ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
Many young conservative Christian women have been leaving their churches and faith communities. This weekend in Texas, Turning Point USA held a conference aimed at winning them back. The organization is now led by Erika Kirk, the widow of founder Charlie Kirk. The event focused on faith, family and what organizers see as the dangers of modern feminism and secular culture. Here is Erika Kirk.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ERIKA KIRK: Scripture reminds us that men and women were designed to depend on one another. At its core, feminism is a worldview that treats many of the things that make women uniquely women as obstacles.
FLORIDO: Joining us now to talk more about this is Kathryn Post of Religion News Service. Kathryn, welcome.
KATHRYN POST: Great to be here.
FLORIDO: Tell us about what you're seeing with young conservative Christian women right now. Why are some leaving their churches and and faith communities?
POST: What we know is that women have historically been more religious than men. But among Gen Zers, we're seeing a shift where that gender gap is narrowing. That's because, at least according to many surveys, young women are leaving conservative Christian communities. Here's Kristan Hawkins. She's the president of Students for Life of America, and she spoke to me while she was getting ready to give her speech yesterday at the Young Women's Leadership Summit.
KRISTAN HAWKINS: We have to win these women. For me, it's mission critical, but I think for world civilization, it's critical 'cause you don't have to be pro-life. You don't have to be against the violence of abortion to be able to look at the statistics and say, we have a serious problem here with men going so hard-right and women going so hard-left.
FLORIDO: So groups like Turning Point clearly see this movement of some young women away from their churches as a problem, but what is their diagnosis? Why do they think young women are drifting away? And what is their strategy for bringing them back?
POST: If you ask the speakers at the summit, many of them will point to feminism and what they describe as girlboss culture as the reason for this shift. Folks outside the summit would say that it's these churches themselves and what they would describe as patriarchal culture that's pushing women away. But in order to reach young women, Turning Point USA is investing in in-person events like this one that feel like festivals for conservative students and young moms. I mean, there's Taylor Swift and worship music blasting from loudspeakers. There's sparkly cowboy hat merch, and there are spaces where these women can talk about faith and dating and health.
At these conferences, a big part of the draw is online influencers like Allie Beth Stuckey, who's a podcaster that discusses faith in politics, and Alex Clark, who's a leader in the Make America Healthy Again movement. While I'm not really seeing signs that this summit is winning back women who've left religion, it is clearly mobilizing those who are already in the fold.
FLORIDO: When you're listening to these speakers at this event, what vision of womanhood are they presenting to young women? You know, what are they saying about marriage or about motherhood or about work?
POST: The speakers are trying to reach the young women where they're at, and many of the women that I spoke to had concerns about affordability, finding a job or finding a spouse. And what Turning Point USA is telling them is that the Bible has all the answers. They framed their biblical interpretation as offering spiritual truths about gender roles and having kids and about how to vote on issues related to LGBTQ identity and abortion. Allie Beth Stuckey said this about abortion, gender and identity. She said, these aren't just culture war issues. For the Christian, they are biblical issues. These are soul-level issues. And that message does seem to be resonating with the young women here.
FLORIDO: I've been speaking with Kathryn Post from Religion News Service. Thanks, Kathryn.
POST: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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