Eagle Forum, the national, conservative, pro-life, pro-family grassroots organization started in 1972 by the late Phyllis Schlafly, is still alive and well and going strong. It got its start after Mrs. Schlafly, already well-known as a conservative, syndicated columnist, successfully led the national battle to defeat the liberal Equal Rights Amendment, that was being pushed and promoted by the feminists. Phyllis found out that ERA really should have been called “the Equal Abortion Amendment,” because that was the key component of it. The feminists wanted free abortions available for all women across the nation, paid for with taxpaying dollars.
After its defeat, Phyllis changed the name from Stop ERA to Eagle Forum because she wanted a permanent pro-family organization of like-minded people to gather for monthly forums and to work together to keep the freedoms and values of our nation intact. She chose the name Eagle Forum because she loved the symbol of the eagle and the scripture found in Isaiah 40:31. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and shall walk and not faint.” Phyllis also loved how the eagle flew into the face of the wind and used the wind to raise it even higher, something that Phyllis did the rest of her life as she took on the feminists and the liberal opposition facing her.
Phyllis began the tradition of holding an annual national “Eagle Council” where Eagle Forum leaders and members from across the nation would gather in St. Louis for an annual conference, to hear outstanding speakers on important issues, and to have reports from the various state leaders. She began alternating between St. Louis and Washington D.C. for the annual meetings.
Eagle Council 2023: I recently attended the 51st annual “Eagle Council” at the Crystal City Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, September 26-30. With me were four others from our Sonoma County Eagle Forum chapter in California who attended Eagle Council for the first time and were in Washington D.C. for the first time: Jennifer Gunderson, her daughter Sophia Swehle, and her granddaughters: Janaya Swehle, age 18, and Alayna Grupico, age 16. Alayna and Janaya were national Eagle Forum scholarship winners.
The members of the Gunderson family all raved about their experience attending Eagle Council. They loved the evening bus tour on Wednesday night that took us to see many historical monuments all lit up; lobby day at the Capitol on Thursday; and the outstanding speakers at the two-day conference on Friday and Saturday (described following). Jennifer Gunderson told me, “I am so grateful to have found an organization that I can trust to teach the truth to myself and my family.” Her family consists of 9 children and 21 grandchildren. She has always wanted the truth to be taught, that is why she homeschooled her children, and they are doing the same to their children. She was also impressed to see how many women there were at the conference in their 70s and 80s and still going strong, very active in national leadership and their state chapters as leaders. They were not just sitting at home being couch potatoes, watching television.
Eagle Council 2023 was a very successful event under the theme of “Faith Not Fear,” from the scripture II Timothy 1:7 “For God has not Given us a Spirit of Fear…” Outstanding speakers were speaking on every current topic of concern. It was attended by 150 people who flew in from mainly 25 different states where active Eagle Forum chapters and leaders exist. There were also fifteen “Student Eagles” on scholarships.
Since Phyllis Schlafly’s death at age 92 in September 2016, Eagle Forum is now under the leadership of President Kris Ullman, an attorney in Alexandria, Virginia, and Anne Schlafly Carpenter, who serves as the CEO and lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Anne is the youngest of six children of Phyllis and Fred Schlafly, and the one whom Phyllis had groomed and always counted on to take over after she passed away.
After the death of Phyllis, two of her sons chose to form a new organization rather than working together with the longtime women leaders of Eagle Forum. it is good to see that Eagle Forum is alive and well and going strong under its new leaders.
The four-day Eagle Council held from September 26-30 closely followed the same schedule that Phyllis Schlafly had established whenever the group meets biannually in Washington D.C.
September 26, Wednesday – Monument Tour: Student eagle scholarship winners, with a parent, and other interested eagles flew in early to be able to attend an evening bus tour of many historical monuments, all lit up. This picture shows the capitol with the tour bus in front, as people are getting back on the bus. You can see the Senate chambers with a flag over it, meaning the Senate was still in session into the evening hours.
September 27, Thursday – Lobby Day: About fifty Eagle Forum members traveled to “the Hill” – to the various Congressional buildings to meet with their Congressmen or their assistants and leave them with information. Our three key issues that Eagle Forum chose this year to speak to Congressmen about were: appropriations, the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2670/S.2226), and the Kids Online Safety Act (S.1409).
