Thread by @LilyPotter130

THREAD—SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett is a prominent member of the 1,700-member People of Praise. Barrett’s strong ties to this faith group raise a plethora of concerns. Senators readying for nomination hearings need to know about the group’s principles.
theguardian.com/us-news/2020/o…

2) The People of Praise group has conservative stances on the role of women in society and other social issues. Barrett’s membership did not come to light until after she was questioned by senators considering her nomination to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2017.

3) Religious scholars who study charismatic Christian communities say Barrett’s membership in this specific religious community raises legitimate questions. In People of Praise, married women like Barrett consider their husbands as their “heads.”

4) According to a former group member, “The brainwashing and the groupthink, the female subjugation of being there to serve and listen to your spiritual head. It was so devaluing. To me, it instilled such problems.”

5) The Washington Post reported this week that Barrett served as a “handmaid” as recently as 2010, a leadership position for women in the community, according to a People of Praise directory obtained by The Washington Post.

washingtonpost.com/investigations…

6) The title of handmaid was adopted by People of Praise in reference to the biblical description of Mary as “the handmaid of the Lord,” according to the group.

7) University of California San Diego anthropology professor Thomas Csordas has studied the issues around communities like People of Praise.

“They’re potentially more dangerous and much more sophisticated than a cult,” he said.

8) Csordas: “It’s not the kind of group where submission of women to men means they have to stay barefoot and pregnant. Instead, they have to be lawyers and judges and submissive to men at the same time. They have to be able to have a career and seven kids at the same time.”

@threadreaderapp unroll

9) A former member of the People of Praise has sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, asking them to to allow her to testify during Barrett's SCOTUS confirmation hearings about her own time in the controversial group.

newsweek.com/people-praise-…

10) In her request, Coral Anika Theill (photo below) urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to let her testify at Barrett's confirmation hearings about "the oppression, abuse and crimes that I and other women were victims of in the People of Praise sect." #SCOTUS

11) Theill said it’s deeply concerning that Barrett didn’t disclose her membership in the sect to the Senate. She also noted that information about Barrett’s involvement and leadership in the People of Praise community has been scrubbed from the internet. democracynow.org/2020/9/23/cora…

12) In an interview with Democracy Now, Theill details the abuse and torture she suffered while married to her former husband, who was a People of Praise member in Corvallis, Oregon.

democracynow.org/2020/9/23/cora…