Dr. James Dobson, Shame on You!
For those in the media who are making allusions between the Foley situation and the 1980s scandals of televangelists Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, Dr. James Dobson has a message:
“I’d like to remind everybody that Mark Foley was not an evangelical Christian, he was not a pastor, he was not an evangelist — he wasn’t even really part of the pro-family movement, he was a closet homosexual.”
Dobson completely underplays Foley’s homosexuality — which he should on general principles, but for the fact that if Foley had been a Democrat he would have been roundly denounced and condemned as an immoral sinner and worse. Dr. Dobson’s harshest words are for homosexuals. Except for a few for Bill Clinton.
Speaking of Bill Clinton in 2001, Dobson characterized former President Clinton as “…a lifelong philanderer and womanizer who consumes and then discards his playthings.” Yet no similar condemnation was forthcoming for the hypocrisy of the author and champion of child predator laws behaving like one himself. In fact, Dobson goes further with Clinton by characterizing the Lewinsky affair as “…one of the most embarrassing and wicked things ever done by a president in power.” And if that wasn’t enough, in 1998, he not only condemned Clinton but suggested that Hillary Clinton was a co-conspirator. There was no phrase strong enough, no invective effective enough to convey Dr. James Dobson’s contempt for Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Where is Dobson’s outrage at the idea of Foley routinely seducing Congressional pages? There is none. If you listen to his radio show, he blames the pages even as he writes that he “categorically condemns” Foley’s actions. In fact, he goes so far as to make the audacious claim that there is absolutely “no connection” between his organization (Focus on the Family) and Foley’s folly. Yet it takes two clicks to hit a page that outlines resources and agencies fighting crimes against children — the cause that Foley championed. In at least one article on the site, Dr. Dobson lauds those “fine legislators” fighting “perversion against children”.
What does this have to do with YOU, Dr. Dobson? Well, where is your invective and vitriol for a man who championed your causes while indulging himself in the online pleasures of trolling for young men via instant messenger?
Today I am ashamed to admit being a Christian. Especially after reading the Focus on the Family site — a site that I have not paid much attention to in the past. Someone needs to help me understand how this organization can maintain its tax-exempt status while the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena continues to be threatened and harassed by the IRS because their pastor dared to deliver an anti-war sermon before the 2004 elections. (All Saints is considered to be a “liberal” church.)
Is it any wonder that evangelical Christians are the targets of criticism and anger? I’m angry, and I’m an evangelical Christian. All of us who make that claim would do well to reconsider supporting hypocrites and destructors such as James Dobson. Better that we adopt the course that Rick Warren at Saddleback Church (and no, I’m not a member there) embraces :
How do we reconcile with a neighbor who has been told that his denomination isn’t valid? How do we reply to a brother or sister who has felt condemned or excluded by “religion”?
We can reach out in love to those who have felt injured or disenfranchised by the church without compromising the message of Christ.
The message of Christ is one Dr. Dobson needs to hear: Showing mercy, helping others, feeding the sick, the poor, the disenfranchised.
Dr. Dobson, you’re a Pharisee. Repent.
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