Encyclopedia of Religion and Society

Equal Rights Amendment

First proposed in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution was intended to assure equality of rights at the federal and state levels without regard to sex. It was passed by Congress on March 22, 1972, but failed to be ratified by a necessary 38 states prior to an extended deadline of June 6, 1982. Phyllis Schafly, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, and the Moral Majority were key to mobilizing opposition. Church leaders supporting the ERA justified their perspective on the belief that God had created people as a single class, while religious opponents argued that it violated the divine order of creation, abrogating a husband’s rightful dominance over his wife.

—Paula D. Nesbitt

References

D. G. Mathews, “Spiritual Warfare,” Religion and American Culture 3(1993):129-154

D. G. Mathews and J. S. DeHart, Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990).

Erhard, Werner see est