Our group from Sonoma County Eagle Forum and I also brought information about another bill we are very concerned about and are opposing – HR 3557, a federal bill that would strip state and local jurisdictions from having any say in the placement of 5G towers and antennas in their communities. The powerful, high-tech industry would be the ones to decide where the towers and antennas are placed. Having written a book about 5G and its dangerous EMF (electromagnetic frequency) radiation, I know just how harmful to people’s health having a 5G tower or antenna close by is. Many people and children are developing adverse health reactions, headaches, heart palpitations, tinnitus, seizures, and even cancer, when a 5G tower or antenna is close to where they live, go to school, or work.
Reception: Thursday evening a reception was held at the Capitol Hill Club for the Eagle Forum PAC, the part of Eagle Forum that can fund people running for office. Different Congressmen and Eagle Forum leaders attended.
September 28: The Two–Day Conference Began: The Friday morning session was all about how the family and our nation are under attack and what we can do about it: Here is a list of some of the outstanding speakers and highlights from their talks:
Rep. Mary Miller is from Illinois, where she and her husband have a large farm and cattle ranch. They raised seven children and now have twenty grandchildren. After seeing what was going on in education in our public schools, the Millers chose to home-school their children and taught them to work hard on the farm.
Rep. Miller’s talk was titled: Faith, Family & Farming – Raising Strong Families is Hard Work! She told us how families and farming are the building blocks of our nation, but both are under attack. It is the family, where religion and morals should be taught. But the WEF and the globalists are trying to destroy families and even prevent them from being formed, and they want to do away with farming. Under the guise of fighting climate change and getting rid of carbon, they don’t want us to eat meat, but insects. Miller’s bumper sticker says, “Eat Beef, not Bugs.”
Rep. Miller mentioned that there are only four beef processing plants left in the US; two of them are foreign-owned. She and her husband have been told they have to wait a year to process their beef.
Miller is very pro-life and authored a bill to outlaw chemical abortions – “The Ending Chemical Abortion Act.” She and Congressman Doug La Malfa, from Northern California – also a farmer, co-authored a bill against the mutilation of children, which is happening more and more as young children are being brainwashed into thinking that they are born in the wrong body.
Kristyn Ruzicka, works for the FBI in Utah against child exploitation. She spoke about The Metaverse: What Is It and How Bad Actors are Using it to Exploit Your Children. She told how children and adults using the Metaverse goggles enter into a world of virtual reality that can be used for good – for exercising, playing fun games, for education, for doctors even performing operations remotely – or for evil, and most parents are unaware of the evil part.
Ms. Ruzicka told how with the virtual reality of Metaverse, the person sees a caricature of herself or himself. A child or young adult can meet total strangers who they play games with and become disarmed, thinking this person is their friend, and slowly this “friendship” can lead to “romantic feelings.” A young girl or boy is asked to then send nude pictures to that person. If they do, those pictures are used to exploit the child. They are threatened that the pictures will be sent out all over the world, if the child does not perform certain lewd sex acts. The child can then witness in virtual reality their character being raped.
One boy, after being told that his nude pictures were going to go out all over the world if he did not comply with the sex exploitation demanded of him, in desperation – within four hours had committed suicide.
A 13-year-old girl was lured into meeting the person she thought she had fallen in love with. He was a 43-year-old man. She was kidnapped and taken over the Mexican border. Fortunately, this was one of the rare cases where the girl was found and rescued and brought back home three days later. Many children are never found after being kidnapped. Ms. Ruzicka continued speaking on this subject in an evening workshop later that evening.
Melanie Hempe, who is a registered nurse, and the founder of Screen Strong, an organization to help parents combat the screens of social media that their children are becoming addicted to. Her talk was titled Screen Strong Solutions. She told of her first son Adam who became addicted to video games, so much so that he had to drop out of college. He didn’t leave his dorm room for a week, missed all of his classes, and barely ate. He had to call his parents and confess what he had done.
Mrs. Hempe told how she brought Adam home and – in desperation not knowing what else to do – she called up an army recruiter and had her son taken away to join the military. He was willing to go, realizing he could not conquer this addiction on his own. He went through 14 weeks of detoxing called “basic training.” His five years in the military were the best thing that could have happened to him. He came back a different person, went on to college and law school, and is now a successful attorney.
Mrs. Heepe and her husband learned from that experience to not allow any video games, cell phones, or social media for their three younger children. Those children went on to be elected student leaders in high school, to play the violin and the piano, and to be socially well-rounded. All went on to college and excelled in their chosen professions. It is because of these experiences and to help other parents that Mrs. Hempe started the organization called “Screen Strong.” It exists “to prevent and reverse childhood screen addiction by empowering families with science-based education, bold solutions, and community.” Mrs. Hempe would like to have a Screen Strong course in every school.
