Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2018 | Page 21

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
(McLerran 2008), one speaker bemoans the state of U.S. culture, particularly its
focus on the individual: “Affluence doesn’t just mean that we buy more stuff, it
means that we want to live our lives as individuals as opposed to being in large
groups.” In other words, broader U.S. culture focuses on self rather than community
values. The narrative goes on to indicate that this is the type of desire that
leads to depopulation. Toward the end of the video, Philip Longman, Senior Fellow
at the New America Foundation, paints the future in stark contrast declaring,
“Either we go by the Swedish model or we return to traditional values, specifically
patriarchy, properly understood, which was a value system that persuaded both
men and women to have and take care of children” (McLerran 2008). The Swedish
model, according to this video, means state policies that among other things support
working mothers. The Swedish model is presented in the film as an abysmal
failure that has not increased birth rates and is a fundamentally selfish way to live.
Thus, it is the woman’s responsibility to ensure community security by submitting
her body to the will of God and her husband rather than focusing on individual
security. By doing so, she will help to hold back an ever-encroaching state. The
movement draws upon articles and blogs that reinforce this message. For instance,
it is asserted in the Federalist blog that:
as all good totalitarians know it is mothers—specifically, devoted
and self-sacrificing mothers—who gum up the works of statist control
in a society. Her crime is forging bonds of love, the self-sacrificing
kind that don’t mix with big government schemes. Worse, when
she forges these bonds within the context of a marriage covenant
with the child’s father, she is exponentially more hazardous to the
centralized state. (Morabito 2016)
It is, therefore, not enough to sacrifice her body to bear as many children as
possible; a woman must also be self-sacrificing within the bounds of marriage and
family in order to fulfill her duty to God and country.
Cheryl Lindsay Seelhoff, a former leader among Quiverfull women, who
was publicly excommunicated after deciding to divorce, explains that Quiverfull
families are often somewhat isolated, and thus abuse goes unnoticed by the community
members. She felt her life was in danger from her husband, and yet the
church told her to reconcile with her husband, hand over her bank account to
the church, refrain from using the Internet, cease from going out in public alone
or speaking in public ever again (CTV 2012; Seelhoff 2012). The perspective she
shares is that women are only secure if they follow narrowly prescribed norms
set forth by manifested patriarchal constructions. Kristiana Miner, who grew up
in the Quiverfull movement, echoes the notion that abuse is tolerated among the
Quiverfull; “training videos” by Michael and Debi Pearl encouraging physical discipline
of the children were “second only to the bible” in her household (Shelton
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