What Obligation Do White Christian Women Have to Speak Out About Politics?
By her own estimation, Jen Hatmaker is “low-grade Christian famous.” She has written 12 books, starred in an HGTV series with her family, built a large social-media following, and gone on tour with other prominent female Christian writers.
In some circles, Hatmaker is also controversial. Last fall, she told the writer Jonathan Merritt she thinks LGBT relationships can be holy. LifeWay, a large Christian retailer, pulled her books from their stores. Some of her followers were “angry or shocked or confused,” she said, and her interview set off a round of debate on the authority of evangelical women in ministry. This spring, Hatmaker wrote on her blog that she has “[become] painfully aware of the machine, the Christian Machine.”
Hatmaker represents one road for the predominantly white, Protestant women who have built large, name-brand followings. While Hatmaker faced backlash specifically because of her position on same-sex relationships, people were also reacting to her decision to be politically outspoken. For women who make their living through their writing and teaching, taking strong positions on controversial issues can have extraordinary consequences—not only for their livelihoods, but for everyone who works for them.
Many women, is both of that world and not. It is distinctly non-political, full of references to wine drinking and gym misadventures. Yet it speaks, subtly, to the conflicted feelings women may have about the different aspects of their identity. Hatmaker’s readers, like her, face stark choices about when and how to speak up about politics, particularly those injustices committed by and within their communities.
