In the interest of fairness, here is a link to Dobson's 2012 letter. The letter is too long to quote the whole thing, but my favorite part of his prediction: Many Christians voted for Obama – younger evangelicals actually provided him with the needed margin to defeat John McCain – but they didn't think he would really follow through on the far-Left policies that had marked his career. They were wrong. And here is my October 2008 Letter to the Christian Community: Many Christians voted for George W. Bush – younger evangelicals actually provided him with the needed margin to defeat Al Gore – but they didn't think he would really follow throuh on the far-right policies that had marked his career. They were wrong. In 2008, George Bush left office with the lowest approval ratings of any President in modern history. During his tenure, he failed to prevent a major terrorist attack, he involved America in two unending wars, he depleted the military, he significantly harmed the US economy, and did very little to actually promote Christian values. I really wish someone had written that letter to me eight years ago.
City Business Church
It is not by grace that one enters the kingdom of heaven, but by tithing. – Damazio 3:16
EXACTLY!
Nothing got better in 8 years under W even when he had 6 years to work with a complete republican majority in Congress. Why oh why do I keep hearing from the right that we are going to see the demize of our country under a democrat, when it’s already happened under a republican? No one has been able to give me a straight answer on this. George Bush takes away any strong argument these people have for why we need a strong republican man of faith in office.
What if…
He instituted programs in the public schools that made it nearly impossible for teachers to do their jobs, declared he would get vengance on terrorist attackers and find weapons of mass destruction which turned out not to exist after all, waged a war that cost thousands and thousands of lives, declared it to be over and then it continued on and on and on, made the United States into a laughing stock and bitter enemy all over the globe! Just imagine, you go on a vacation to Eupore, and you have to lie and say that you are Canadian to avoid being spit on…
AWWW! I’m not reading a doomsday novel, am I?
Let’s perform a thought experiment here. Suppose that January 2008 saw two candidates who are somewhat (but not entirely) different from the two major party candidates we have now. Let’s say that in the Democratic corner we had a man from a minority group – perhaps even a black man – who was an orthodox evangelical and who believed that homosexuality and abortion are sins (which they are, according to the Bible).
But…, let’s also say that this candidate believed that global warming was real and that it was caused by humans; that Peak Oil and other resource constraints are real and we would all be forced to drastically change our lifestyles; who saw the murderous effects of unregulated “free-market” disaster capitalism and who believed that the Bible commanded him to reverse these effects; and who was firmly opposed to torture, warrantless arrests, and imprisonment of people without trial. Let us also suppose that this man believed in building social safety nets for the poor of America (who are now the majority) so that people had access to basic necessities such as housing, food and medical care without having to go into debt or pay exorbitant prices. Let’s say lastly that this man became the Democratic nominee for President after a bruising primary in which he narrowly defeated a woman who had voted for corporate interests throughout most of her tenure as an elected official.
Now, let’s say that in the Republican corner was a man who was not a churchgoer at all, who was not the darling of the Religious Right before 2008, and who was not known for being spiritual in any way. Let’s say that prior to 2008 this candidate had not been willing to condemn homosexuality or to support the overturn of Roe vs. Wade. (For a link to a story about just such a candidate, click here.) But let’s say that this candidate consistently voted for laws that protect or expand the reach of big business and of American power overseas, even if these laws had immoral or damaging effects on other countries, and on the poor of his own country. Let’s also say that after his selection in 2008 as the Republican nominee for President, he chose an overtly “religious” churchgoer as his running mate.
Here’s the $700,000,000,000 question: Which candidate would you expect James Dobson to support? The answer to that question provides much insight into the motivations of the Religious Right.
Catalyst said
Same here. Although 8 years ago I was still in my muddled brainwashed mindset so I probably would have written it off as a bitter statement from an offended person who wasn’t as spiritual as our pastor was. Back then I was still drinking the kool-aid.
TH in SoC said
Well said TH! Actually the whole thing was great but didn’t wanna take up space highlighting the whole thing!
Btw, what does TH in SoC stand for if you don’t mind my asking?
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So true Reformer! Why does the Christian Right think this is all spiritual when it’s simply that the American ppl have fired the Republicans for screwing it up so bad? Furthermore, what makes them think God is more on the side of the Republican right than on the side of the Demos or the Indies?? This type of arrogant presumption is what makes the world go crazy mad at Christianity.
Rocky Said:
our good friend went to Europe a few summers ago and purposely wore her “George Bush is not my president” t-shirt and they treated her like a queen in France! So if you go this summer just get a t-shirt that says “I voted for Obama” so they’ll be nice!
Ya, where is all this in that book series by Jensen and LaHaye? Back in my kool-aid days I read (probably the first 5) those and then had to quit — they were just so poorly written (in my opinion). No wonder the Christian Right is in a frenzy–talk about fear mongering. They were probably published by Tyndale which is who publishes Dobson’s books. However, in fairness, they also publish Denish D Souza’s books who is a conservative, yes, but an intelligent one.