From the October 26 Rocky Mountain News:
[O]ut of public view, a new generation of executives is laying the groundwork for sustaining the conservative Christian group as a cultural and political force once the 71-year-old Dobson has left the scene. And most of their efforts are concentrated not in the political realm, but in finding new ways to deliver marriage and parenting advice to a younger generation of families, many of whom distrust institutions or dislike evangelical engagement in politics.
[Focus on the Family president Jim] Daly emphasized that Focus on the Family is not backing off its public policy work, and he said the renewed emphasis on relationships is not meant to blunt criticism that the group is too political.But if the goal is to reach younger adults, downplaying politics might be wise. The Christian polling firm Barna Group found this year that nearly half of born-again Christians between 16 and 29 believe conservative Christian political involvement poses a problem for America.
Corwin Smidt, director of the Henry Institute for he Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Focus on the Family in the post-Dobson era will likely struggle to mobilize people politically. Smidt said developing niche products might give people what they want, but it also makes it harder to unite people around a political cause.
Already, Focus on the Family is discovering the financial implications of attracting a younger crowd. Maegdlin said that in the last year the organization has identified about 280,000 people who have been exposed to Focus on the Family for the first time through the Internet but haven’t donated.
The total number of donors has declined from 755,000 in 2004 to 564,000 as of last month, ministry officials said. Supporters are giving more money more often, but the overall numbers are still down: Focus on the Family brought in $132.5 million in donations in the fiscal year ending in September 2004 compared to $130.8 million this year, officials said.
Although the shift in focus being contemplated by the successors to Dobson’s empire appears to only be one of degree, it sheds new light on the increasing alarmism James Dobson has displayed in recent months. If the religious right cannot find ways to stem the disillusionment of younger evangelicals , its time as a dominant political force may be near an end.
Whether these proposed changes will have any impact Love Won Out or Focus on the Family’s role in Exodus’ ad campaigns remains to be seen.
Dobson is a complete psychopath. I do not trust people who quote the bible “A man who lies with another man shall surely be put to death.” All of these “ex-gay programs” do not work anyways. People can try to change, but deep down they get depressed because they feel like they can’t be who they really are.
If they do think they are happy, then these programs did a great job at brainwashing people. All these programs are ran by fundy Christians and they have turned these programs into a cult. I for one will not be subjected to dehumanizing, humiliation and mental torture.
These so called “psychologists” are trained by these groups. They are not real psychologists. They do more harm to a person than good and in the end, it will destroy many families and relationships.
These programs should be sued and shut down! They ruin everyone’s life!
Psychopath? How about these statements from Jill Southern of Ellel Ministries?
https://www.ellelministries.org/
Demonic possession on cue here:
https://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=53640
I think that the Daily Express link proves that most ex-gay ministries (and ministers) have completely lost touch with reality. Unfortunately, I don’ think that Southern’s comments are atypical or unique. We have all heard stories of Exodus affiliates who practice “deliverance” ministries, rebuking and casting out the demons and devils of homosexuality. When they engage the public however, I think they just water-down the kool-aid here in North America because they know that people will look at them funny if they start talking about “spirits”. Instead of openly talking about the demons of homosexuality, they talk about “brokenness”.
Question for Alan: do you believe there is, if any, a demonic component to homosexuality?
Will,
I can appreciate your anger and frustration. However, perhaps a more measured comment would better contribute to the conversation. Not much is accomplished by tossing out stereotypes, hyperbole, and accusations.
For example, James Dobson is not a psychopath. And accusations of that sort cause your following comments to be discounted.
And we do wish happiness on everyone, including those who find peace and happiness within an ex-gay structured life. We have doubts about the efficacy – or even necessity – of ex-gay ministries, but certianly don’t think they “should be shut down”. We favor free choice, coupled with accurate and verifiable information. We simply seek to ensure that lies are combatted and political machinations are exposed.