Mrs. Hempe said that the more the kids play video games and watch porn, the more they crave to keep their dopamine levels rising. She said, “Kids who are addicted will lie, steal, and cheat to keep that dopamine level high. However, the higher you get, the harder you fall.” She showed slides of two brains – one of a healthy, normal person, and one of someone addicted to screens, especially to porn. These addictions have the same effect on the dopamine cycle in the brain as taking drugs. The sides showed a marked contrast in gray matter. The addicted person had less gray matter and more white spots. The frontal cortex of the addicted person was especially thinning out. This is the judgment center, so, of course, the judgment of the addicted person is being affected.
Gayle Ruzicka is the Eagle Forum President of Utah, having served for 33 years. She spoke on Legislative Tools (State and Federal) to Protect Our Children. Gayle and her husband Don are parents of 12 children whom they also chose to homeschool. They are now grandparents of 48. National Eagle Forum leaders and members across the nation were supportive of getting the Kids Online Safety Act passed. Ruzicka said that you also need a state bill to go along with the federal. Utah is the only state that has both bills. Eagle Forum members were instrumental in also getting state legislation passed putting restrictions on accessibility to porn.
Mollie Hemingway, a journalist and the editor-in-chief of the Federalist. She spoke on Why We Withheld Screens in Our Home. Her 16-year-old is the only child at her school without a cell phone. Hemingway believes 99% of your happiness in life is found in the home. We need to foster a good environment in our homes in which that can happen. She highly recommends a book by Andy Crouch called “Tech-Wise Family.” Crouch suggests keeping a “Tech-Free Sabbath, one day a week without any tech. Hemingway said that the only show they watch as a family on television is “Jeopardy,” because it is educational. She suggests using a half hour of cartoon watching as a reward.
When her kids did not have television to watch, they would go do fun things with their neighbors, like create a band and make their own music. Her family owns lots of old records and a record player, which they still play. She believes music is important for a happy home life and she also recommends actual books, not e-books.
James Lindsey PhD and author was asked questions by Kris Ullman about his books and his philosophy. Their discussion was titled How do We Take Back “Woke” Ground? Lindsey is a leading expert on Critical Race Theory and rejects it completely. He is the founder of New Discourses and is currently promoting his new book “Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity and Why This Harms Everybody.”
He was asked by Kris Ullman what is the one thing that binds all of these ideologies together. His answer was “Marxism.” What is its purpose? To gain power and control over others, to force them to conform to the Marxist ideology.
He added that Marxism is based on Gnosticism, which is the oldest heresy against Christianity. Gnosticism teaches that “the God of Genesis in the Bible was a “demi-god” and evil. That god’s purpose was to imprison us by depriving us of knowledge. Gnostics teach that we can come out of that imprisonment by gaining knowledge and following and worshipping Satan, the true God.” How twisted these teachings are!
Marxism has taken over our schools and higher education promoting all of their “woke” indoctrination, such as CRT – Critical Race theory. SEL – Social Emotional Learning; DEI, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the whole transgender movement. Even a math lesson is turned into some Marxist propaganda. He recommends everyone homeschool their children. Lindsey said if you take a confused, transitioning child out of public school and take their cell phone away with no more social media, then in three weeks, you will have your child back to normal. He challenged us all to be strong and speak out for the truth and we will embolden others to do so as well.
Friday Lunch Speaker: Riley Gaines, received a standing ovation before and after she spoke. She spoke on Women’s Sports and Private Spaces Are for Women Only! She told of her daily training for 18 years, sometimes in the water for 6 hours a day, and all that she had sacrificed, starting as a young child, to become a national and international swimming champion. This was also true of so many other women, and then they discover that their chances for winning top honors and scholarships are taken from them because of a transgender male who enters the competition. How unfair that is! That is why Riley Gaines has now taken on the cause of trying to ensure that women’s sports will be for women only. She has postponed going on to dental school as she is now traveling the nation speaking on this subject.
Ms. Gaines told how she had placed 3rd in the nation her senior year at Kentucky State. That is when she first heard about a top swimmer named Lia Thomas, who suddenly came out of nowhere. Usually, you had heard about all of the top swimmers for years and had met them in different competitions. She did a little research on Lia Thomas and found out that Lia was actually a man, Will Thomas, age 22, 6 Ft. 4, who as a male swimmer was not that great. He placed 444th in his last men’s swimming meet. But now as a “woman,” he was beating all the other women. Riley Gaines thought surely the national NCAA (National Collegian Athletic Association) would put a stop to this and disqualify Lia Thomas. This was such injustice and infringement on women swimmers’ hard work and training! But no, that did not happen!
