OK, fair enough. I am, to a certain extent, a student of the second half of the 20th Century. As our country was socially working its way out of the confusion and destruction of WWII and Korea, a few people began to emerge onto our National stage who would ultimately drive large swaths of our greater consciousness. As you will remember, camps began to form around ideas of how best to direct us all into the future. It wasn't long before faces started to be associated with ideologies and, as is always the case, rivalries formed. Men, as had been the case for our entire history, picked up where they had left off pre-war and went about their business making money and participating in politics. I don't mean to be boring but everything has to have a beginning somewhere. Very successful men often had wives who were comfortable in a traditional nuclear setting. After their children were up and running, they had time to devote to church, community projects, the YMCA, etc. Such was the case with Phyllis Schlafly. Her husband was a very successful attorney and he provided very much in the way of creature comforts for his wife and his children. As he kids were growing, she had the time to invest in youth sports, school activities, the PTA. She was very bright and she was a natural organizer. She easily fit into a very traditional, structured microcosmic world both at home and in her community. She sat on the board of the YMCA. She contributed to every worthwhile social project needed by her town and surrounding villages. OK, I'm running on and on, so let me try to cut to the chase. She saw life one way and by the time the ERA was cranking up, she had thousands and thousands of women supporters who viewed things much like she did.
The critical mass came when diametrically opposed ideologies met. Probably the simplest way to express it was that Phyllis and her forces were the opposite hand to the Welfare state. Whereas Phyllis said the family unit was the answer, the Welfare state and its cohort The War on Poverty said that Big Government was the answer. The tension between those two mammoth forces is still very much with us today, in fact, it's now probably worse than ever.
By now it is probably obvious that I hold Phyllis Schlafly in very high regard. She was a Woman who had balls as big as garbage can lids. She would stand up and never back down. She fought for what she believed in and she fought until the end. In her view, the nuclear family was what humanity is built on. The idea of an unwed mother being paid by a welfare state to raise her children was truly offensive to her basic sense of morality.
This thread has been painful for me because people who know absolutely nothing about Phyllis Schlafly have said some of the most vile and disgusting things about a fellow human that I have ever heard. If they knew anything, they would know that she has probably done more to protect them than all of the government programs combined for the last 55 years. I have not attacked any member in this thread, but I will admit to you that the vulgar way in which she has been treated upon her passing has left me with a very bad feeling for some of the members here.
Cherry picked quotes over fifty years of a brave woman's life are not representative, and not fair. Those quotes elicited pathetic reactions from the regular "hangers-on" as the piling on began. In many ways, the behaviors of members on this thread paint an unattractive portrait of what a generation or two of ERA babies must really look like.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Quaz
