Daddy Dobson. Arguably America’s most powerful conservative, James Dobson throws his weight around Washington -- and people listen.
Excerpts from an article about Dobson by Howard Fineman in the 5-4-05 Newsweek.
Dobson is, arguably, the most powerful social conservative in the country, central to the battle over federal judges—and a danger to the people who would oppose him. He has built an empire—Focus on the Family—by projecting an avuncular, unflappable image. Unlike evangelical Christian provocateurs such as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, Dobson isn’t a minister. He wants to convert souls to Christ, and denounce the evils of society, but there is no fire or brimstone in sight and no sound of doom in his voice. He wants to be on decent terms with—or at least win a modicum of respect from—the likes of Imus and Franken. He is media savvy.
And yet he is plunging into politics headlong after a lifetime of staying away from it, convinced that he must use all of his accumulated good will and power as a family counselor to render a harsh message of judgment against political leaders—federal judges and members of congress—he thinks are allowing the country to sink into a hellhole or relativism and licentiousness.
In person, Dobson’s voice is soothing, his manner careful, considerate.
He is at home in his state-of-the-art radio studio, where he records a daily broadcast that is heard on more than 2,000 stations—forming the core of his influence. Visit the bookstore on his campus and you see another part of the Focus on the Family machinery: row after row of books by Dobson on family issues and childrearing, the most famous of which is probably “Dare to Discipline.”
The point is, this is a man who can live in two worlds. With a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and years of clinical experience, Dobson is the real thing in academic and professional terms. Liberals can’t gainsay his credentials. Yet his message—corporal punishment is necessary, if carefully used, especially on boys; Christian faith is the ultimate support that all families need to survive—is one that fellow evangelicals find helpful and inspiring.
He’s the kind of guy that anyone might want to talk to about their kids, and you have a sense that the discussion would be polite, even if you disagreed. It’s that decency and civility that has made Dobson such a force in the country.
But politics is another matter. He was venomous on the topic of the federal judiciary, which he sees largely as a coven of secular ayatollahs imposing a pro-abortion, pro-pornography, pro-gay-and-lesbian agenda on a Christian nation. He and his lieutenants have become deeply versed in the voting records and election prospects of the senators who will handle the judicial nominations.
I asked him what his top priority was in public life, and was astonished to hear him answer: ending the filibuster rule. Any Republicans who stray from the party line on that issue can expect the full weight of Dobson to come down on them.
Beneath the placid demeanor I sensed an urgency and intensity—a man close to the boiling point at what he sees as the iniquities of political leadership. Are members of Congress unruly children needing discipline from the "Dare to Discipline" author? Maybe so, but we don’t know how they will respond to Daddy Dobson. And we don't know how Dobson himself will react if they defy him. He's kept his cool so far, but that would be the ultimate test.
_______________
In a 1-5-05 post about Dr. Dobson, I wrote in a post entitled "Dr. James C. Dobson can go to hell, the . . . .":
Dr. James C. Dobson -- the child psychologist and founder of the evangelical organization Focus on the Family and the nation's most influential evangelical leader -- unlike other conservative Christian leaders, owes his grass-roots following primarily to his partly clinical, partly biblical advice on matters like marriage and child-rearing.
And to think that years ago I let the wife Sally get me to go to Church meetings with her to watch this man's lecture series, and I curse myself for having agreed with Sally that he was pretty good.
He has now got the big head, and I hope he implodes and crashes and burns.
(Or even better, and while generally hating to wish ill on another, to have a Jimmy Swaggert situation himself. You might recall that Jimmy Swaggert, America's leading television evangelist around 15 years ago, resigned from his ministry after it was revealed he had been consorting with a prostitute down in the Big Easy. And this was only the half of it. The revelation was all the more scandalous since Swaggert himself had unleashed fire and brimstone against rival TV evangelist Rev. Jim Bakker -- you remember, hubby of Tammy Faye Bakker -- only a few months before for committing adultery with his secretary Jessica Hahn.)
Anyway, back to the subject S.O.B. . . .
