As our theology series wraps up, we are diving headfirst into justice, and the first thing we are going to cover is why in God’s name the United States is one of only 18 countries that doesn’t protect women in the constitution.

The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex; it seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters.

It still hasn’t passed, even though an early version of it was introduced nearly 100 years ago by Alice Paul. Guess who has been holding campaigning against it?

Christian women.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why some Christian women are holding back the rights of all women. Especially considering that justice is a Biblical mandate. But, it’s true.

On this episode, I interview Allyson McKinney-Tim on the ins and out of the Equal Rights Amendment and why it hasn’t passed. What’s better, we can talk about how we as women can mobilize and make sure that in 2020 women may finally be granted the rights they deserve.

 

 

Here are the links Allyson has recommended:

An excellent article about the ERA

How can we help get it passed?

 

·       If you are in one of the 13 states that has not yet ratified the ERA–including Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North & South Carolina, among others–you have an opportunity to get involved locally and voice your support for state ratification. Find out where your legislators stand and let them know why you support the ERA.

 

·       On a national level, contact your congress men and women to express support for bills currently pending in both houses of Congress that would eliminate the deadline for ratification of the ERA. See equalitynow.org/era for more details.

 

·       In particular, I encourage people of faith who support the ERA to write their state and national legislators, as well as the opinion pages of their newspapers, to express how the values of your faith that move you to care about women’s well being, to respect their inherent dignity, and to stand up for their basic human rights. This is vital to counteracting the dangerous message of religious opposition to this basic and much needed human rights measure.

 

·       I’ll have an article coming out later this month discussing why Christians who care about justice and human rights should take seriously the need to safeguard women’s rights under our constitution. Sign up on our home page at justicerevival.org to receive news on that, piece as well as future updates about our advocacy efforts.

 

·       Check out equalrightsamendment.org for a social media toolkit you can use to voice your support.

 

·       Learn more about the ERA and get involved by joining the national ERA Coalition, eracoalition.org. This is also a good way to connect with others doing work in your state. 

 

How can we educate ourselves on things like this in our government?

 

·       For in-depth education on the ERA, I recommend Jessica Neuwirth’s book, Equal Means Equal, from which I’ve drawn the case analysis I shared earlier. She examines key areas of sex discrimination that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court, telling the story of legal cases that inform the need for an ERA.

 

·       If you’re interested in how our constitution compares to others around the world, check out the 2014 report from World Policy Analysis Center, Equal Rights for Women and Girls in the World’s Constitutions

Jimmy Carter’s 2014 book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power was also referenced 🙂