Religious-right lobbyist James Dobson is worried that Democrat Barack Obama will attract votes in November from evangelical Christians, Dobson's power base.
So Dobson used his bully-pulpit radio program today to rant about a speech on religion delivered by Sen. Obama two years ago at a conference sponsored by Sojourners, a respected Christian progressive organization headed by Dobson's liberal counterpart, Jim Wallis.
(Read the full text at Barack Obama's Controversial Speech on Religion & Politics.)
In his radio remarks, Dobson, who famously uses the Bible as a proverbial battering ram to pulverize all who he believes sin according to his conservative biblical interpretations, hilariously proclaimed (without even a hint of irony!):
"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology."
Obama's Controversial '06 Speech on Religion & Politics
As a lifelong Christian and now an active Lutheran (ELCA), I confess that the speech to which Dobson is referring, delivered by Barack Obama on June 28, 2006, touched me like no other speech by a political leader ever has, except Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" masterpiece.
I admit to weeping tears of joy when I heard (by video) and read Sen. Obama's words, because after long, painful years of liberals being tagged by James Dobson's millions of minions as not having values; of being openly shunned at evangelical churches; of, in essence, being treated as immoral people.... I felt as though one political leader deeply understood and shared my Christian values, which are central to my identity and my politics. I felt like he got it.
After absorbing Obama's courageous and insightful speech, I knew, without doubt, that I wanted to support Barack Obama to be President.
The very power, intelligence and universal importance of Obama's words that day is terrifying to James Dobson and his business empire because it shreds his remaining credibility and threatens his already tattered political power base. Orated Obama:
"Conservative leaders have been all too happy to exploit this gap, consistently reminding evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design."
Obama went on to recognize that United States democracy is not just for Christians, declaring that:
"Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers."
Dobson's Larger Worry: Obama Inroads to Christians
But as brilliant Obama's speech was, Dobson's larger concern is decidedly not words uttered two years ago by the junior senator from Illinois.
It's about the political inroads Obama is making in 2008 with Republicans and younger evangelical Christians disenchanted with Bush administration dishonesties and failed policies, and with the narrow focus of older religious-right leaders as Dobson. Obama's recent outreach efforts to Christians include:
- On June 11, 2008 in Chicago, Barack Obama held a warm, closed-door meeting with 30 well-known conservative Christian leaders, including pastor and best-selling author Max Lucado; Dr. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham; Rich Cizik, a VP of the National Association of Evangelicals; and Paul Corts, President of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities.
By all accounts, the friendly meeting covered a broad gamut of topics, from genocide, poverty and hunger to gay marriage, abortion and religous freedom. The attendees peppered Obama with questions, which he purportedly answered directly and with disarming honesty. Dobson either declined to attend, or wasn't invited.
- The Obama campaign has a highly effective GOTV outreach to People of Faith, entoning "We've seen a groundswell of support from people of faith on this campaign and we need to keep up the momentum. Sign an online supporter card, tell us a little about yourself, and let us know you’re standing with Barack."
- In online social networking media, such as MySpace and Facebook, the Obama campaign has established unusally cohesive faith groups, including one I'm a part of, the Matthew 25 Network, which is "resolved around the Gospel values laid out in Matthew 25:35-40," a portion of the Sermon on the Mount.
- A few weeks ago, the Christian Broadcasting Network broke the story of a new Obama campaign aimed at younger Evangelicals and Catholics. Dubbed the "Joshua Generation Project," the Obama campaign seeks to look "broaden the values discussion" to include "Poverty, Darfur, Climate Change and yes, even the war..."
Dobson: Embattled, Left Behind by Many Evangelicals
A hard truth being avoided by James Dobson and his religious right wing of zealots is that since 2000 and especially since 2004, the Republican monopoly of religious voters has steadily fallen. Per the New York Times on August 25, 2006:
"The survey (by the Pew Research Center) found that the proportion of Americans who say the Republican Party is friendly to religion fell 8 percentage points in the last year, to 47 percent from 55 percent. Among Catholics and white evangelical Protestants, the decline was 14 percentage points."
And another reality ignored by Dobson is that his own evangelical Christian movement has changed and evolved in recent years in directions frowned upon by Dobson.
And those changes dovetail more naturally with Barack Obama's agenda than that of John McCain. Reported the Los Angeles Times on March 10, 2007:
"A new generation of pastors has expanded the definition of moral issues to include not only global warming, but an array of causes. Quoting Scripture and invoking Jesus, they're calling for citizenship for illegal immigrants, universal healthcare and caps on carbon emissions."
The Los Angeles Times article reports about Randall Balmer, Columbia University Professor of Religion:
"Balmer... says he senses an unstoppable momentum for the new generation of social-justice evangelicals (i.e. liberals). But though he criticizes the traditionalists for 'moral myopia,' he’s not willing to write them off yet."Dobson and his allies still wield considerable clout; their radio shows, newsletters and e-mail alerts reach millions of conservative Christians. 'They’re still very powerful,' Balmer said. 'And they’re not giving up.' "
Once powerful religious right leader James Dobson proclaimed in January 2007, "I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances." In October 2007, he weirdly announced that social conservatives should vote for Hillary Clinton before they vote for Rudy Giuliani. And throughout the 2008 presidential race, he refused to support Mormon Mitt Romney, despite almost complete agreement on the issues.
