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James Dobson walks the way he speaks. Assertively.
I noticed how he bounded up steps, taking them two at a time, as he visited one of the Vail Valley's interfaith chapels to worship. Once serving as Presbyterian preacher in the chapel Dobson entered, I assumed that he would join our congregation for worship. Why? My relative served as comptroller of a hugely successful company in the Midwest run by Christians wanting to make morality count. This company gave Dobson's Focus on the Family a princely sum to build a Visitor Center in Colorado Springs.
Dobson ducked the Presbyterian worship service, opting for the Southern Baptists instead. With Dobson talking tough, desiring to defeat the U.S. Senate's use of the filibuster rule to hold up confirmation of judges conservative Christians adore, he distances himself from Jefferson's democratic legacy, as he did Presbyterian worship.
Focus on the Family does promote a worthy vision of Christians delivering forceful voices in politics. Dobson knows that Christ was crucified as an insurrectionist. Jesus fell out of political favor with the Romans. Christ came to reform culture, not just to make believers abiding by ethical platitudes feel good inside. Leave that kind of peppy therapy to Oprah who is good at it.
Carl F.H. Henry (1913-2003), one of the key academic founders of the American evangelical renaissance, wrote about the relationship between faith and politics that has largely shaped my Christian vision and that of Dobson. Henry wrote at a time when most conservative Christians wanted to divorce Christian faith from politics. They demanded clergy only preach a gospel for saving souls.
Henry maintained that Christ came to renew souls and reform society. He wrote, "One's world view inevitably conditions one's behavior, including political involvement. The future of freedom itself may well hinge on a decision of whether the Judeo-Christian heritage is to be checked at the entrance to the public square." Dobson doesn't hesitate at entrances to the political theater. He charges right in, occupying a major seat in the controversy over whether Democrats have a right to filibuster White House judicial nominees.
Many avid supporters of Focus on the Family believe that Democrats are denying judicial confirmations by filibustering only because the candidates are conservative in legal philosophy and religious outlook. Democrats counter that some of these nominees President George W. Bush presents are too radical in their prior legal rulings.
Judicial confirmation takes 100 Senators votes. Under the filibuster procedure, a three-fifths vote of the Senate is needed to end debate so senators can vote yea or nay to the nominees. Since Republicans total 55 in the Senate, they need Democratic support to call the role in order to gain the confirmation vote.
Presbyterian Senate majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee led a charge that failed, supported by Dobson and the religious right, to obliterate the filibuster rule. It would be so sweeping that this legislative maneuver has been dubbed the "nuclear option." Focus on the Family's political action committee has run radio ads, telling listeners that the way Terri Schiavo met her death proves federal judges show "no mercy...no humanity...no decency...no respect."
Do Dobson and Frist realize how anti-Jeffersonian their power tactics are?
Jefferson advised when debating that we must grab the argument by a "smooth handle." He recognized that both "civic" and "civility" come from the same root word. Engaging in civic issues that erupt into heated debate demands polite talk and demeanor, Jefferson taught. Polite rhetoric shapes an honorable democratic experience.
When Dobson lashes out by defending the attacks on the judiciary by Republican House majority leader Tom DeLay, does he sound polite or bark more like a pit dog? Dobson accused the Supreme Court of being "out of control" and asserted that the Federal judiciary acted like a "despotism of an oligarchy" (a perversion of a Republic when the powerful few rule over the powerless many).
Dobson uses strident, rather than civil language, charging "there is a majority on the Supreme Court that is unelected, unaccountable, arrogant and imperious and determined to redesign the culture according to their own values and biases and they are out of control." Who really sounds out of control?
Jefferson, along with Madison, supported filibustering because it guarded political minority rights. These Founding Fathers understood the wisdom of the biblical sage who sided with those lacking political clout. He advised "to acquire the discipline of wise behavior-righteousness and justice and fairness..." (Proverbs 1:3). Protecting minority rights, what filibustering accomplishes, is why the Constitution's Framers constructed the U. S. Senate with each state, tiny or gargantuan, having one vote.
Madison and Jefferson worried that zealots might destroy democracy. Jefferson kept his distance especially from rabid believers. He helped craft a Republic with legislative rules putting breaks on issues that are explosive, inflammatory and divisive.
Witness the recent Terri Schiavo fiasco. Mix strong religious conviction with political policy, whether liberal or conservative. Then polite democratic discussions degenerate into verbal donnybrooks. Sometimes when issues get testy, with more heat than light searing debates, we need parliamentary procedures, declared Jefferson and Madison, to slow the political process. Then minority views are protected. Power is not automatically routed to majorities. Most conservative evangelical Christians detested Jefferson in the presidential election of 1800. Dobson currently upholds similar animosity. Doc: dobson
The Rev. Jack R. Van Ens is a Presbyterian minister who heads the non-profit, tax exempt CREATIVE GROWTH ASSOCIATES, enhancing Christian worship through storytelling and dramatic presentation. Van Ens's book, "How Jefferson Made the Best of Bad Messes," is available in local bookstores for $7.95.
