Religious Right Groups
Above Rubies
| Leadership: | Nancy Campbell edits the publication. |
| Date formed: | 1977 in New Zealand. Campbell moved base to Australia in 1982 and then to the US in 1991, but an Australian edition is still produced. |
| Area of operation: | Claims readers in over 90 countries, although most of its offices are located in British Commonwealth nations and the US. |
| Estimated membership: | Print run of about 130,000 (2000). |
| Finances: | Relies on donations from readers, normally sufficient to finance two 24-page issues of the magazine per year. |
| Main objectives: | ‘Above Rubies is a magazine to encourage women in their high calling as wives, mothers and homemakers. Its purpose is to uphold and strengthen family life and to raise the standard of God’s truth in the nation’. The magazine is virulently anti- feminist and actively encourages women to ’submit’ to their menfolk. |
| Main activities: | Publishing the magazine (a considerable task for a small number of volunteers); running Above Rubies camps and retreats; selling related publications, including the men’s journal Patriarch. |
| Links with other groups: | Above Rubies is highly regarded throughout the Religious Right and has direct links of one sort or another with the Australian Family Association, Australian Federation for the Family, Answers in Genesis and several other groups discussed on this site. As at 2000, Above Rubies’ Australian Board of Reference included Peter Frogley of Light Educational Ministries. |
| Publications: | Various books, CDs and cassette tapes, in addition to Above Rubies and Patriarch magazines. |
| Sample quotes: | Many women have been brainwashed by the mindset of our society. They have been educated beyond their intelligence and beyond their natural instincts … (Nancy Campbell ‘The Flourishing Mother’, Above Rubies, March 2002, 13)The tentacles of humanism and feminism have taken a strangulating grip of the education system, the media and the government of our country. Anti-God education is provided for our children and anti-family laws are passed without our knowledge or sanction. (Letter to supporters, 1988) |
| Guard how you speak about menstruation. When you call it ‘the curse’ or ‘a nuisance’ you give an opportunity for the curse of barrenness, irregularity and disorders to come to your womb. (Nancy Campbell ‘Protect Your Womb!’, Above Rubies, Sept. 1992, 13) | |
| For fifteen years I did not regret our decision [that my husband should have a vasectomy]. Then one day my sister said something about limiting family size being part of a ‘feminist conspiracy’. It was like scales fell off my eyes and I saw that what we had done was wrong. We repented for taking control of this area of our lives. We told God that if He wanted us to have more children, we were willing … (Shirah Nelson ‘After 15 Years’, Above Rubies, June 1996, 19) | |
| There is nothing more hideous than seeing a wife stand up to her husband. (Nancy Campbell ‘Can You Keep Your Honour?’, Above Rubies, April 2003, 13) | |
| Assessment: | An extreme anti-feminist organisation, not as influential within Australia as Endeavour Forum, but with a significant international outreach. Not much more than a one-family show, but this is a very persistent family. |
| Contact details: | P O Box 500 Broadbeach Queensland 4218 www.aboverubies.org |
