Flipping Tables

Birth control has a long history in America. In colonial times, people relied on withdrawal, herbal remedies, and homemade barriers, though few spoke about it openly. During the 1800s, condoms became more practical after Charles Goodyear learned to vulcanize rubber in 1839, and diaphragms and douches came into use as well. This progress met resistance. In 1873, the Comstock Act made it a crime to send contraceptives or information about them through the mail, treating the subject as obscene and pushing it out of public view.
The movement took shape through Margaret Sanger. She opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn in 1916 and gave the practice its name. Her organization eventually became Planned Parenthood. The legal walls came down slowly. A 1936 court ruling weakened the Comstock restrictions and allowed doctors to prescribe contraceptives.
The turning point came in 1960, when the FDA approved the first birth control pill. The Pill gave women far more control over their own lives and became a defining part of the decade that followed. The courts soon caught up. In Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, the Supreme Court ruled that married couples had a right to use contraception. In 1972, Eisenstadt v. Baird extended that right to unmarried people.
The years after brought more options: the IUD, hormonal implants, and emergency contraception such as Plan B, which later became available over the counter. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act required most insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost, a rule that drew legal challenges over religious objections.
Contraception is still a subject of political debate. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, questions returned about the privacy rulings that once secured the right to birth control, and its future remains uncertain.
References (full list on patreon)

Avery, B. Y. (1991). Empowerment through wellness. Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, 4(1), 147–154.
Baker, J. H. (2011). Margaret Sanger: A life of passion. Hill and Wang.
Balmer, R. (2021). Bad faith: Race and the rise of the religious right. Eerdmans.
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. 682 (2014).
Center for Constitutional Rights. (2021, February 1). Black liberation archives, week 1: Fannie Lou Hamer taught us. https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2021/02/01/black-liberation-archives-week-1-fannie-lou-hamer-taught-us
Christianity Knowledge Base. (2005). Contraception. https://christianity.fandom.com/wiki/Contraception
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (2017). Taking the unintended out of pregnancy: Colorado’s success with long-acting reversible contraception.
Commonwealth Fund. (2025, December 16). Overview of federally funded contraceptive programs. Issue Briefs. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2025/dec/overview-federally-funded-contraceptive-programs
D’Emilio, J., & Freedman, E. B. (2012). Intimate matters: A history of sexuality in America (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022).
Eisenberg, M. L., & Lipshultz, L. I. (2010). Estimating the number of vasectomies performed annually in the United States: Data from the National Survey of Family Growth. Journal of Urology, 184(5), 2068–2072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2010.06.117
Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972).
Franks, A. (2020, July 28). Margaret Sanger’s extreme brand of eugenics. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/07/28/margaret-sangers-extreme-brand-eugenics/
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
Guttmacher Institute. (2023). Contraceptive use in the United States [Fact sheet]. https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states
Guttmacher Institute. (2025, September). The right is waging a quiet war on contraception.
Jones, R. K., & Dreweke, J. (2011). Countering conventional wisdom: New evidence on religion and contraceptive use.

Part 2 of my two part series about how women were written out of authority and a few rungs down the ladder of hierarchy in the church and in Christian Nationalism but also the history of how propaganda was weaponized against faith communities to build the power system we see happening. We have to know it and name it to fight back. And if you are a person of faith you have to be vocal about reclaiming it.

In this episode, we continue through the invention of virginity, the need to control reproduction to control wealth. The history of female leadership in the church, how it was intentionally translated out of the Bible in order to justify removing women from leadership and subjugating them. And the 20th century push of the weaponization of wedge issues against feminism, abortion, and gay rights to help people defend racism and school segregation. I hope that you enjoy! Full source list on patreon.com/montemader

