900... is that all?
When a person has been in the spotlight as long as Dr. James Dobson, a narrative tends to emerge. In Dobson's case, news coverage and conventional wisdom have coalesced to depict him as a game-changer, able to overload the fax machines and email servers on Capitol Hill with a single nod to his supporters.
But how true is that conventional wisdom today?
On Wednesday, in response to the launch of www.JamesDobsonDoesn'tSpeakforMe.com, a website created by a group of Christians led by Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell following Dobson's attacks on Obama and his religious views, Dobson's Focus on the Family Action sent an email to supporters asking that if they "support Dr. Dobson and appreciate his strong stand for Christ" to "please send a respectful e-mail to the anti-Dobson Web site." The action alert was part of Focus on the Family Action's Citizenlink e-mail news service, which is distributed to about 100,000 subscribers. They even created a form to make it easier for supporters to quickly send emails supporting Dobson.
Yesterday, 24 hours after the alert was sent, Focus on the Family's CitizenLink could only boast that "nearly 900 family advocates" had emailed www.JamesDobsonDoesn'tSpeakforMe.com to voice their support for Dobson. In contrast, according to the www.JamesDobsonDoesn'tSpeakforMe.com website, 10,000 people have signed their statement saying Dobson doesn't represent their views. Meanwhile, in less than 24 hours, more than 5,000 people signed the Faithful America petition telling the cable news networks to cool it on their Dobson coverage.
Let the numbers speak for themselves. For all the media's portrayals of Dobson as a galvanizer of the masses, the disconnect seems clear.
It's time for some major reexamining of the entire landscape of faith and politics. Good thing we are finally beginning to see some of that, too.
Comments
Perhaps more Americans are realizing that the end result of fundamentalist religious involvement in politics can be seen in Afghanistan's Taliban, or in the Crusades, or in the Inquisition, or the burning of Sikh temples by Hindu fundamentalists, or the destruction wreaked on 9/11 by fundamentalist Muslims.
We need not only freedom OF religion in the USA, but also freedom FROM any religion which insists that the entire country must act in accordance with its particular beliefs.
Case in point: the abortion debate, where "pro-life" people, who have every right to their opinions, insist that those opinions are Biblically-based, thereby ignoring the Bible's clear indication that, in God's eyes, an unborn fetus does not have the same value as a living person. (See Exodus 21) Therefore, be "pro-life," or "pro-choice" and act accordingly in your own life if that is your belief, but do not insist that the entire nation must believe likewise.
That is the true danger of fundamentalist religious involvement in politics, regardless of which religion it may be.
Posted by: Geoffrey Simon | July 1, 2008 06:47 PM
No more air time for bigots.
Posted by: Dick Thomas | July 3, 2008 01:38 AM
I, as a United Methodist Minister am ashamed when Clergy so openly involve themselves in the Political Arena. I, on the other hand prefer to support Dr. Dobson and am very concerned about the negativity of Dr. Dobson in order to support the most Liberal member of the Senate.
Posted by: Beryl Cragg | July 3, 2008 09:06 PM