Like some paranoid totalitarian dictator, Dobson tells his people to accept only his word and shut their ears to any criticism of him.
Yesterday’s “Wall of Separation” noted that James Dobson of Focus on the Family had questioned the religious commitment of former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson. Dobson charged that Thompson, a Tennessee Republican who is thinking of running for president, isn’t really a Christian – even though Thompson belongs to the ultra-conservative Church of Christ.
“Everyone knows [Thompson’s] conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson told U.S. News & World Report. “[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression.”
Dobson went on to praise former House Speaker New Gingrich (a thrice-married serial adulterer), leading to speculation that Gingrich is Dobson’s favored candidate for the Republican nomination in 2008.
Dobson must now realize how intolerant and rude his comments sounded because he’s trying to deny he ever said them.
A “clarification” issued yesterday by Focus on the Family asserts that U.S. News reporter Dan Gilgoff failed to accurately quote Dobson.
“In his conversation with Mr. Gilgoff, Dr. Dobson was attempting to highlight that to the best of his knowledge, Sen. Thompson hadn’t clearly communicated his religious faith, and many evangelical Christians might find this a barrier to supporting him,” read the statement. “Dr. Dobson told Mr. Gilgoff he had never met Sen. Thompson and wasn’t certain that his understanding of the former senator’s religious convictions was accurate. Unfortunately, these qualifiers weren’t reported by Mr. Gilgoff.”
The statement also denies that Dobson intended to express support for Gingrich and concludes with a warning: “[W]e would caution friends of our ministry not to believe what they read about Dr. Dobson in the secular media today. Never in the 30-year history of this ministry has there been more misreporting and outright distortion of his beliefs and teachings. It is apparent that those who represent a liberal worldview seek to marginalize him and confuse our friends. Anyone who ever has a question concerning what they read about Dr. Dobson or Focus on the Family is encouraged to contact us for clarification. The chances are they have been misinformed.”
This pattern is becoming familiar: Dobson says something extreme to a reporter. It appears in the media. He realizes it makes him look bad and begins insisting he never said it. He attacks the reporter as a biased liberal who’s out to get him.
This latest incident adds a disturbing twist: FOF devotees are advised to quit believing anything they read about the organization in the general media. If you have questions, call FOF. In other words, stop thinking for yourself and just let FOF tell you how it’s going to be.
It’s getting scary in Jimboland. A few years ago, I visited Focus on the Family while researching a book about the Religious Right. The tour guide played up Dobson’s cult of personality to the hilt, even showing us the actual chair where Dobson sits when he does radio broadcasts. (I was going to ask if touching it would heal medical ailments but was afraid they would throw me out.)
Like some paranoid totalitarian dictator, Dobson tells his people to accept only his word and shut their ears to any criticism of him. It would be better if Dobson just said, “I spoke off the cuff and said some things I regret. I’m sorry.” But Dobson is not accustomed to saying he’s sorry – or ever admitting he has been wrong. Dobson doesn’t like Gilgoff’s reporting, so down the Memory Hole it must go.
Dobson wants control. He wants to control his FOF flock and the rest of the country. He yearns to be a political powerbroker and use his influence to choose the next GOP nominee. But woe unto anyone who dares to point this out and report about it in a way that displeases the Grand Inquisitor of Colorado Springs
It doesn’t work that way. The secular media is not Dobson’s in-house P.R. shop. He can’t just pop off to reporters and then throw a fit if he doesn’t like the way it’s written up. Politics is a rough-and-tumble world, and Dobson needs to learn that his attempt to affect the course of the race will sometimes results in a pushback.
In short, Dobson can either develop a thicker skin or withdraw from politics and go back to advising people how to raise their kids. I suspect the latter option would be fine with many Americans.
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