We don’t discuss politics at XGW and we don’t plan to start now, but one has to take note of such hubris. Today we received this email titled “Special Report” from the Focus on the Family mock news site CitizenLink. It was brightly colored to set it apart from all the others we get from them, even the one announcing Jerry Falwell’s recent passing. Braced for the earth shaking news, I opened it to read the following:
Focus on the Family Action Alert:
Dr. James Dobson Says Won’t Vote for Giuliani“It is an irrevocable decision.”
That was the entire message. Besides smacking of the imperial tone which Dobson is so fond of, is there anyone who doesn’t think that the phrase “and neither should you” is implied at the end of that statement? A disclaimer stating that the email is paid for by Focus on the Family Action is included of course, though it seems odd since they want CitizenLink to look like a news site.
Focus on the Family Action was formed under IRS section 501(c)(4), supposedly to keep Focus and Dobson from breaking any of those pesky laws that prohibit politicking by tax exempt organizations. Somehow it doesn’t seem to matter since those laws don’t appear to be causing them any problems anyway.
Why, oh why has Rudy lost Dobson’s vote? Among other reasons:
No Rudy, you gotta love the sin and hate the sinner. Oh, wait, love the sinner and hate the sinner’s potential spouse. No that’s not it… love the sinner and his spouse but hate the health insurance and hospital visitation. Wait, oh darnit, just do everything you can think of that’s anti-gay and you’ll have it covered.
And send money.
While Dobson is not an ordained minister, lots of folks call him “Rev. Dobson.”
They do that because instead of practicing psychology as he was certified to do as a professional, Dobson uses his organization and his leadership to preach politics from any pulpit where he is asked to speak.
Dobson was the one who said the children’s cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is gay.
Dobson’s outfit uses at two mass mailings each year to raise funds for its coffers. One is to help him fight abortion and the other is to help him prevent gays from getting equal rights.
Back in 1993-94, there was a children’s doctor who worked at Tulsa’s Indian Health Care Resource Center. My regular doctor there knew that I was gay. But, one time I did a walk-in at the Clinic and he was elsewhere that day.
So they had me talk to the other doctor. While I was in his patient waiting room, I saw Focus on the Family Posters with some detailed stuff on all of them. I had known about Dobson before I left the closet in ’84. It bothered me to see that stuff when Tommy, the AIDS Educator, worked there and he was openly gay, too. The therapists in the Center’s Behavioral Health section (which included Tommy) would never have Dobson’s stuff displayed on the walls in their offices.
Perhaps Dobson feels their cold grip on the throat of the GOP slipping ever so slightly. Dare we hope?
There is so much to disdain about dobson and his organization, it’s difficult to keep a good Jewish heart about the matter. But as my own Mom says, “the best revenge is to lead a good life.” I’m still trying to wrap my head around her philosophy – but i’m young, in my twenties, and it might take me a while to reach her level.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but you state that XGW does not discuss politics. Isn’t everything about XGW political in some way? Many of the exgay groups and individuals dabble in politics (especially Republican politics–check out Chambers’ and Randy’s sites), and exgays are used by politicals to booster their ideologies. Part of the reason I read this site is because of the political aspects. It is a service that you do to inform about the political calculations of these groups. BTW I don’t think Focus or other groups would do anything with exgays if they did not feel that they could help them politically.
Politics as in the merits of this or that candidate or party. We certainly discuss politics and religion both as they relate to the exgay issue. But again, we don’t discuss the merits of this or that faith either, or try not to, because as with candidates and parties, the discussion devolves quickly into a personal shouting match.
while i do find some of the things rudy g. has done commenable, most og his social ideas are in copatible with my beliefs. thank you dr. dobson for stating the obvious, perhaps rudy g. can see the light.
many so liberal types have called rev falwell “intolerant” i believe he spoke biblical truths. as a christian i believe that even God is “intolerant” of sin. but that his capacity for forgiveness limitless. if you will not renounce sin, i’m not sure he will forgive you.
doubt it anyway.
“Tom” presumes to know God’s U.S. political party affiliation, presumes to speak for God, presumes to judge others on God’s behalf, and fails to renounce his own sins.
In short, Tom thinks God is as small as he (Tom) is.
The tom guy’s homepage link does not work because there is no https://donthaveany website. And that means he does not even have a homepage. He apparently is one of the readers of “ex-gay watch” folks. He’s either not homosexual or he’s in denial of his sexual orientation. Because one claims to “tolerate” any minority grouping, others should NOT claim that he supports their having equal rights as law abiding citizens of the USA. Falwell did not support rights for gay and neither does Dobson.
It seems that most of the Politicians at the state and federal levels are either right wing fundamentalist Christians or they support their homophobia and their homomisia (the real Greek word for hatred of homosexuals) and use the podiums on the legislature floors to thump the Bible, too.
