By Pam Blume
Christian Action League
September 8, 2016
Editor’s Note: Pam Blume is the wife of Allan Blume, editor of the state journal of Southern Baptists in North Carolina, The Biblical Recorder. Mrs. Blume currently serves with the distinction of being the second woman in the history of the Christian Action League to serve on its Board of Directors. She is exemplary in her Christian life and makes a tremendous contribution to the direction and ministry of the League. Her roots in Christian activism go all the way back to the early days of Phyllis Schlafly. She has been kind enough to write about her experience and the inspiration Schlafly was to her.
-Dr. Mark Creech, executive director, Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
As a young wife and mother in the 1970s, I became increasingly aware of the political and societal shifts occurring around me. As a college student, the issues of the day had not been on my radar, but the responsibility of raising a young child woke me up to the reality that he would grow up in a much different world than I had in the 1950s.
The rumblings about the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) disturbed me. In my first job, I had experienced disparity of pay and other issues concerning women in the workplace, but the agenda of the radical feminists appeared to go beyond legitimate complaints to an attack on society’s basic underpinnings.
I began to hear about a conservative woman who was pushing back against the feminist tide. Her name was Phyllis Schlafly. She gave voice to the concerns of traditional, conservative women. She was ridiculed and accused of using fear mongering tactics in raising the specter of the expansion of abortion “rights,” female military draft, unisex bathrooms and such.
I had the opportunity to hear her speak when I was living in Charlotte and I came to respect her as a bold woman of conviction who was not afraid to confront her foes head-on. There was a young feminist in the audience who whined that it was not fair that our sons and brothers had to register for the draft while she did not. Mrs. Schlafly told her in bold terms, “There is nothing keeping you from going down to the military recruitment office to sign up right now!” There was thunderous applause!
In 1991, I had the honor to meet Mrs. Schlafly in person. Her Eagle Forum has had a decades-long tradition of honoring an annual “Fulltime Homemaker of the Year” recognizing a woman from each state and a national honoree. I was elected to represent North Carolina and the national award that year went to Mrs. Maureen Scalia, wife of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. It was a thrilling event that opened my eyes to so much of what was going on in the country. Mrs. Schlafly brought in speakers for us to hear such as Allen Keys and Judge Robert Bork.
That was a life-changing experience for me. I came to see what was at stake in our society and was prompted to keep myself informed and find some ways to get involved locally.
So much of what Phyllis Schlafly warned us about has come to pass. A radical agenda that would have been given carte blanche by a vague, sweeping amendment such as the ERA is now being achieved piecemeal by unelected judges making up “rights” out of thin air and by elected officials who pass godless legislation. Abortion on demand? Selling of fetal body parts? Gender-free bathrooms and locker rooms? Even now there is discussion in congress on female draft legislation.
The lesson to be learned from the activism of Phyllis Schlafly is that we must be vigilant if we do not want to see our society degrade any further. We must be aware. We must push back.