Riley Gaines then met Lia in person and miraculously tied with “her” in their swimming competition. However, the trophy was given to Lia, so that the “optics” would look right – no discrimination against a transgender swimmer.
Ms. Gaines also was shocked to see Lia in the women’s locker room, as were the other women swimmers. There Lia was a fully equipped male, undressing and changing in front of all the young girls. They all felt their right to privacy was violated.
Ms. Gaines kept waiting for someone to speak out against the injustice and the violation against women swimmers, some coaches, some NCAA leaders, but no, there was no one saying anything. She decided, “How can we expect someone else to stand up for us if we don’t speak out for ourselves.” That is when she took on this cause and has been speaking wherever she can – explaining the plight that is now facing all women athletes.
After her talk, she received a special Eagle Award for her courage presented by President Kris Ullman
Rep. Phil Lyman of Utah spoke on Legislation Defined by Science: Chromosomes Matter. He told how, with the help of Eagle Forum of Utah, he was able to get state legislation passed to defend sex in state law. He has two daughters and four sons and 18 grandchildren, nine granddaughters and nine grandsons. He loves the mission statement of Eagle Forum, that they stand for the nuclear family. In the preamble to the Constitution, we read “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” – that is what we as parents and grandparents are supposed to be teaching our children so they can have the blessings of liberty.
His bill was about protecting women’s spaces. He believes when you stand up for women, you stand up for families. His bill was based on the Florida bill, as the model. It defines females as a producer of eggs, males as a producer of sperm, and sex as a person who is either male or female. And it defines trespassing as “a male in a female facility.”
Rep. Lyman mentioned that two states have executive orders that define sex – Oklahoma and Nebraska, that are being codified in state law. Montana also has a bill to do the same.
State legislation should focus on three things: 1) define each sex; 2) state that there are only two sexes; 3) Give the definition of sex for reproduction purposes. There are a few rare cases of “inner sex,” but there are no true “transgenders.” We are all born with either XX (female) or XY (male) chromosomes. They always stay the same, no matter what hormone therapy or mutilation a “transitioning” person tries to go through. We need to make this as clear and airtight as possible in our legislation.
Rosemary Jenks JD – who is the Director of Government Relations at Numbers USA spoke on Illegal Immigration: A Look at the Numbers. She has worked for Numbers USA for 28 years and knew Phyllis Schlafly well. Phyllis often said she was the smartest woman she knew. Ms. Jenks told us just how out of control illegal immigration is under the Biden administration where our borders are wide open. The numbers are much higher than what we are being told. There are now 7.3 million who have crossed into our nation. Biden has a plan to process more illegals faster. We are not only allowing them to come in but bussing or flying them to various locations, sheltering them, and giving the families $400 per month.
Jenks says, “this is an invasion.” The Constitution tells us in Article IV, Section 4 that “the United States shall… protect each of them [the states] against Invasion.” It also tells us in Article I, Section 10 (the last paragraph) that “No state shall…engage in war unless invaded.” The states should be allowed to protect their own borders, because this is definitely an invasion.
Jenks mentioned HR2 – Secure the Border Act of 2023: Biden and many Democrats opposed it, but with strong Republican and Democrat leadership, it passed: Ms. Jenks and Numbers USA strongly supported this bill. The Republican leadership was able to add E-verify to it. It imposes limits on asylum eligibility and requires employers to use an electronic system to verify the employment eligibility of new employees. Ms. Jenks stated that HR2 should be included in any Continuing Resolution bill for funding. She stated, “without security, there should be no funding.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, spoke on Reflections of the American Miracle and Standing with Virginia Parents. He told of the Virginia parent revolution against what was going on in their schools, where the tentacles of Communism were being taught. Virginia became the epicenter of the parent’s rights movement. That is how he and the new governor, Glenn Younkin were elected. Parents had had enough of their rights being ignored and trampled on. Because of the parent’s rights issue, many politicians and voters were switching from Democrat to Republican. One mother told a CNN reporter when she asked why this was happening, “Never get between a mother and her child.” Many posters read, “Parents Matter.” “Parents, not the State are the Center of Government.” “Parents have the Fundamental Right to Raise their Children.”
Miyares now considers himself – “the Janitor of Virginia.” It is his job to clean up the mess that was made by the prior governor. He told how mixed up and confusing things are now. Teachers are not allowed to give aspirin without parental approval, but they think they can change a child’s gender without even telling the parents.