Some of the most out-spoken politicians and Christian ministers who misuse the Bible to support their anti-gay rights agenda ignore what Jesus said about divorce and remarriage after divorce. I am referring to those who have been divorced and got remarried. I don’t judge those who have been divorced and remarried as far as their relationship with Jesus is concerned.
Jesus said in words to this effect (I using the principles of Biblical Hermeneutics and interpretation in modern American English), “Anyone who gets a divorce for any reason other than because the cheating spouse committed adultery and gets remarried is living in the sinful state of adultery.” He also said, “If a single person marries a divorced person, he causes the divorced person to commit adultery.” (The latter is not “words to that effect,” it was literally said by Jesus.)
It is one thing to speak Biblical truths as Jesus himself said them. But, it is another thing to proof-text Scripture to support one’s own religious and political agendas.
The author of the textbook used in the Biblical Interpretation (aka Biblical hermeneutics) course I took as a graduate theology student wrote (I am summarizing a whole paragraph): “One of the worst things that the translators of the KJV Bible did is to divide books of the Bible into chapters and verses; because people misuse BCV (Book, Chapter & Verse) to support their own doctrines. It is okay to use a proof-text when the writer’s or speaker’s text/speech fits the context of where the verse or verses are found in the Bible.”
I wrote all of the above because everyone who has read all of the Gospels knows that Jesus never said one negative word about those whom we would call homosexuals. And in truth, there is nothing negative in the Bible’s original language regarding folks who are actually homosexual in their sexual orientation.
David, in response to your question, I don’t believe that “and neither should you” needs to be implied or stated. Speaking from my experience when I was still part of the fundamental and evangelical circles, any statement of Dr. Dobson carries the weight of gospel. It’s very similar to the weight the Christian Coalition had back when they were mailing out the Congressional Scorecards. (I knew people who took their scorecard with them into the voting booth and voted from it.) Most of the time, pastors and leaders “soften” the statement by adding “but you should vote your conscience” or some similar statements. However, it is understood in the pews (or listening to the radio waves) what you’re conscience should be. Dr. Dobson knows that many people depend on his opinion to form their own. The efforts from FOTF to counteract that are minimal at best.
In side note…”instead of practicing psychology as he was certified to do”…I could be wrong, but if my memory serves me correctly Dr. Dobson wasn’t certified as a psychologist. He was a practicing pedetrician in CA before writing his first book, Dare to Discipline, and creating FOTF.
I’m a liberal, a christian, and an ex gay Tom. I did not like Falwell because he preached hatred and not the whole gospel. Falwell never, ever said love your gay brothers and sisters. He did preach that people should go out and try to change them. In his mind that was love? His idea of biblical teaching and principles do not match up well with my ideas. Just me speaking here.
Fallwel spoke about homosexuality and how it caused him and others harm. He never ever spoke about the welfare, care and concern for gays except to stop them from being gay. Having seen sooooo much harm come to me and my friends because of what he advocated as correct biblical teaching, I cannot believe that he acted by the knowledge and love of the Holy Spirit.
We all fall, make mistakes and are need of alot of learning, but some people in mind just “…out Herod, Herod.” He was a fanatic without self-control. People’s lives’, souls and faith were lost because of his sour leadership.
According to Dobson’s Bio on FOTF, he is a licensed psychologist in the state of California and a licensed marriage, family and child counselor in both California and Colorado.
For 14 years Dobson was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine
Apparently, Falwell confused pedophilia with homosexuality. It is very rare for a person who is exclusively homosexual in his sexual orientation to sexually molest a minor child.
Same-gender pedophilia is not about homosexuality; it is about control of a child by an adult. Pedophilia is as much about homosexuality as opposite-gender rape is. It is rape when another person is forced into performing a sex act.
I did not copy down the source of where I found this information but it was from a federal document about those who had sex with minors. Only around 2 1/2 percent of all pedophiles are exclusively homosexual. In that report most of those who were homosexual were mentally challenged and they thought they were the same age as the boys with whom they had sex.
95 percent of those were men who self-identified as heterosexual in their adult relationships and were either married or had girlfriends. Many of those also molested little girls, too.
The remaining percentage were women who were listed as identifying as heterosexual and were married or had adult boy friends. Some of them were involved with the children because they joined in with the sexual abuse with the men.
The full text of Dobson’s condemnation of Giuliani is on Worldnutdaily. Pam at Pam’s House Blend covered it, too.
The fact that Dobson thinks Bush is “just alright with me,” speaks for itself where his values are.
In my considered opinion, Dobson is a megalomaniac obsessed with his own power and controlling others.
Some of the most out-spoken politicians and Christian ministers who misuse the Bible to support their anti-gay rights agenda ignore what Jesus said about divorce and remarriage after divorce. I am referring to those who have been divorced and got remarried. I don’t judge those who have been divorced and remarried as far as their relationship with Jesus is concerned.
