moving beyond James Dobson

I think I am at the point where I would like to start separating myself from the evangelical powerhouse James Dobson. At the same time, there are many things that he does and says that I still embrace… Here’s an idea of what I mean.

Issues where we part company:

1. Becoming a PAG. It is putting the nail in the coffin to step down from Focus on the Family and create a political arm. He will soon be the Stuart Little of the 2000’s just like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. I have no doubt that he will run for president in 2008 and never make it to the New Hampshire primaries.
2. Making absolute truth a faith issue. This is “modern evangelicalism’s” inability to cope with the reality that we live in a post-modern society that believes in graded-absolutism at best and absolute relativism at it’s worst. The reality is that Christianity was born out of relativism and only embraced absolutism in Colonial times. Do the research!
3. Picking homosexual marriage as the “Little Big Horn of Christianity.” I just think he is fighting a battle that will ultimately be lost. Homosexual marriage has been defeated everywhere it has come up, it is based on a complete lie of secular humanism, (Born gay? Show me one sliver of research to back this up! There isn’t any but millions believe! Eerily similar to the idea of “separation of church and state.”) My opinion is that Christ can thrive in a United States that embraces homosexuals. It will be ugly, but the church will survive.
4. His allegiance with the home school movement. As I’ve shared in All Blogs before, it is my opinion that the home school movement is 100% wrong for Christians beyond the primary ages. It does not make sense that Dobson wants to change society without beingi involved in the educational process of children. He should be imploring universally that believers pour themselves into public life and public schools, but he has aligned himself with something that will sink the ship of many local churches and enter them into complete irrelevance.
5. His talking head status. I am tired of seeing him on CNN, FoxNews, and MSNBC. Does he not see that he is the goat of the conservative agenda? He looks like a fool in that he always says yes. It makes him seem as though he is interested in the fame of Hollywood.
6. The church has a responsibility to be political. I thought our responsibility was to disciple believers? Certainly an aspect of that is to teach truth that will cause action (such as social change) but we should not be endorsing a political party in such a way that violates our sacred duties.

Issues where I will always agree:

1. Abortion is infanticide and a black eye to the United States. Abortion on demand must stop… We will agree on that. The wholesale slaughter of unborn children under the title “human choice” is reprehensible at best and criminal at worst. The American people have turned their cheek to it and not realized that it has become a business venture and a perpetuation of racism. Why is it that over 75% of Planned Parenthood clinics are in African American neighborhoods?
2. Homosexuality is a sin. Yep, and so is any kind of sex outside of a marriage relationship. There is no doubt about this… The Bible could not be more clear on the issue. Even if people were “born gay” they still have the choice to act on this behavior or not act on this behavior. We are all natural born sinners. But if we are born to do something (such as alcoholism or addictions) we still have a responsibility to act according to what the Bible instructs us. Porn with a predisposition to something does not give us license to embrace it… Tell that to a cancer patient!
3. Parental responsibilities and discipline. I love and use Dobson’s books in raising my children. If he would “Focus on the Family” and not politics, I would still be embracing him!
4. Embracing these things could lead to real culture wars and the fall of the United States. I couldn’t agree more. Yet the Christ will still remain. Unchanged and unchangeable.

Postlude: Perhaps there are 2 people who will read this. It was not written for a mass audience. This was written to crystallize my own viewpoint as an evangelical and a pastor. My responsibility is to shepherd my flock… Which includes leading them to good water, leading them to good food, and keep them safe. It is my opinion that to do this best is to steer them away from the PAG that James Dobson has become… Hopefully after his failed attempt to run in 08 he will double back and focus on the family again! In the meantime, we can embrace portions of his ministry while steering clear of his political action.