Tender Warriors

Abstract

The advice and activism of Christian women that revalorizes traditional femininity in biblical terms has its counterpart in a growing Christian men’s movement and in psychological counseling based on biblical interpretations of absolute gender differences. In addressing the difficulties faced by families trying to cope with the physical or emotional abandonment by men, as well as the emotional and spiritual needs of the men themselves, the Christian men’s movement achieves a simple clarity: making promises and keeping them. This is joined to a pedagogy that teaches men the skills of communication and intimacy, filling a void for men who have heard contradictory messages from society and have tried, without enough guidance, to figure out how to be good fathers and husbands. The movement also speaks to many women trying to keep their families together in the face of men’s abdication of responsibility. Dismissing all the men involved in this movement as angry white males too quickly homogenizes them, overlooking the fact that many of them are, indeed, interested both in looking for community and in learning responsible behavior. Another important goal of the Christian men’s movement, the Promise Keepers, is to break down racial barriers among men, though the response to that appeal is reflected more in terms of African American clergy than attendees, who represent only 1 to 3 percent of the audience at Promise Keeper events.¹

We have been in a war but not at war! If we are to make a difference, it will require much more than we’ve been doing until now.

—Bill McCartney

It appears that America’s anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men’s movement which may become the foundation of a desperately needed national spiritual awakening.

—Jerry Falwell