During campaign season, a number of groups-mainstream and fringe-create pledges for candidates to sign. The Family Leader’s “Marriage Vow” pledge is an early contender for the wackiest. Even more surprising, or perhaps not surprising, is that a bunch of Republican presidential hopefuls have signed this pledge.

This pledge includes some doozies. Candidates that sign the pledge promised to remain faithful to their spouse, opposition to any attempt to redefine marriage and ending “quickie” divorces. Also included in the pledge is a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with marriage, like keeping the government small, banning Sharia Islam but interestingly protecting the first amendment (I guess freedom of religion only counts in protecting Christians.)

Some passages from this crackpot joke of a pledge were so ridiculous that the Family Leader was forced to remove them. But, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed the pledge even before the controversial portions were removed. The Family Leader’s “Marriage Vow” included this section in the preamble;

“Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.” Yes, because being raised as property is so much more appealing than only having one parent. I mean, really?

The strange written promise included a provision that the candidate must reject anti-woman, anti-human rights forms of totalitarian control. Interesting that Bachmann was the first to sign this. She has stated that she believes women should be subservient to their husbands. The obvious problem with this is that a person who is subservient to anyone should NOT be president.

Also, how can Ms. Bachmann quickly jump up to sign this pledge promising to reject anti-woman forms of totalitarian control? Just because it has a Christian spin on it does not make it less totalitarian. Anti-woman is anti-woman, no matter what country, political party or religion is responsible.

Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

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About the author

Erin Chavez
Erin Whitney-Chavez has been writing professionally since 2009. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure University and received a Master of Arts in mental-health counseling from Argosy University. Erin Whitney-Chavez is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the mental-health field for more than 10 years.