Concerned Women for America (CWA)

The Concerned Women for America are the Religious Right's answer to feminism. Founded by Beverly LaHaye in 1979, CWA claims to "protect the interests of American families and provide a voice for women throughout the U.S. who believe in Judeo-Christian values". Translation: A right-wing lobbying group that targets women and promotes the reactionary "pro-family" agenda. In terms of issues, CWA is 100% in line with the rest of the Religious Right. Public education is bad, gays and lesbians are evil, and all social problems go back directly to the 1960's decision of the supreme court that allegedly bans prayer in public schools (not true).

The Concerned Women recently became a haven for Robert Knight and Peter LaBarbara, formerly of the Family Research Council. Knight and LaBarbara decided it was time to leave when the FRC was no longer radical enough. They now have their own little outlet called The Culture and Family Insitute.

Concerned Women vs. Truth "Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society." Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Law, 1814 CWA press releases frequently contain inaccuracies and outright lies. A recent press release on James Hormel's appointment as ambassador to Luxembourg makes the following bold statement: President Clinton appointed Mr. Hormel without Senate approval, the only way the American people have of officially expressing their views. He denied Americans and their representatives the right to vote on whether it is appropriate to appoint radical activists to ambassadorships. The truth in the matter is that it was not Clinton who denied the representatives of the American people the right to vote on the Hormel confirmation, but the Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who flatly refused to bring Hormel up to a vote. The article concludes: Once again, President Clinton has done a disservice to America and to the Constitution by imposing his will and ignoring the constitutional process of checks and balance. Once again, the truth suggests a different conclusion. Regarding presidential appointments of ambassadors, it is the constitutional duty of the Senate to "advise and consent". There is no constitutional right to place a hold on a nomination. By not bringing up Mr. Hormel for a vote in the Senate, Trent Lott, not the President, imposed his will on America and ignored the constitutional process of checks and balances. If the Senate had been allowed to do its constitutional duty of "checking and balancing", there would have been no need for Clinton to restore the integrity of the nomination process by exercising his constitutional right to a recess appointment. Concerned Women vs. Logic "Studies prove the harmful effects of pornography, including: 81% of serial sex murderers interviewed by the FBI admitted using pornography (..)" CWFA press release But studies also show that over 86% of criminals in prison are Christians. The question is what these statistics prove and what they don't prove. Every first-year science student learns about the pitfalls of conditional probabilities. The probability for A, given B is not equal to the probability of B, given A. In this case: if you are a serial sex murderer, then you are 81% likely to also be a user of pornography. However, this probability is entirely irrelevant to the issue of pornography. The relevant figure is the probability that you will turn out to be a sex murderer, given you consume pornography. And that probability is exceedingly low, given that millions of law-abiding and well-adjusted Americans consume pornography on a regular basis. In layman's terms: just because most sexual murderers watch pornography, not everyone who watches pornography will be a sexual murderer. Most prison inmates in the US are christian, but that doesn't mean that most christians are prison inmates. Most serial sex murderers drive cars, but that does not prove that driving a car makes you more likely to be a sex murderer. The lesson to be learned here is: Correlation does not imply causation. Conclusion: the argument used by the CWA press release to show the harmful effects of pornography on society is based on faulty logic and mathematically untenable. It proves only one thing: that the author of the press release in question received an inadequate science education.

Beverly LaHaye also produces a daily radio program called Beverly LaHaye Today, "a daily radio ministry of Concerned Women for America", "with the information you need to defend your home, your family and your nation".

• Concerned about Concerned Women for America
• A study of the CWA
• More information on the CWA
• Angry White Women
• Fundamentalist Christianity and the Family