The Church of Christ and Amway
I have lost count of all the times someone in the COC tried to get me involved in Amway or some other multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme. If it wasn't Amway, it was baskets or scrapbooking supplies or "gourmet" convenience foods or knock-off Tupperware or makeup or jewelry or home decor or some other junk no one needed. At one congregation I attended, there were people who NEVER invited anyone from church to their house unless they were trying to sell them something. It was mostly the women, although a few men were involved, too. I just cringed every time some guy tried to get me to come to a "business meeting" on a Friday night, because I knew I was in for the hard sell on how I could achieve financial independence through Amway. Heck, you practically had to sell Amway in order to be considered a member in good standing.
On the basis of my reading, I realize now that this phenomenon is not unique to the COC. It's quite prevalent in many fundamentalist and evangelical churches, and it usually is the women who are involved, because they're looking for ways to make money that won't interfere with their duties as wives and mothers. I certainly can understand wanting a situation that allows flexibility, and I think the fact that child care in this country is so expensive and hard to find is criminal. The problem is that those MLM schemes never really pay off. People invest so much money and rarely get it back; it's heartbreaking. I also noticed that it tended to be the women without much of an education, and who had the least money to spare, who got involved in these schemes, because they really didn't have a lot of other options for making money.
In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, I realize that I knew almost no women in the COC who had a career of any kind. I'm sure things have changed since I was a child and young adult, because more women in general have entered the workforce in the last couple of decades, but at that time, it was very rare for women in the COC to work outside the home at all, let alone have a career. In fact, I heard it preached from the pulpit many times that women were not supposed to be "career minded" because their primary focus was to be on the family. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a full-time stay-at-home wife and mom if that is your choice. In fact, I think women (and stay-at-home dads for that matter) should be compensated for all the domestic work they do because it's extremely valuable. My problem is when women are pushed into that role unwillingly or discouraged from following other paths by being denied (or discouraged from getting) an education or being told that there is only one path open to them. It's just another way to diminish and control women by limiting their options for earning money and keeping them dependent on their husbands or fathers, and no MLM scheme can make up the difference.
On the basis of my reading, I realize now that this phenomenon is not unique to the COC. It's quite prevalent in many fundamentalist and evangelical churches, and it usually is the women who are involved, because they're looking for ways to make money that won't interfere with their duties as wives and mothers. I certainly can understand wanting a situation that allows flexibility, and I think the fact that child care in this country is so expensive and hard to find is criminal. The problem is that those MLM schemes never really pay off. People invest so much money and rarely get it back; it's heartbreaking. I also noticed that it tended to be the women without much of an education, and who had the least money to spare, who got involved in these schemes, because they really didn't have a lot of other options for making money.
In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, I realize that I knew almost no women in the COC who had a career of any kind. I'm sure things have changed since I was a child and young adult, because more women in general have entered the workforce in the last couple of decades, but at that time, it was very rare for women in the COC to work outside the home at all, let alone have a career. In fact, I heard it preached from the pulpit many times that women were not supposed to be "career minded" because their primary focus was to be on the family. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a full-time stay-at-home wife and mom if that is your choice. In fact, I think women (and stay-at-home dads for that matter) should be compensated for all the domestic work they do because it's extremely valuable. My problem is when women are pushed into that role unwillingly or discouraged from following other paths by being denied (or discouraged from getting) an education or being told that there is only one path open to them. It's just another way to diminish and control women by limiting their options for earning money and keeping them dependent on their husbands or fathers, and no MLM scheme can make up the difference.
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