Bob Vander Plaats sent out an email yesterday saying “our critics are distorting the facts.” He wrote:
I’d like to be perfectly clear….
The Marriage Vow is about setting a higher standard for marriages and families. This is precisely why we developed The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon MARRIAGE and FAMILY.
Having presidential candidates and other leaders sign the pledge will provide Americans with evidence of a higher standard and model which will strengthen marriages, strengthen families, strengthen our economy, and strengthen our society.
Our critics are distorting the facts and misrepresenting The Marriage Vow. The preamble to the vow references relevant and sobering data which points to marriages and families being in crisis. The FAMiLY LEADER has never made the claim, nor ever will, that slavery was better for families.
Ok, but I don’t believe that particular item has had anything to do with why Tim Pawlenty and Herman Cain declined to sign the pledge. I have said before I don’t necessarily have a problem with what is in the pledge. The FAMiLY Leader is certainly free to create a pledge for the presidential candidates if they’re going to endorse. I know David Shedlock, who writes here, has a huge problem with the pledge. I don’t think Bob’s response will satisfy him. It seems like they’re ignoring criticism from the faith community.
I guess I was apathetic toward it. I didn’t appreciate certain aspects of the pledge being called sexist, but that doesn’t mean I think this was a good idea. I don’t. Mainly, and I think this is my biggest problem with it, is that it seems like it was thrown together in order to keep The FAMiLY Leader relevant in the 2012 race. It seemed to me to be more about Bob Vander Plaats than the issues itself. I also think David brought up some excellent points as well.
Now you have Bob sending out an email trying to get other people to sign it to show their support… Support for a Christian position on the issues? No, support for The FAMiLY Leader. I thought the original intent was to use the “Marriage Vow” as a basis for an endorsement?
Below is a video from Bob explaining why they wrote the “Marriage Vow”:
Photo by Dave Davidson
