Dobson for President—Let Him Test His Rigid Views With the Voters
Perhaps it is time for James Dobson of Focus on the Family to run for public office—even the presidency.
Perched at his base in Colorado Springs, Colo., Dobson has been a consistent voice of intolerance in the evangelical-right crowd.
Dobson cannot abide either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain. It is difficult to tell what he is for since he usually is shouting against someone.
Dobson's latest venture into politics was ripping Obama for a speech two years ago about a more diverse view of the Bible. Dobson was having none of that heresy in his mind. His interpretation is apparently the only one.
Here is a man who also distrusts McCain because he isn't more vocal on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. In other words, the presumptive GOP nominee had better agree with Dobson or else. Earlier this year, he said he would stay home rather than vote for McCain.
Of course, Obama's liberal views will never sell with Dobson or his ilk.
Dobson has become a force to be reckoned with in partisan politics—so why not run himself and test his views with voters? It will never happen.
But there is good news on the evangelical front. The Rev. Joel Hunter of Orlando is the subject of an article in this week's New Yorker magazine. Hunter is worried about global warming, backs immigration reform, and is angry at the Republican venomous language on the immigration issue.
Hunter's views are refreshing since the public perception of evangelicals is that they are rigidly conservative if not as extreme as Dobson.
Americans of all faiths have different views on interpreting the Bible. Dobson's is not the only one, and we all should be thankful for that.
Tags: presidential election 2008 | James Dobson
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dobson
I am a former marine/soldier stationed in iraq, and dobson's rhetoric is exactly the same as the imams and clerics here, just substitute the name of God. I have listened to him for years, and the only conclusion i have come to regarding his commentary is that he is a narcissistic self-appointed expert on religion, enjoying the influence that causes the actions of the Eric Rudolph's and Scott Roeder's, just too cowardly to act on his own. He persistently has guests on his show that will patronize his ego, not to mention his hired sycophant John Fuller. I fight for the right for every American to have their say, but it is folks like Dobson that make me wonder about the wisdom of allowing for this inciting language without accountability for the results to go on.
Turbo Tax
Hi. Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
I am from Afghanistan and now study English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "This affiant to commit suicide, is prohibited absolutely channels that."
Best regards ;-), Latham.
Be careful forsaking those pesty absolutes...
I would just ask all you evangelicals ready to follow the pied pipers of the new social evangelical religion, ie., joel hunter, etc., to be careful what "absolutes" you throw overboard.
Yes, Falwell, Dobson, Robertson, etc., manifest a simplistic approach to theology; they should never have abandoned the patristic fathers which are the backbone of the eastern and western catholic churches, but...
the "absolutes" subsisting in the atrocity of abortion and the antithetical self gratifying lifestyle of homosexuality, are inarguable, they are "truth."
You can declare as a naive rebellious adolescent might, that your taking the train off the tracks to freedom and consensus but if you are really a train, you will go nowhere unless you're on that track...it's the nature of a train.
The "right" is right to make "Being", Life, the number one issue; I AM...existence, the dignity of "personhood" IS our faith!
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John W. Mashek covered politics in Washington for four decades with U.S. News & World Report, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Boston Globe. His primary beats were Congress, the White House, and national politics. He covered every presidential election from 1960 to 1996. He was a panelist in three televised presidential debates in 1984, 1988, and 1992.