Guess Who James Dobson is Voting For?

Flashback to January of this year when Christian conservative James Dobson said, “Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.”

And now to present day:

“I never thought I would hear myself saying this… While I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might.”

I know. I can’t believe it either. A Religious Right leader *might* be voting Republican.

… Dobson said in a statement to the AP. “Barack Obama contradicts and threatens everything I believe about the institution of the family and what is best for the nation. His radical positions on life, marriage and national security force me to reevaluate the candidacy of our only other choice, John McCain.”

The institution of the family?

A reminder: It’s McCain who has been divorced. Not Barack Obama.

Where’s the Dobsonian consistency we’ve come to expect…?

Of his new position, Dobson said in the statement to the AP, “If that is a flip-flop, then so be it.”

I still wonder how many people he’ll persuade. His influence is fading quickly, especially among younger Christians who see how nutty he is.

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GDad

We really need for someone to put those two Dobson quotes into a political commercial and air it on CBN or something. I doubt it would change too many minds, but it might cause some of the dyed-in-the-wool evangelistic types to have an insight into the character of their leaders.
Wes

Of his new position, Dobson said in the statement to the AP, “If that is a flip-flop, then so be it.”

It’s not really Dobson who has flip-flopped. It’s McCain, who has been kissing fundamentalist ass more and more as his campaign has gone along. This isn’t an example of a far right wing reactionary being pulled towards a moderate candidate so much as it is an example of a formerly moderate candidate succumbing to the influence of the Republican party’s far right wing.

But it’s interesting that Dobson himself is framing this as a compromise on his own part, and not as McCain moving closer to Dobson’s position. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say the religious right is aware of how toxic their brand has become in much of the public’s eyes, and are trying to downplay their own influence on the presidential race.
Daniel

This isn’t really news or even all that interesting. There are religious people on both sides of the aisle. RReligious RRight has the beautiful alliteration that makes it so catchy and thus nearly every atheist site you will look at completely ignores that there are a nearly equal amount of superstitious nuts on the left. It’s getting old people. Be an atheist site or be a political site, I’m tired of the atheist/leftist sites.
Metro

Dobson is being thoroughly consistent: He’s voting GOP. There was never any doubt he would vote GOP. If the GOP had actually put up Adolph Hitler, he’d vote GOP.

In fact he’d be considerably happier, because the one thing people like Dobson really hate about democracy is that it shows their Moral Majority to be a hollow shell of talking points wrapped around a core of fundamentalism, cotton, sand, and squirrel $#17. What they desire above all is that everyone else should be forced to treat their views as holy.
Larry Huffman

Daniel,

You have to be kidding, right? So you want a site that ignores politics in today’s world, with respect to atheism and rleigion? You are delusional. Today’s religious politics are precisely what is pulling more and more atheists out of the closet. You must not be paying much attention. Atheists are coming out all over because of the right wing fantical level of incorporating religion and politics. Yes, the left has it’s religious people too…whackos by some definitions…but the difference is, most of these people will not want to tell others what to be. Most (not all) leftist religious types at least try to be politically tolerant, as that is the platform.

But…you are not going to get your wish…nor should you. If you want to bury your head in the sand and avoid politics, go for it. For far to many atheists today, that is where the rubber meets the road. And there will be more and more wanting to disucss those injustices and places where we need to reform.

Atheism is fairly private. We do not have an agenda…we do not have an organization…we do not have common or collective goals. We are not even all anti-religous atheists. Some have never read the bible…or the koran…and so they do not want to discuss anything at all. When religion begins to gain too much footing…it is a politcal factor…is when you will find us coming together, however loosely, in order to prevent such actions. Politics is precisely what has driven atheists into the open…and what will continue to do so. Politics is what has brought about some organizations that are doing a wonderful job of being a watch-dog to our freedoms.

So…I am thinking that you will continually be disappointed. I moderated a debate group that focussed on the religious and doctrinal sides of this…christian or islam v. atheism mostly. It was meant to be a discussion about their doctrine and our response to it…or the converse, our science oriented views and their answer to it. No matter what we did, we could not prevent current event/political discussion. It is too much of a hot button for atheists wanting to get active. And you also have to figure…just because you have heard it all, that does not mean that those participating have…they still may be venturing out publically for the first time. That shold be encouraged, not put down.

And why do I think you should not get your wish?…because it is a hot button for atheists to come out everywhere…and that is good. It will continue. Sorry…and being upset at atheists because we find ourselves mired in constant political debate is rather irrational anyway. Do you not think we would all rather just be given full rights and allowed to go be who we are without contention? Of course…and that is why you will seldom be able to seperate the politics from the religion. They are far to intertwined.

And finally…this site is specifically for this type of content. I do not know what site you think you are on, but this has always been a current event/political/social as well as doctrinal atheist site. Go find a hard-core doctrinal site…but as I explained, I ran one of those for a while and found that they all still had a lot on their mind politically.
Ron in Houston

Larry – great critique.

I know that there are conservative atheists; however, American conservatives have so actively embraced the conservative Christians as to drive conservative atheists underground.
Siamang

Larry’s right on. I’d also add Greta Christina’s famous “atheists and anger” post.

‘specially this part:

I mean, I look at organized Christianity in this country — not just the religious right, but some more “moderate” churches as well — interfering with AIDS prevention efforts, trying to get their theology into the public schools, actively trying to prevent me and Ingrid from getting legally married, and pulling all the other shit I talk about in this piece.

And I look at atheists sometimes being mean-spirited and snarky in blogs and books and magazines.

And I think, Can we please have some goddamn perspective?
Arnold

Same crap in Italy. Right wing leaders are strenuous defenders of the “institution of the family”, yet many of them are divorced or cohabiting without being married. Left wing leaders are mostly regularly married to their first wife yet they have the fame of threatening the “institution of the family”. Go figure.
Steve Heimler

You’re right. Even here in Atlanta there’s very few young Christians I know who dig Dobson.

Fundamentalism is so out right now.
Darryl

Two things:

1. Dobson discovered, after he made his pompous declaration about not supporting McCain, that NOBODY GAVE A DAMN! He’s not used to being ignored. So, he’s back making declarations; trying to be relevant. What a sad piece of shit.

2. One more demonstration that when push comes to shove Republicans will sacrifice principle for power (except real conservatives who’ve been sidelined by the Bush administration).
Justin

Arnold, as for what you describe as the state of family-values politics in Italy, is this situation universal? (That is to say, are the strongest defenders of “the institution of (heterosexual) marriage” universally more likely to have bad marriages themselves, regardless of nationality, time period, religion, etc?)
cipher

Steve,

I don’t understand. You don’t approve of fundamentalism – but you admire the Pipers?