OWS Has Roots in '60s Feminist Movement, Says Christian Family Expert
There is a direct correlation between the Occupy Wall Street movement and the feminist movement of the 1960s, says a Christian family and modern culture expert.
Author and speaker Rebecca Hagelin, who also serves on the board of directors for Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk radio show, said during her recent interview on the show that the worldview of today’s protesters is very similar to what women demanded 50 years ago.
Hagelin was asked by Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, about the “linkage between what was going on then, where there was just chaos and it was also godless,” and the Occupy movement.
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“We can look at what’s going on today and see a direct correlation through the early goals and statements of the radical feminist movement from the 60s,” Hagelin said on Monday’s show.
“It’s the same worldview that was behind the women in the 1960s demanding the ability to be able to abort their children … burning their bras, and saying they want to abolish the institution of marriage,” she said. “It’s the same worldview as is behind the Occupy Wall Street movement today, and a lot of the same people quite frankly.”
Hagelin, who considers herself a culture warrior, has championed the pro-family message for 25 years, educating parents and civic organizations on how to understand the media culture and its effect on families, according to her bio.
“What did the feminists say? ‘My body, my job, my career, my my my...’ What are the people in the Occupy movement saying? ‘I want what’s yours. It’s all about me. I deserve this,’” she explained. “It’s this sense of entitlement that they have.”
In further discussion about OWS, Hagelin said the movement was not to be taken lightly. She points to activist and former White House Green Jobs Adviser Van Jones.
“One of the key players behind this movement is Van Jones, who we know is a socialist and we know as one of the most radical individuals in American culture today, whose purpose is to overthrow timeless values and our American system of a republic and a democracy,” she said. “What better way than to incite the youth? ...You have to look at the worldview and the worldview is one of entitlement.”
When asked by Dobson what the outcome of the Occupy movement might be, Hagelin said the consequences could be dire.
“It is absolutely as dangerous as we think it is because the end result could be nothing less than the complete overthrow of the United States Constitution and the way that we operate in this country as a republic, as a modified democracy, and it’s very dangerous,” she warned.
An entire generation in the United States has grown up accustomed to the large government programs, which in turn result in an “incredible encroachment that the government has on our lives,” she said.
“The pavement has been poured and we can’t let it harden or we are going to end up like a socialist country. We are going to be like our European friends,” Hagelin again warned.
She also related much of the cultural battle between parents and school officials to having roots during the 60s as well.
“We can see a complete disregard for prayer in the public schools [and] throwing out the Bible reading. You see a pattern. When you neglect God’s rules and His timeless values for how human beings are supposed to relate to each other, chaos results,” she said.
She has come to the conclusion that a solution to the nation’s problems is about restoration in two areas.
“One [answer] is a restoration of faith in this country. I just don’t mean just any faith. I mean in a sovereign God and in Jesus Christ. We need to pray for revival,” she said. “The other one is the restoration of the family. If the government is rocking the cradle … if the government is demanding that children must go to preschool … if the government is saying you are better having your children in daycare eight hours a day, guess who is going to be ruling the world?”
“The solution is Christians being bold in the declaration of His truth, His love, and Christian families really living out the commitment of marriage,” she said.
Hagelin is the author of Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture That's Gone Stark Raving Mad and 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family.
In 2006, Concerned Women for America named her one of the nation's "Top Ten Evangelical Women," and in 2007 the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute named Hagelin one of the 12 "Great American Conservative Women."