Finally, psychologists receive their credentials by means of education and accreditation, not from ex-gay ministries. And while we do think that ex-gay ministries have in many instances caused harm to individuals and families, this is not a universal truth. Some good also had resulted in some lives.
Hi Timothy, I apologize for the psychopath comment, you are right about the freedom to choose. Here is what I mean when I said that about James Dobson.
Their representation of family is out of touch with reality. There are so many varieties of families in this world, and to conform with the “One father, one mother and 2 1/2 children in suburbia” just doesn’t apply everywhere in America. Add that to the biblical account of the “traditional family” that is said to be around for thousands of years just isn’t true.
Jesus’ best friends were Mary, Martha and Lazarus were sisters and brother living under the same roof (John 11:1-36). Jesus healed the daughter of a single mother (Matthew 15:21-28). Jesus didn’t denounce the Samaritan woman divorced from five different husbands and living with a man who wasn’t her husband at the time (John 4:1-30). Jesus didn’t condemn the Roman centurion who lived with his special male servant (Matthew 8:5-13).
I couldn’t post all of what I wanted in the last post, so here is the follow up.
There were families in the bible of many types. Man and woman, man who got married to as many women that he could afford, a widow and her brother-in-law or closest next to kin, a Jewish soldier and a female prisoner of war, female rape victims forced by law to marry their attackers, and male slaves forced to marry the female slaves of their masters.
Marriage in the Bible is almost always done by arranged marriages, in order to have an economic advantage to the families involved.
Dobson’s fantasy family is from the 1950-1960’s era which are only presented on television. There is always the perfect mother, perfect father and perfect children. “Leave it to Beaver” comes to mind. The woman who played June Cleaver said in an interview once that the family on that show was only created for entertainment purposes.
I don’t know what Dobson had to endure during his childhood and teen years that resulted in his fantasy family. But the fact that he got that family ideal from television is proof enough for me that he cannot distinguish reality from fantasy. Using the Bible as reference to the “traditional family” is not grounds enough to promote this ideal because as we all know, there is no perfect family within the pages of the Bible.
Of course there’s no “perfect family” in the Bible. Then what would we learn?
The Bible is so often idolized itself, when really it is a portal to the Divine, not Divine itself (my theological opinion).
Part of the problem is that we take the written word for granted in this era. When my people first wrote down the Torah thousands of years ago, the written word was extremely precious. We were nick-named “people of the Book” by outside cultures because our religion and way of life were based on the book we’d recorded. We saw it as a window into a pious life. Now it seems it is merely a weapon of sorts; a holier-than-thou defense mechanism; a “get into heaven free” card.
Such a wide spectrum of literature is presented in our Tanakh that it allows for life lessons to be learned. For example: King David was very wise and loved God – but he was a terrible father. He could not discapline his children. (Solomon turned out okay anyway). So let’s hope Dobson doesn’t point to David for proof of “perfect” Biblical fatherhood!
Many fundamentalist Christians use Adam and Eve to “prove” the point of traditional family. Remember what happened to them? Cain killed his own brother. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Cain also have children with his sister? Many fundamentalists say that this was because they were needed to create all of the 12 different tribes of the world. That makes no sense because if it was alright back then, it would be alright now. Two people and their children cannot create the different “races” of the earth by themselves.
No, I am not judging ALL Christians when I say fundamental Christians. There is even a difference between Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians. The Fundamentalists of the religion are the ones tearing families apart and trying their best to overthrow Democracy in America by trying to gain positions of power even if they are not qualified. Harriet Miers’s nomination for the Supreme Court comes to mind. That came about because of the Fundies’ powerful backing. Evangelicals do not follow the Bible literally like that. They live and let live as the saying goes.
Yes, the ones who use the Bible for their own way, with quoting a verse here and there are idol worshippers. The Bible becomes the idol. This ideal of a perfect family is also idol worship. The Christians who are always saying that America is a Christian nation and should return the nation to Christ are also idol worshippers.