Dobson is, arguably, the most powerful social conservative in the country, central to the battle over federal judges—and a danger to the people who would oppose him. He has built an empire—Focus on the Family—by projecting an avuncular, unflappable image. Unlike evangelical Christian provocateurs such as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, Dobson isn’t a minister. He wants to convert souls to Christ, and denounce the evils of society, but there is no fire or brimstone in sight and no sound of doom in his voice. He wants to be on decent terms with—or at least win a modicum of respect from—the likes of Imus and Franken. He is media savvy.
And yet he is plunging into politics headlong after a lifetime of staying away from it, convinced that he must use all of his accumulated good will and power as a family counselor to render a harsh message of judgment against political leaders—federal judges and members of congress—he thinks are allowing the country to sink into a hellhole or relativism and licentiousness.
In person, Dobson’s voice is soothing, his manner careful, considerate.
He is at home in his state-of-the-art radio studio, where he records a daily broadcast that is heard on more than 2,000 stations—forming the core of his influence. Visit the bookstore on his campus and you see another part of the Focus on the Family machinery: row after row of books by Dobson on family issues and childrearing, the most famous of which is probably “Dare to Discipline.”
The point is, this is a man who can live in two worlds. With a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and years of clinical experience, Dobson is the real thing in academic and professional terms. Liberals can’t gainsay his credentials. Yet his message—corporal punishment is necessary, if carefully used, especially on boys; Christian faith is the ultimate support that all families need to survive—is one that fellow evangelicals find helpful and inspiring.
He’s the kind of guy that anyone might want to talk to about their kids, and you have a sense that the discussion would be polite, even if you disagreed. It’s that decency and civility that has made Dobson such a force in the country.
But politics is another matter. He was venomous on the topic of the federal judiciary, which he sees largely as a coven of secular ayatollahs imposing a pro-abortion, pro-pornography, pro-gay-and-lesbian agenda on a Christian nation. He and his lieutenants have become deeply versed in the voting records and election prospects of the senators who will handle the judicial nominations.
I asked him what his top priority was in public life, and was astonished to hear him answer: ending the filibuster rule. Any Republicans who stray from the party line on that issue can expect the full weight of Dobson to come down on them.
Beneath the placid demeanor I sensed an urgency and intensity—a man close to the boiling point at what he sees as the iniquities of political leadership. Are members of Congress unruly children needing discipline from the "Dare to Discipline" author? Maybe so, but we don’t know how they will respond to Daddy Dobson. And we don't know how Dobson himself will react if they defy him. He's kept his cool so far, but that would be the ultimate test.
_______________
In a 1-5-05 post about Dr. Dobson, I wrote in a post entitled "Dr. James C. Dobson can go to hell, the . . . .":
Dr. James C. Dobson -- the child psychologist and founder of the evangelical organization Focus on the Family and the nation's most influential evangelical leader -- unlike other conservative Christian leaders, owes his grass-roots following primarily to his partly clinical, partly biblical advice on matters like marriage and child-rearing.
And to think that years ago I let the wife Sally get me to go to Church meetings with her to watch this man's lecture series, and I curse myself for having agreed with Sally that he was pretty good.
He has now got the big head, and I hope he implodes and crashes and burns.
(Or even better, and while generally hating to wish ill on another, to have a Jimmy Swaggert situation himself. You might recall that Jimmy Swaggert, America's leading television evangelist around 15 years ago, resigned from his ministry after it was revealed he had been consorting with a prostitute down in the Big Easy. And this was only the half of it. The revelation was all the more scandalous since Swaggert himself had unleashed fire and brimstone against rival TV evangelist Rev. Jim Bakker -- you remember, hubby of Tammy Faye Bakker -- only a few months before for committing adultery with his secretary Jessica Hahn.)
Anyway, back to the subject S.O.B. . . .
posted by Sid Cottingham | 5:59 AM
1 Comments:
I'm glad to see there's someone else that can't stand Dobson. With his type, it's either his way or the highway. I was raised to think tolerance was a virtue. Not according to him. I will be delighted when goes the way of Swaggert/Baker.
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