Sources:
Primary Documents and Legal Records 
• Treaty of Tripoli (1797), Article 11. Ratified unanimously by the U.S. Senate, June 7, 1797. Full text, Avalon Project, Yale Law School.  
• Jefferson, Thomas. The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (the Jefferson Bible), c. 1820. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Primary source.  
• Public Law 84-274, "Under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Signed June 14, 1954.  • Public Law 84-851, "In God We Trust" established as national motto. Signed July 30, 1956.  • Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983). Supreme Court ruling.  
• Reagan, Ronald. "Evil Empire" speech, March 8, 1983, National Association of Evangelicals, Orlando, FL. Reagan Presidential Library.  
• Southern Baptist Convention resolutions on abortion, 1971, 1974, 1976. Available through SBC Historical Commission archives.  
Patristic and Early Church Sources 
• Socrates Scholasticus. Historia Ecclesiastica (Church History), Book VII, Chapter 15, c. 439 CE. English translation, NPNF (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers) Series.  
• Damascius. Life of Isidore (fragments), c. early 6th century CE. Names Cyril in connection with Hypatia's death.  
• John of Nikiu. Chronicle, Chapter 84, c. 690 CE. Pro-Cyril secondary source.  • Tertullian. De Cultu Feminarum (On the Apparel of Women), c. 204 CE.  
• Chrysostom, John. Homilies on Romans, Homily 31 (on Romans 16:1-4).  
• Augustine of Hippo. De Genesi ad Litteram (The Literal Meaning of Genesis), c. 401-415 CE.  • Council of Laodicea (363-364 CE), Canon 11.  
• Pope Gregory I. Homily 33 on the Gospels, 591 CE. The sermon conflating Mary Magdalene with the sinful woman of Luke 7.  
On Biblical Scholarship and the Pastoral Epistles 
• Ehrman, Bart D. Forged: Writing in the Name of God — Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We — 37 —
Flipping Tables — “Divine Protection… For Men” 
Think They Are. HarperOne, 2011.  
• Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. Doubleday, 1997.  • Johnson, Luke Timothy. The First and Second Letters to Timothy. Anchor Yale Bible, 2001.  
• Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. NICNT, Eerdmans, 1987. (Interpolation argument for 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.)  
• Epp, Eldon Jay. Junia: The First Woman Apostle. Fortress Press, 2005.  
On Women in the Early Church 
• Gupta, Nijay K. Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. InterVarsity Press, 2023.

In last week's episode, I had a LOT of questions around "How did we even get here?" "How did women get written into this system that way?" "Why are women buying into this movement?" "WHY WOULD WOMEN AGREE TO GIVE UP THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE?"
Quick note: take the repeal of the 19th Amendment seriously. It serves two purposes: 1. To normalize it so when they come for it, it doesn't sound as crazy as it used to. 2. By shifting the Overton window, when they propose other parts of their agenda, it sounds less crazy and sets off fewer alarm bells.
So I wanted to do a two-part series about how women were written out of authority and a few rungs down the ladder of hierarchy in the church and in Christian Nationalism but also the history of how propaganda was weaponized against faith communities to build the power system we see happening. We have to know it and name it to fight back. And if you are a person of faith you have to be vocal about reclaiming it.

In this episode, we go through the invention of virginity, the need to control reproduction to control wealth. The history of female leadership in the church, how it was intentionally translated out of the Bible in order to justify removing women from leadership and subjugating them. And the 20th century push of the weaponization of wedge issues against feminism, abortion, and gay rights to help people defend racism and school segregation. I hope that you enjoy! Full source list on patreon.com/montemader

Sources:
Primary Documents and Legal Records 
• Treaty of Tripoli (1797), Article 11. Ratified unanimously by the U.S. Senate, June 7, 1797. Full text, Avalon Project, Yale Law School.  
• Jefferson, Thomas. The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (the Jefferson Bible), c. 1820. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Primary source.  
• Public Law 84-274, "Under God" added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Signed June 14, 1954.  • Public Law 84-851, "In God We Trust" established as national motto. Signed July 30, 1956.  • Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983). Supreme Court ruling.  
• Reagan, Ronald. "Evil Empire" speech, March 8, 1983, National Association of Evangelicals, Orlando, FL. Reagan Presidential Library.  
• Southern Baptist Convention resolutions on abortion, 1971, 1974, 1976. Available through SBC Historical Commission archives.  
Patristic and Early Church Sources 
• Socrates Scholasticus. Historia Ecclesiastica (Church History), Book VII, Chapter 15, c. 439 CE. English translation, NPNF (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers) Series.  
• Damascius. Life of Isidore (fragments), c. early 6th century CE. Names Cyril in connection with Hypatia's death.  
• John of Nikiu. Chronicle, Chapter 84, c. 690 CE. Pro-Cyril secondary source.  • Tertullian. De Cultu Feminarum (On the Apparel of Women), c. 204 CE.  
• Chrysostom, John. Homilies on Romans, Homily 31 (on Romans 16:1-4).  
• Augustine of Hippo. De Genesi ad Litteram (The Literal Meaning of Genesis), c. 401-415 CE.  • Council of Laodicea (363-364 CE), Canon 11.  
• Pope Gregory I. Homily 33 on the Gospels, 591 CE. The sermon conflating Mary Magdalene with the sinful woman of Luke 7.  
On Biblical Scholarship and the Pastoral Epistles 
• Ehrman, Bart D. Forged: Writing in the Name of God — Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We — 37 —
Flipping Tables — “Divine Protection… For Men” 
Think They Are. HarperOne, 2011.  
• Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. Doubleday, 1997.  • Johnson, Luke Timothy. The First and Second Letters to Timothy. Anchor Yale Bible, 2001.  
• Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. NICNT, Eerdmans, 1987. (Interpolation argument for 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.)  
• Epp, Eldon Jay. Junia: The First Woman Apostle. Fortress Press, 2005.  
On Women in the Early Church 
• Gupta, Nijay K. Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. InterVarsity Press, 2023.

