In Dallas, 6,700 Women Rally for Culture War Battles After Kirk’s Death

“The pattern that we see of Christianity for the past 2,000 years, much to the disappointment of the tyrants that have tried to stop us, is that Christians tell the truth, Christians are persecuted, Christians multiply,” Stuckey said during the conference.

The values being targeted, according to the event speakers, include convictions about the dangers of “transgenderism” and queer identity, the belief that abortion is murder, and the upholding of traditional roles for men and women in marriage.

Satan was frequently described as the one slinging the “arrows,” though it was often fellow Christians, rather than the secular left, who were accused of distorting what the conference framed as objective biblical truths. Alisa Childers, the former Christian musician turned author and apologist, condemned longtime NIH director and evangelical Francis Collins for supporting fetal tissue research, LGBTQ+ rights, DEI and “Darwinian evolution.” Childers then received laughter and applause for calling out evangelical author Jen Hatmaker, who is also LGBTQ-affirming.

“We have groups of people that call themselves Christians, that will say, ‘Well, the Bible doesn’t really mean what we thought it meant for 2,000 years. Words don’t have objective meaning,’” Childers said during her talk.

Hillary Morgan Ferrer, founder of nonprofit Mama Bear Apologetics, described progressives not as enemies, but as captives.

“We have to realize that people have ideological Stockholm Syndrome, especially when it comes to the whole alphabet brigade, because they think these ideas are the things that give me purpose. They give me acceptance,” Ferrer said, in reference to the LGBTQ+ acronym.

Children’s Rights nonprofit founder Katy Faust noted that it’s possible to love gay people without compromising conservative convictions but also framed same-sex marriage as a justice issue that deprives children of a mother or father. She rejected no-fault divorce, IVF and surrogacy, saying these practices prioritize parental preferences over the rights of children.

The talks took place on the main stage of the arena and were interspersed by worship sets that featured anthems like “In Christ Alone” and the more recent hit, “Holy Forever.” Twice, Christian musician Francesca Battistelli led attendees in the hymn “This Is My Father’s World” — which includes the line “the battle is not done.”

But while cultural battles were a throughline of the conference, there were lighthearted moments, too; speakers peppered their conversations with jokes about chicken coops and sourdough starters, and panels on motherhood and health dolled out practical advice on how to control children’s access to social media and avoid processed foods.

Uniting the speakers wasn’t just a conservative, evangelical worldview, but an aesthetic; all nine featured speakers were white women in their 30s-50s. Most attendees, too, were white women who seemed to embrace an unspoken uniform of jeans or long skirt and casual top, with hair worn down. The event’s sponsors — including a Texas-based, antibiotic-free meat company; a pro-life, chemical-free baby essentials brand; and a sustainable fashion brand — revealed a significant overlap with MAHA mothers (Make America Healthy Again) or, as Childers put it, moms of the “crunchy” variety.