Dr. Dobson. Where to start? I know. I'll let you read what Dobson said that got me riled up (again).
On November 15, 2004, US News & World Report quoted Dr. Dobson as saying the following:
"The president could have paused to thank all those good people who poured in and gave him power again," said James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family. "The GOP has been given four years to deliver on marriage and life and family, and if they fumble it . . . [we'll] stay home next time."
(Click here to read the full content of the US News article, re-published on my site.)
Hmm. Where to start? I'm struck by the sheer arrogance of the man. America elected President Bush, didn't we? I sure thought so. Mr. Dobson speaks as though America elected him, and he, in his graciousness, appointed G-Dub to the presidency.
Arrogance, Part I: Let's start with "all those good people." By the way Dobson says it, and by other things I saw him say on TV right around the same time, he's clearly talking about conservative, evangelical Christians. That's why he says "we'll stay home next time." Obviously (and quite unfortunately), James Dobson is a Christian leader. So when he says "we," he's talking about Christians, of the conservative, evangelical persuasion, for the most part. Those are the ones he speaks of as pouring in to give George W. power again.
Earth to James Dobson. Sure, we did our part, but conservative evangelical Christians did not single-handedly re-elect George Bush! Bush got increased support from voters in darn near—or perhaps even completely—every single demographic category!! Even women, who typically have voted very liberal, voted significantly more Republican in this election than ever before. Even hispanics, for whom the story is similar, voted significantly more Republican than ever before. In fact, among first time hispanic voters, GW took 50% of the vote. Fifty percent!! That's absolutely incredible! Heck, Bush even got more than half of the Catholic vote! Fact is, he got increased support across the entire board in 2004. Who elected him? Not evangelicals, though we certainly did our part. But AMERICA ELECTED HIM!!!
But who takes credit? Dr. James Dobson takes credit.
See, he says evangelical Christians elected the president. And what does he say next? That if G-Dub doesn't deliver on evangelical demands, we'll stay home. And that's where he takes credit for re-electing the president. Because if he claims the power to keep us home, then he claims the ability to control us. In which case, he gets credit for mobilizing his troops to appoint his choice for president. Great, mighty, powerful Dobson.
Oh, the arrogance of the man.
And here's the problem with that (well, one problem of too many to list): By taking credit, for evangelicals and implicitly for himself, he gives dissenters a credible right to protest. Because he has essentially said, "He's my president, he's the Christians' president." And that gives liberals room to put bumber stickers on their cars that read, "Not My President." Because it lets them say, "He's the Christians' president, he's Dobson's president, he's not mine." He's just fueling their fire. But see, the Christians didn't elect Bush. America elected Bush. And that's precisely why it's anti-democratic to say that he's not their president, because he is. America elected him, and as an American, therefore, he is your president. But James Dobson would give them an excuse to claim that he is not. Because he says that we elected him.
Arrogance, Part II: How about the threat? "If he doesn't deliver on our demands, on my demands, we're staying home." Essentially, "If he doesn't push our evangelical agenda, evangelicals won't vote next time." Is that a threat? Is he threatening the president? Just who does he think he is?! If that's not arrogant, I don't know what is.
Not only that, but would someone please point out to me what's Christian about making threats like that? That's just not a Christian thing to say. There's no humility or submission in that at all. Only arrogance and selfishness.
Arrogance, Part III: This is the most arrogant part of it all, and this is what gets me going. We'll stay home? We'll stay home?? Since when does James Dobson speak for us? Since when does he dictate our actions? Since when does he simply call the shots, and require us to obey?
Last time I checked, the Lord was God, Israel had no king, and neither did America.
You don't call the shots, Dobson.
But you know what I think? I think Christians realized that we are strong, and that we can make a difference. Because we did. No, and I will repeat it, we did not elect him. But I also won't deny that we played our part, alongside everyone else. We did, after all, see an incredible turnout of evangelical Christians. And I think it was a momentous event, because I think it will have the effect of countering this seclusionist, helpless withdrawal that Christians have been sinking into. I think Christians have felt like this world, and particularly this country, is going to Hell in a handbasket, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. And in November, they realized that they had been wrong. They realized that they could have an effect, that they could make a difference. And they're not staying home because Dr. Dobson says so.
Big Picture: Arrogance isn't the only problem here. What does this accomplish? What good does it do to stay home from the elections next time? Does it help anyone? Does it make the Christian influence any stronger? No. In fact, it completely removes us. It cancels any positive effect we could have in this world. It's seclusionist and isolatoinist, and completely non-consctructive. You know what it is? It's spiteful. It's immature, and it's childish. "If I don't get my way, I'm going to sulk!" Congratulations, James, you have all the maturity of a 5-year-old child.
But this is nothing new for Mr. Dobson. Many years ago (indeed, when some people who read my nonsense were still but wee little tykes), Dr. James Dobson called for Christians to pull their children out of public school. He reasoned that the public schools were too secular, and had a bad influence on us, Christian kids. And many parents did just that, pulled their kids out of the public schools and either home schooled them or put them in private Christian schools. Years later, Dr. James Dobson came back and pointed his finger at the public school system, calling it corrupt, evil, secular, and immoral.
Somone give him a medal: he can see.
Of course the public schools are secular and immoral! You took out all the salt and light!! And now you're trying to do the same thing in politics. If you don't get your way, are you going to tell us all that we should withdraw? Not vote? Well, I reject any idea that we, as evangelical conservative Christians, handed Bush the presidency; but there can be no doubt that without us, this country is in the hands of God-hating men and women, with no one to stand up and counter-act them. Because we may not be the whole, we may not be Super-Christians, but we are certainly a piece of the puzzle. And the Big Picture that Dobson doesn't see, because he's too focussed in on the little picture of what he wants and when he wants it, is that in a nation that is so closely divided around the center point, without us Christians the balance will be lost. Is that what you want, Mr. Dobson? Would that make you happy? Are you willing to send this world off to its doom just because you didn't get what you wanted, when you wanted it?!
Because I'm not.
And if he succeeds in removing Christians, in silencing their voice, expressed through their vote, then he will come back. In ten, twenty years, he will be back. He'll be back to point his finger at the United States, and at our government. He'll be back to call it corrupt, evil, secular, and immoral. And when he points his finger, he'll be pointing at himself, because he's the one threatening to tell the Christians to stay home. And after himself, he'll be pointing at us, because it will be our fault if we listen to him.
So you stay home and sulk, James Dobson. Maybe punch a wall, slam a door, or throw a chair; that always made me feel better when I was a child. But I'm going to the polls. And I'm counting on other Christians to do the same.
It's time that we stop listening to Dr. James Dobson. And it's time that we let him know that he is not the voice of evangelical Christianity, that he cannot control us, and that he does not speak for us.
We've discovered that we can speak clearly enough for ourselves.