Miyares stated that only 18% of America’s youth today say that they believe in and love their country. Plato said that we must ask two questions: 1) who is teaching the children and 2) what are they teaching them? When he goes to speak at universities, he is shocked at how the students view America with such disdain. He believes America is the best nation there is. When you compare it to other countries we are at the top. It is the only country built on the principles of philosophy and creed, rather than victory of war. Someone said that he believes the light at the top of the Statue of Liberty is the greatest light since the Star of Bethlehem. He has seen so many immigrants from Latin American countries and Asian countries switching to be Republicans. They have seen in the countries they have come from what autocracy is without freedom. They recognize which party brings the most freedom.
Kevin Freeman spoke on A Constitutional Alternative to Central Bank Digital Currency and the Risks of Fiat Currency. He is the author of two books on money and co-founder and host of a weekly TV show “The Economic War Room” on Blaze TV. He also has a blog – “GlobalEconomicWarfare.com.” His two books are According to Plan – The Elite’s Secret Plan to Sabotage America, and his latest book Pirate Money – Discovering the Founders’ Hidden Plan for Economic Justice and Defeating the Great Reset.
Mr. Freeman told us that America is facing a global economic war. Willful blindness is being used to deceive the American people. Our leaders are no longer protecting us. On his weekly T.V. show “The Economic War Room,” he advises people and agencies about the coming plans for CBDC. He helped get Governor Kristy Noem of South Dakota to veto a bill that would have promoted CBDC that was 100 pages long. Glenn Beck had Governor Noem on his show talking about CBDC. She told how she was able to get CBDC pulled out of the legislation. Freeman believes CBDC will be the Mark of the Beast mentioned in Rev. 13:19. Every purchase we make will be able to be tracked and traced. The government will know all that we do, and if they don’t like it, they can stop us.
Freeman told us that we need to “weaponize our money,” we need to look for non-China, non-woke alternatives; stop investing in Blackrock, Larry Fink/Index funds, and invest instead with LSV – Liberty, Security, and Values. He highly recommends “pirate money,” actual gold and silver coins, that will never lose their value and are legal tender. It has been tested in the courts.
Katherine Ballard spoke to us briefly after being introduced as the Eagle Forum recipient of the 2023 Homemaker of the Year Award. She thanked Eagle Forum for this great honor and said that every organization needs to celebrate marriage and family as Eagle Forum does. She was impressed by all the mothers who were there at the conference and who were standing for freedom. She asked, “What qualifies us for being a good mother? When we are trying to be heaven-directed.”
She quoted the scripture from where the theme of Faith not Fear comes from II Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” It is through the power of God that we can stand up and do this work for the children of the world; it is through the love of God, that we are fighting for these kids and rescuing the vulnerable; and it is through a sound mind that we can speak about these different subjects without fear. As she was speaking, a picture of the Ballard family was shown on the screen. There are nine children, two whom were adopted after Tim rescued them in Haiti.
Frank Gaffney spoke about “The Danger of China.” Gaffney is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Center for Security Policy. He is conveniently located near Washington D.C. and was able to fill in for Tim Ballard at the last minute. He now serves as the VP for the Committee of Present Danger: China. He spoke about the looming threat of China to not only the U.S. but to Taiwan and other countries in the South Seas. He said for 70 years China has been trying to rise to be the superpower of the world. He spoke of the terrible atrocities of China against humanity, mostly to its people – 100 million have been killed; another 400 million have been killed in the womb by China having forced abortion laws. Any government that treats its people so badly will have no compassion or kindness for the rest of the world.
Gaffney said that China is a threat to us in the following ways: China has taken over our manufacturing base, including our steel manufacturing. So many parts to even build our military equipment have to come from China. So much of our medicine and pharmaceutical drugs come from China. And China is bringing down our military strength by the Marxist, false teachings that are now being taught to our youth and our soldiers. China is aware of how weak our military is, how recruitment is down and the morale is low. He also mentioned that it is believed close to 100,000 military-age Chinese males have crossed our Southern border along with all the other illegal aliens. Is China planning an invasion from the inside of our nation?
Gaffney also spoke about how China is funding and pushing the World Health Organization (WHO) which is trying to become the new global governance, using any kind of “health emergency” to usurp worldwide government control.
Saturday, Sept. 30 Conference started with 19-year-old Chloe Cole, speaking on From Transition to Detransition: Reclaiming My Childhood and included many other outstanding speakers.