The Promise Keepers: Essays on Masculinity and Christianity.

• Author: Young, Jennifer L.
• Position: Book Reviews

The Promise Keepers: Essays on Masculinity and Christianity. Edited by Dane S. Claussen. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000; pp. 336. $46.50.

Although its name has practically disappeared from the news, Promise Keepers, the evangelical Christian men's organization begun in 1990, continues to spread its message of repentance and reconciliation. In Dane Claussen's anthology The Promise Keepers: Essays on Masculinity and Christianity, scholars from over ten academic disciplines explore multiple aspects of the Promise Keepers' rhetoric, including its historical antecedents, construction of masculinity, and recruitment and media strategies. The anthology consists of twenty-two chapters and draws upon such varied methodologies as rhetorical criticism, content analysis, interviews, and ethnography.

Several points of consensus emerge from the authors' theses. For example, the essayists seem to agree that Promise Keepers developed in reaction to feminists' cultural influence. Feminist challenges to traditional gender roles left many men feeling confused and even alienated; Promise Keepers offered the comforts of both a supportive male community and clear gender categories. Many of the essayists also agree that participants of Promise Keepers tend to think conventionally, seeing the world in black-and-white, "us-versus-them" polarities. Yet, the writers often disagree about the implications of these conclusions. Several of the contributors, for example, argue that Promise Keepers poses a political threat to women's gains, while others claim that the organization helps men adjust productively to cultural changes. This disagreement is one of many points of contention within The Promise Keepers. Consequently, the book presents Promise Keepers as a rhetorically complex and even contradictory movement. Three di scordant points, in particular, exemplify the rhetorical complexity of the organization.

First, the authors disagree as to whether members of Promise Keepers can be rhetorically distinguished from their leaders. Several essayists (Stewart, Gutterman, Beal, Reynolds and Reynolds, Balmer, Healey) argue or imply that members and leaders cannot be differentiated because they speak and think alike. Sociologist Kevin Healey, for example, discovered that members of a local Promise Keepers listserv reiterated the organization leaders' arguments concerning several social issues, including male leadership. Healey implies that this mimicry is...