37 WOMEN, LEADERSHIP, AND THE POWER OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT seeking to protect their families and nation from those who would destroy them. The Eagle Forum gained its first members from Schlafly's mailing and donor lists acquired during her campaign for president of the National Federation of Republican Women. After losing the election, Schlafly realized her power and influence over many conservative women. Schlafly capitalized on her influence, and the Eagle Forum was the first women’s grassroots organization to compete for the loyalty of conservative women.41 By the end of the STOP ERA campaign, the Eagle Forum had 60,000 members and became an avenue for powerful conservative voices.42 Currently, the Eagle Forum boasts 80,000 members and continues to be a voice for conservatism.43 BEVERLY LAHAYE’S BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Another critical player in the anti-ERA campaign was Beverly LaHaye. LaHaye attended Bob Jones University, a conservative, fundamentalist university in Greenville, South Carolina, where she met her future husband, Tim LaHaye. Tim LaHaye began his ministry as a pastor, and Beverly LaHaye stayed home to care for their four children. Besides her famous husband and her organization, Concerned Women for America (CWA), LaHaye’s life remains a mystery. One wonders if her mother’s early death and her less-than-ideal childhood are reasons for the lack of information.44 Most research about Beverly LaHaye’s life correlates to her husband’s ministry, the accomplishments of CWA, and the offshoot groups funded through CWA. The LaHayes co-authored The Act of Marriage, and she wrote The Spirit-Controlled Woman as a companion book to her husband’s book, The Spirit-Controlled Temperament.45 In 1992, the CWA established the Beverly LaHaye Institute to fund abortion, marriage, and religion research. In 2011, the CWA launched Young Women for America to train college women to carry the conservative agenda into the next generation, resulting in the U.S. House of Representatives honoring LaHaye for her political activism.46 Though friends remember Beverly as shy and introverted, she overcame these traits to become a powerful voice for the Christian Right.47
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