Colony and The Nation Institute and is former managing editor of The Revealer, a daily review of religion and the media published by NYU’s Center for Religion and Media, a Pew Charitable Trusts “Center of Excellence.” She lives in New York City.”

Hmmm…  Let us look into some of those associations.

●  The Nation: The description given by Yahoo.com: “Weekly journal of opinion, featuring progressive ideas and analysis on politics and culture, publishing since 1865.”

●  Mother Jones: The description given by the Magazine’s “About” page:

“Mother Jones is a nonprofit news organization that specializes in investigative, political, and social justice reporting…Why should you read or support us? Because “smart, fearless journalism” keeps people informed–”informed” being pretty much indispensable to a democracy that actually works.  Because we’ve been ahead of the curve time and again. Because this is journalism not funded by or beholden to corporations…“

Mother Jones has had Michael Moore as their editor, and in defense of being called a “Lefist, Pinko Rag” states the following:

“We believe all people should have equal opportunity in life, that all children should be able to go to good schools, and that everyone should have health care.  Call that what you will–we’re not insulted by being called left, liberal, progressive, whatever.“

Mother Jones writers can be found on The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show, which are not quite bastions of Conservative thought.

What Is This Book “Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement”?

The book is described by “amazon.com” as follows:

“From Publishers Weekly –Journalist Joyce has conducted a groundbreaking investigation of a little-known movement among Christian evangelicals that rejects birth control and encourages couples to have as many children as possible. The movement, which takes its name from a verse in Psalm 127, advocates a retreat from society and a rejection of government policies that encourage equal rights for women, pregnancy prevention and an individualistic ethic. Quiverfull families share with more mainline Protestant groups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, a belief that wives should submit to their husbands.  But the group goes further by insisting that children be home schooled and daughters forgo a college education in favor of early marriage and childbearing…Members of the movement use militaristic metaphors and see themselves waging a war to win back the culture and rescue American society. The book lacks an in-depth historical account of the movement’s connections to 19th- and 20th-century American fundamentalism or its accommodation with modernity, especially its heavy use of Internet blogs.  Yet future historians and journalists will owe Joyce a debt of gratitude for her foray into this still nascent religious group.”

I haven’t read the book, and know nothing about the movement, but from my own understanding of religion (and gender roles based thereon), and personal experience in dealing with non-religious people regarding it, I am highly skeptical that this movement is against “equal rights” and as sexist, etc., as the author puts forth.  This Thread isn’t a book review however, so I am going to move on.

LGFs Strange Bedfellows Get Worse!

There are many people who share Kathryn Joyce’s (and LGFs?) view of religion and the Quiverfull movement. They would be the Communists, America Haters, Israel Haters, and “Progressives” (was I just overly redundant?) at Pacifica Radio.

Yesterday, July 29, 2009 @ 5:30 Kathryn Joyce appeared on Beneath the Surface with Michael Slate on radio station KPFK in Los Angeles, to discuss her book, defend radical feminism, attack home schooling, and ridicule religion.

You can hear the program here, download it here, or listen to a podcast of it here.   Below is a copy of the program schedule for the show, along with archives from KPFK.

Beneath The Surface with Michael Slate Guests: Carl Dix, Kathryn Joyce.  Topics: Henry Gates arrest, Christian fundamentalism Carl Dix, member of the Revolutionary Communist Party on the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates.  Kathryn Joyce, author of Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement, from Beacon Press.  Tuesday, July 28, 2009 5:00 pm 0:58:18

This attitude is not surprising however, when you know a bit about the host – Michael Slate.

Revolution Magazine (the self-proclaimed ”Voice of the revolutionary communist party, U.S.A.”) describes Michael Slate as follows :

Michael Slate, the only revolutionary communist hosting a weekly drive-time radio show in America, can be heard on Beneath the Surface every Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m.  Pacific time on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles and 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara. You can also tune in on the internet at www.kpfk.org.

Beneath the Surface with Michael Slate is where many have heard the voice of Bob Avakian, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, including a ten-part interview that Slate conducted and recent talks and presentations by the Chairman.

Slate’s show provides up-to-the-minute analysis of the most pressing issues of the day: ranging from the war in the Middle East to the assault on science and critical thinking, victims of police brutality, military resisters, writers and scholars dedicated to exposing the dangers of theocracy and Christian fascists, progressive artists, anti-war and impeachment activists, former Guantanamo detainees, and civil liberties lawyers. Past guests have included: Ward Churchill, Steve Earle, Ursula LeGuin, Niles Eldredge, Sam Harris, Rickie Lee Jones, Richard Falk, Ann Wright, David Cross, Jose Maria Sison, rappers Boots Riley and Paris, Ray McGovern, Saul Williams, former U.S. Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, David Crosby, Los Tigres del Norte, and Oscar Brown Jr. The show also features revolutionary journalists who write for the pages of Revolution newspaper.

Michael Slate has been a correspondent for Revolution (formerly the Revolutionary Worker) for over two decades.

Michael Slate also has his own website: “Red Future” (if you have speakers turn them on for the intro).

Then, of course, there is Pacifica Radio – the  most Leftist organization in America. They are the Voice of the Enemy Within -founded at Berkeley to protest American entry in WW2.  (Hey why should they be bothered with defeating Nazism?)  Seriously, they make MSNBC look and feel like FOX News.  But hey, don’t just trust me; look around at Pacifica Radio’s website and make your own mind up.

It sure is curious that LGF would align itself with, and support those who are so closely tied with the Communist Party, the Progressive machine, and Leftist ideals.

Unfortunately for LGF however, this isn’t the first time they have found themselves arguing the same things as the Communist Party.

Updated to add screenshot: Check out ad. Alternative points of view? LGF might not be the best place for that particular ad) ~m

Click image for full size – (many thanks to The Watcher for the screenshot)