And today, Dobson whined that Barack Obama distorts the Bible, and that University of Chicago Constitutional Law Professor Obama has a "fruitcake" understanding of the U.S. Constitution.
Thus, embattled 72-year-old James Dobson fights on, unsatisfied and unbowed, apparently unable to acknowledge that much of the evangelical Christian movement is no longer listening to him.
And the rest of us sigh deeply in relief that his family-friendly mask has finally dropped to reveal to more and more Americans his mean intolerance and narrow-mindedness. And his irrelevance in 2008.
(Photo #1: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Photo #2: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Comments
Dobson becomes a little bit less relevant with every passing year. He attached himself too much to the Bush administration–and as its fortunes are sinking, so are his.
I remember back when Dobson had some credibility–as the guy who interviewed Ted Bundy the night before his execution, as the author of an interesting parenting column and a book called The Strong-Willed Child that was very well received in local homeschooling circles.
But now that he’s a professional homophobe, he just doesn’t have much to offer people anymore. He’s sold out and turned into a hack. That he would accuse anyone else of duplicity is hilarious.
Barack Obama said it himself, “Christians aren’t reading their bibles”. I suspect he is one of those Christians. As for McCain, he probably is also. I’m not talking about reading it a couple times a week, I’m talking about studying the word of God on a daily basis. Then spending time in prayer with our Lord on a daily basis. Since I doubt either candidate spends much time studying God’s word or praying daily, it probably won’t have much bearing on who I vote for.
God tells us in his word that the path to life is narrow and few find it, but the road to destruction is wide
and many find it. As we grow in our knowledge of God’s word our viewpoint just like God’s, will be perceived by the rest of the world as narrow minded and we will find that there are fewer so called Christians walking with us on the path as time goes on. I believe James Dobson is on the narrow path and I hope that I’m right there with him.
Also, keep in mind that anyone can read the bible and interpret it. But, only with the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit will a person be able to correctly interpret it.
James Dobson is no homophobe just because he preaches against homosexuality as being immoral. It is immoral just like telling lies, committing murder, stealing, adultery and the list goes on. We as Christians are not called to hate the people that commit these sins, but to love those people with the love of Christ and hate the sin itself. We must tell them what they are doing is wrong and that they must repent and turn to God. Otherwise there will be eternal damnation in hell for them. If you call yourself a Christian and you stand up for abortion rights, homosexual rights and any other agenda that is immoral based on God’s word, then you need to take a hard look at your walk with the Lord.
Another thing to keep in mind is that staying quiet on these issues when you know they are wrong is just as bad as supporting them. God has called his children to be salt and light to the rest of the world, but if we keep our mouths shut and only practice our faith behind closed doors we have become part of the problem.
There are a lot of Christians that rarely read their bibles or pray other than during Sunday church service. Many of these Christians at the very least do attend church every week. I suspect most of these people go to church either out of guilt or to feel better about themselves. But, guilt and feeling better about ourselves is not what following Christ is about. It is suppose to be about glorifying God with our actions, our words and all that he has given us. We should be going to Church because we are excited about what God is doing, about worshiping God with other believers, and hearing God’s word preached.
So many people that aren’t God fearing label themselves as Christians, that I don’t like to use that label anymore. I’m a God fearing follower of Christ. Does that mean I’m perfect no, but I strive to be. Hopefully those of you reading this comment understand what it means to fear God. It doesn’t mean to be afraid of God like you would be afraid of a lion that is about to attack you.
If you call yourself a Christian, then I plead with you to take a serious look at your heart and what motivates you. As Christians we should always be doing this. Why do you do the things you do. Is it because of your relationship with Christ and what God’s word truly teaches. I encourage you all that believe in Christ to study God’s word for yourself. Don’t just rely on your pastor, preacher or priest to interpret it for you.
Don’t form you opinion based on what other people say including what I’ve said. Read God’s word for yourself. If your heart is open to God, then He will teach you.
Is it easy to be disciplined, no. If your Christian life is easy then I plead with you to take a hard look at it. Paul himself who many would say was the greatest follower of Christ of all time, had a very difficult life. Not only did he struggle with physical issues, but also with the world and with his flesh. When I say he struggled with his flesh, I mean he struggled with his internal desires to do those things that he knew deep in his heart to be wrong in the eyes of God. If we are not struggling with our flesh then we are not following hard after Christ.
I’m not encouraging anyone to vote for a particular candidate. I just hope that all followers of Christ will pray and seek God’s will in this election and vote based on what God’s will is.
God Bless!
How dare anyone claim to now what God’s will is when it comes to an election! Only God knows a man’s heart, but from my point of view Obama displays a Christ-like kindness in his actions. Seems to me that the fear of Obama stems from his intelligence. We have become a country content with the fact that our President is a joke and that the nations of the world despise us or laugh at us. We have become cruel, self-interested and dishonest. I would like to see that change for the better.