Jesus said in words to this effect (I using the principles of Biblical Hermeneutics and interpretation in modern American English), “Anyone who gets a divorce for any reason other than because the cheating spouse committed adultery and gets remarried is living in the sinful state of adultery.” He also said, “If a single person marries a divorced person, he causes the divorced person to commit adultery.” (The latter is not “words to that effect,” it was literally said by Jesus.)
It is one thing to speak Biblical truths as Jesus himself said them. But, it is another thing to proof-text Scripture to support one’s own religious and political agendas.
This is always been one of my problems with the conservative Christians. They cry against homosexuality but ignore what Jesus said about divorce. In truth, the reason why divorce gets a pass now, except in the RCC, is that if ministers condemn divorce they will lose a majority of their congregations. Losing people means losing the money they make in church everytime the collection plate is passed around. That is one reason why they are silent on divorce now.
From a literalist standpoint, if someone divorces other than the case of adultery they must remain celibate the remainder of their lives. Since remarriage is out of the question and sex outside of marriage is a sin, the only way to be right in God’s eyes is to remain celibate. There is no way around it. This is of course if we look at it from a conservative Christian’s point of view. Of course they would never accept that life themselves, however, they demand that life of celibacy or change for homosexuals.
If the defense of marriage is that important to them they must by their own belief system, try everything in their power to pass laws in all 50 states to make divorce illegal except in cases of adultrey. Of course this will never happen because the issue hits too close to home for them.
Here in Tulsa County Court House, Oklahoma for every 3 marriage licenses filed with the Court Clerk, there is, on average, one divorce granted.
Too many lawmakers and preachers would not approve of it being illegal to get remarried after divorce because they have been married more than once.
One of the most outspoken preachers against gay rights on Christian TV is John Hagee, pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX and a member of the ORU Board of Regents. Hagee said that as long as he is on that board, homosexuals will not be welcome at ORU. (Actually, they go anyway and hide in the campus closet only.)
Well, more than 20 years ago, Hagee was pastor of another church and was married with children. He divorced his wife so that he could marry the woman with whom he was having an affair and was a member of that same church.
Richard Roberts, now head of ORU, was divorce, Patti, his first wife, through a staff member setting up an entrapment scheme with a TV production employee. I do know a whole lot about what really happened because the man set up was a member of the church I attended at the time and quite a few of the church members had been friends with Richard and Patti when they also attended ORU and were involved in the music ministry there. Richard is outspoken against gay marriage, too. He married a woman whom he dated while she was a graduate business admin. student. Until after RR became President of ORU, he only had a BA degree.
The Roberts family, their ministries and even those who run ORU refuse to accept the fact that Richard’s older brother, Ronald Oral Roberts, was openly gay several years before he died. Many in the gay community of “Hollywood show business” knew Ron was a closeted homosexual when the weekly TV shows were produced at NBC Studios in Burbank, CA.
I only knew Ron professionally because quite a few times I was a sub at a local Tulsa high school where he taught and I even subbed in his classroom, too. We both were in the closet in those days. That was before ORU had its own TV production facilities.
BTW, it is interesting that what Dobson wrote is not on his FOTF owned “news” website; it’s on World Net Daily’s website. Why didn’t they posted on Dobson’s phony “Citizen Link” site? “WND is the online version of those “newspapers,” such as National Inquirer, found by the checkout lines in local supermarkets.
RE; Ken and Joe’s comments:
Even in Dobson’s household there has been divorce and remarriage.
Not a peep about that from Focus/FamilyAction/Citizenlink/whatever.
Surprised?
Not.
I suspect that the notion that tax-exempt organizations should not politick is actually aimed at churches, which are the most obvious tax-exempt organizations. Apparently the power of a group of taxpaying citizens who voluntarily gather and pool their money is a dangerous one. Oh I have no doubt that some politician hypocritically wrapping himself in ethics got this little gem put in the IRS Code. Yet the result is simple, in order to organize politically in America, you have to pay taxes, not once but twice. The irony is that in the midst of real attempts to muzzle religious organizations most Christian-oriented advocacy groups are wasting time with ridiculous arguments and foolish debates, which in the end, give their opponents justification for attempting to muzzle them.
PW,
Contributions to IRS recognized charitable organizations [501(c)3] are tax-exempt. In other words, these “taxpaying citizens” that you refer to aren’t paying taxes on that portion of their income that they are contributing to one of these organizations. So I am not sure why you think that this leads to double taxation. It leads to no taxation
If you think that political contributions should be tax deductible, I am sure that you could advocate making contributions to political campaigns tax deductible. I just suspect that most people would not support you.
IRS enforcement of this provision is just trying to make sure that charitable organizations aren’t used to launder money to political campaigns. As a former Board Member of a 501(c)3 organization, I favor this restriction of the use of charitable funds.