Vail, Colorado
I noticed how he bounded up steps, taking them two at a time, as he visited one of the Vail Valley's interfaith chapels to worship. Once serving as Presbyterian preacher in the chapel Dobson entered, I assumed that he would join our congregation for worship. Why? My relative served as comptroller of a hugely successful company in the Midwest run by Christians wanting to make morality count. This company gave Dobson's Focus on the Family a princely sum to build a Visitor Center in Colorado Springs.
Dobson ducked the Presbyterian worship service, opting for the Southern Baptists instead. With Dobson talking tough, desiring to defeat the U.S. Senate's use of the filibuster rule to hold up confirmation of judges conservative Christians adore, he distances himself from Jefferson's democratic legacy, as he did Presbyterian worship.
Focus on the Family does promote a worthy vision of Christians delivering forceful voices in politics. Dobson knows that Christ was crucified as an insurrectionist. Jesus fell out of political favor with the Romans. Christ came to reform culture, not just to make believers abiding by ethical platitudes feel good inside. Leave that kind of peppy therapy to Oprah who is good at it.
Carl F.H. Henry (1913-2003), one of the key academic founders of the American evangelical renaissance, wrote about the relationship between faith and politics that has largely shaped my Christian vision and that of Dobson. Henry wrote at a time when most conservative Christians wanted to divorce Christian faith from politics. They demanded clergy only preach a gospel for saving souls.
Henry maintained that Christ came to renew souls and reform society. He wrote, "One's world view inevitably conditions one's behavior, including political involvement. The future of freedom itself may well hinge on a decision of whether the Judeo-Christian heritage is to be checked at the entrance to the public square." Dobson doesn't hesitate at entrances to the political theater. He charges right in, occupying a major seat in the controversy over whether Democrats have a right to filibuster White House judicial nominees.
Many avid supporters of Focus on the Family believe that Democrats are denying judicial confirmations by filibustering only because the candidates are conservative in legal philosophy and religious outlook. Democrats counter that some of these nominees President George W. Bush presents are too radical in their prior legal rulings.
Judicial confirmation takes 100 Senators votes. Under the filibuster procedure, a three-fifths vote of the Senate is needed to end debate so senators can vote yea or nay to the nominees. Since Republicans total 55 in the Senate, they need Democratic support to call the role in order to gain the confirmation vote.
Presbyterian Senate majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee led a charge that failed, supported by Dobson and the religious right, to obliterate the filibuster rule. It would be so sweeping that this legislative maneuver has been dubbed the "nuclear option." Focus on the Family's political action committee has run radio ads, telling listeners that the way Terri Schiavo met her death proves federal judges show "no mercy...no humanity...no decency...no respect."
Do Dobson and Frist realize how anti-Jeffersonian their power tactics are?
Jefferson advised when debating that we must grab the argument by a "smooth handle." He recognized that both "civic" and "civility" come from the same root word. Engaging in civic issues that erupt into heated debate demands polite talk and demeanor, Jefferson taught. Polite rhetoric shapes an honorable democratic experience.
When Dobson lashes out by defending the attacks on the judiciary by Republican House majority leader Tom DeLay, does he sound polite or bark more like a pit dog? Dobson accused the Supreme Court of being "out of control" and asserted that the Federal judiciary acted like a "despotism of an oligarchy" (a perversion of a Republic when the powerful few rule over the powerless many).
Dobson uses strident, rather than civil language, charging "there is a majority on the Supreme Court that is unelected, unaccountable, arrogant and imperious and determined to redesign the culture according to their own values and biases and they are out of control." Who really sounds out of control?
Jefferson, along with Madison, supported filibustering because it guarded political minority rights. These Founding Fathers understood the wisdom of the biblical sage who sided with those lacking political clout. He advised "to acquire the discipline of wise behavior-righteousness and justice and fairness..." (Proverbs 1:3). Protecting minority rights, what filibustering accomplishes, is why the Constitution's Framers constructed the U. S. Senate with each state, tiny or gargantuan, having one vote.
Madison and Jefferson worried that zealots might destroy democracy. Jefferson kept his distance especially from rabid believers. He helped craft a Republic with legislative rules putting breaks on issues that are explosive, inflammatory and divisive.
Witness the recent Terri Schiavo fiasco. Mix strong religious conviction with political policy, whether liberal or conservative. Then polite democratic discussions degenerate into verbal donnybrooks. Sometimes when issues get testy, with more heat than light searing debates, we need parliamentary procedures, declared Jefferson and Madison, to slow the political process. Then minority views are protected. Power is not automatically routed to majorities. Most conservative evangelical Christians detested Jefferson in the presidential election of 1800. Dobson currently upholds similar animosity. Doc: dobson
The Rev. Jack R. Van Ens is a Presbyterian minister who heads the non-profit, tax exempt CREATIVE GROWTH ASSOCIATES, enhancing Christian worship through storytelling and dramatic presentation. Van Ens's book, "How Jefferson Made the Best of Bad Messes," is available in local bookstores for $7.95.
Vail, Colorado
