Great responses so far. I appreciate them, even when they disagree with me!
I’m not trying to be reactionary here. In fact, by writing this, I imagine many people will say I am making some huge leaps, unfounded in reality or logic. Maybe. But that is why I am asking these questions. I want all the facts in front of me.
Let me try and capsulize some of the salient points as to why I am concerned about this organization:
As several have stated above, many believe it is a good thing to be involved in charitable and/or good deeds through an organization. Sadly, as far as I can tell, this group does not do ANY charitable work, other than serving food at the the local lodge once a month to the senior members, keeping the teenage girls their until midnight or later on a school night.
I am concerned about the Masonic undercurrent (for lack of a better term), which I don’t really understand fully, to be honest. As well as the Christian underpinnings of this group.
I may well be far off track, but I am not comfortable with any group that would not allow certain members, whatever the criteria. I have found this group exclusionary and divisive. They have no members of color, nor any other minority. And we live in a pretty diverse neighborhood. They exclude based on religion, because they are a religious group. Fine. I have no problem with that. But I do have a problem with a religious group that, if she were my biological daughter, and was rasied Jewish, would not admit her. Even though they would supposedly be gathering for social reasons and to perform charitable acts, which, as stated above, I have never seen them do.
Now, this may boggle some people’s minds, but as Jew, I am not thrilled with my stepdaughter hanging out with a bunch of people who won’t let me in to their group because of my religion or cultural background.
As tomndebb mentioned, this may very well be a “Christianized” local chapter. They seem pretty heavy into the ceremony of Christian religion, including prayer. I’m not into that, but if she is, fine. But by her own admission, that’s not why she goes.
But an event I went to about a year ago disturbed me. I’m not sure of the name of the ceremony they gave it, but it was sort of like a confirmation, or “now you are grown up” ceremony. Heavily religious, girls dressed in white robes, many prayers to Jesus, interminable boredom on my part. (I didn’t let her know that). But what really blew me away was the overt symbolism involving the cross, submission and how these were girls were told what to do, dress, behave.
At one point in the ceremony, the girls were kneeling in their virginal white robes, clearly in a cross like pattern on the floor. I turned to my wife with an odd look on my face. Now, my wife did quite a bit of study on the subject of racist groups throughout American history in college, and she is of the belief that much of the symbolism that Job’s Daughters employs is directly descendant from KKK meetings. I don’t necessarily agree with her, and I wish I could remember more specifics about the event we went to, but the overall impression I came away with was that the ceremony was either very heavily Catholic, or leaning towards what my wife ws thinking.
Another thing: they require the girls to wear certain styles of dress, mandating that they wear skirts, of a certain length, to all meetings. Certain types of shoes are not allowed (can’t remember which). No hosiery of any kind. No jewelry.
My wife and I HAVE talked to my stepdaughter about this organization. We tried to remain cool, and have a rational discussion with her about why we do not think this is the best way to spend her time. I explained my feelings about the exclusion of Jews, or any other religion. She told me that it was not a religious group, which she claimed she had asked about when she started going. When I asked her if they prayed, she said yes. I tried to explain that that made it a religious group, whoever or whatever they prayed to. She didn’t agree, and told me that “that’s what they said you would say”. That’s when I started to get even more uncomfortable with her involvement.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. More discussion.
Wanna know what else we did? We served weddings, about 4 weddings a month at a local banquet hall.