GOP Congressman Calls For Wives ‘To Voluntarily Submit’ To Their Husbands
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So, is this what Republicans mean when they say “traditional marriage” must be defended?
Despite a shellacking at the polls in 2012, despite an expensive RNC “autopsy” on why Republicans are losing — especially in key demographics like women — despite actual classes the National Republican Congressional Committee has urged its members to attend on how to talk to women, and despite countless efforts and an untold fortune spent trying to “rebrand” itself, Republican politicians just can’t seem to help but be themselves.
And being themselves is what’s so offensive to so many Americans.
Take Republican U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce of New Mexico. Born in Texas, Pearce is 66, a Southern Baptist, married, served in the Air Force in Vietnam, was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives, and is a six-term veteran in the U.S. Congress, having lost one race in 2008.
Oh, and he’s “been supported by the Family Research Council and the Campaign for Working Families,” according to his campaign website, which touts his conservative bona fides. The Family Research Council is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an active anti-gay hate group. The Campaign for Working Families was founded by Religious Right radical activist Gary Bauer, who used to be the head of the Family Research Council.
And now, Pearce is getting slammed.
Pearce’s memoir, Just Fly The Plane, Stupid!, talks about his life as a pilot and small business owner, and includes his philosophy on how to relate to women.
“The wife is to voluntarily submit, just as the husband is to lovingly lead and sacrifice,” Pearce writes, in an uncanny mirroring of Michele Bachmann‘s comments. It’s also in the Bible.
“The husband’s part is to show up during the times of deep stress, take the leadership role and be accountable for the outcome, blaming no one else.”
The Washington Post notes that Pearce “emphasizes repeatedly in the chapter that submission doesn’t mean inferiority but rather that husbands and wives play different roles. He also says it doesn’t mean his wife doesn’t have a say in major decisions.”
“The wife’s submission is not a matter of superior versus inferior; rather, it is self-imposed as a matter of obedience to the Lord and of love for her husband,” he writes.
…
In the Bible, the book of Ephesians says wives should “submit to their husbands in everything” (according to the New International Version). Pearce’s book doesn’t quote this verse, but it does criticize men who use this passage in order to “bully their wives and families.” He says that “authoritarian control is not given to the husband.”
The Post notes that Pearce’s spokesperson lashed out at the paper, apparently not having fully read the article.
Last year, Pearce was granted a 93 percent rating by the virulently anti-gay, anti-women (almost) hate group, Concerned Women for America. To his credit, he voted for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.
But he has a zero rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and HRC. He has repeatedly voted against the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, and voted against the Equal Pay Bill and voted “NA” on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He also voted against ENDA.
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