Turning Point USA led a womens leadership conference in June which brought women of all ages together to tell them... not to lead.
They lied about things like the witch trials saying that it was the trials that were first wave feminism and they were killing those women because of abortions and that feminist historians recorded the accounts of the slaugher we know. NONE of that is true. For all their chatter about faith they have no issue lying.
We saw career women waiting to have children telling girls to have "more children than you can afford, before you're ready". White children specifically mind you.
I thought Dr. Barr would be the best resource to help me respond to these statements.
Beth Allison Barr is an American historian who is currently the James Vardaman Endowed Professor of History at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Her specialities include European women, Medieval & Early Modern England, and church history. She is also the author of "The Making of Biblical Womanhood" and "Becoming the Pastors Wife"

Thank you to the patrons who make this possible! patreon.com/montemader
When everything feels impossible (and lately at times it has) when power concentrates, institutions bend, and the news is a daily gut-punch, we're told that joy is irresponsible. That real resistance has to be grim all the time or you aren't doing it right. Thats not true.
Joy. Art. Music. Song. Are all integral components of resistances that change the course of history.
In this (almost) two-hour episode, lets traces ten stories across 2,000 years of human history where people under siege, during empire collapse, fascist occupation, genocide, and authoritarian rule, chose joy anyway. Not as escape but as the most radical act available to them.
From enslaved gladiators who built a free community on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, to early Christians throwing communal dinner parties in Roman catacombs, to Parisian workers running a utopian government for 72 days before being massacred, to Jewish fighters holding a Passover Seder the night before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began (and more): this episode is a historical time traveling journey in how joy functions as survival, identity, and resistance network. I hope it encourages me the way it encourages you.
It's only when we remember the joy of living that we find the courage to resist.

Recommended Books for further reading if these stories inspired you:
Spartacus Barry Strauss, The Spartacus War (Simon & Schuster, 2009) Aldo Schiavone, Spartacus (2013)
Early Christians & the Catacombs Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (Harper & Row, 1987) The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, trans. Maureen Tilley (Fortress Press)
Paris Commune John Merriman, Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune of 1871 (Basic Books, 2014) Louise Michel, The Red Virgin: Memoirs of Louise Michel, ed. Bullitt Lowry & Elizabeth Ellington Gunter (1981)
Harlem Renaissance David Levering Lewis, When Harlem Was in Vogue (Knopf, 1981) Langston Hughes, The Big Sea (1940) Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) Alain Locke, ed., The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925)
Danish Rescue of the Jews Bo Lidegaard, Countrymen (Knopf, 2013) Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem (Viking Press, 1963)
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Samuel D. Kassow, Who Will Write Our History? (Indiana University Press, 2007) Israel Gutman, Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Houghton Mifflin, 1994) Emanuel Ringelblum, Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto (McGraw-Hill, 1958)
Víctor Jara & Nueva Canción Joan Jara, Victor: An Unfinished Song (Jonathan Cape, 1983) Peter Kornbluh, The Pinochet File (The New Press, 2003)
The Singing Revolution Mart Laar, The Power of Freedom (2010) The Singing Revolution, documentary (2006, dir. James & Maureen Castle Tusty)
The Velvet Revolution Michael Žantovský, Havel: A Life (Grove Press, 2014) Timothy Garton Ash, The Magic Lantern (Random House, 1990) Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerless (1978)
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Marguerite Bouvard, Revolutionizing Motherhood (Scholarly Resources, 1994) Rita Arditti, Searching for Life (University of California Press, 1999) CONADEP, Nunca Más (Eudeba, 1984) Horacio Verbitsky, The Flight (The New Press, 1996)
Sources list available on Patreon: patreon.com/montemader