Posted on 09/19/2007 7:14:10 PM PDT by pissant
DENVER (AP) — James Dobson, one of the nation's most politically influential evangelical Christians, made it clear in a message to friends this week he will not support Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson.
In a private e-mail obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, Dobson accuses the former Tennessee senator and actor of being weak on the campaign trail and wrong on issues dear to social conservatives.
"Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?" Dobson wrote.
"He has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to.' And yet he is apparently the Great Hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers. Not for me!"
The founder and chairman of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, Dobson draws a radio audience in the millions, many of whom who first came to trust the child psychologist for his conservative Christian advice on child-rearing.
Gary Schneeberger, a Focus on the Family spokesman, confirmed that Dobson wrote the e-mail. Schneeberger declined to comment further, saying it would be inappropriate because Dobson's comments about presidential candidates are made as an individual and not as a representative of Focus on the Family, a nonprofit organization restricted from partisan politics.
Dobson's strong words about Thompson underscore the frustration and lack of unity among Christian conservatives about the GOP field. Some Christian right leaders have pinned their hopes on Thompson, describing him as a Southern-fried Ronald Reagan. But others have voiced doubts in recent weeks about some of the same issues Dobson highlighted: his position on gay marriage and support for the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.
Dobson and other Christian conservatives support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would bar gay marriage nationally. Thompson has said he would support a constitutional amendment that would prohibit states from imposing their gay marriage laws on other states, which falls well short of that.
Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for the Thompson campaign, said Wednesday in response to the Dobson e-mail: "Fred Thompson has a 100 percent pro-life voting record. He believes strongly in returning authority to the levels of government closest to families and communities, protecting states from intrusion by the federal government and activist judges.
"We're confident as voters get to know Fred, they'll appreciate his conservative principles, and he is the one conservative in this race who can win the nomination and can go on to defeat the Democratic nominee."
In his e-mail addressed "Dear friends," Dobson includes the text of a recent news story highlighting Thompson's statement that while he was baptized in the Church of Christ, he does not attend church regularly and won't speak about his faith on the stump.
U.S. News and World Report quoted Dobson earlier this year as questioning Thompson's commitment to the Christian faith — comments Dobson contended were not put in proper context. Dobson in this week's e-mail writes that suppositions "about the former senator's never having professed to be a Christian are turning out to be accurate in substance."
Earlier this year, Dobson said he wouldn't back John McCain because of the Arizona senator's opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Later, Dobson wrote on a conservative news Web site that he wouldn't support former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should he win the Republican nomination. Dobson called Giuliani an "unapologetic supporter of abortion on demand" and criticized him for signing a bill in 1997 creating domestic-partnership benefits in New York City.
Last week, Dobson announced on his radio show that the IRS had cleared him of accusations that he had endangered his organization's nonprofit status by endorsing Republican candidates in 2004. The IRS said Dobson, who endorsed President Bush's re-election bid, was acting as an individual and not on behalf of the nonprofit group.
Abortion is the one that gets everyone twisted up. Some want a Federal level amendment to prohibit abortion. But that is only one moral view. Some think the states, and ultimately, the people themselves should decide on abortion, not have it legislated from the judicial branch.
At the state level it can be corrected much more easily than at the Federal level. It's just the way things work. It's easier to modify a law at the state level than it is at the Federal all-encompassing level.
Now, we, as conservatives, oppse abortion, period. But we are not the voice of ALL the people and until that voice is heard at the ballot box, there can be no determination. OUR job is to coerce, cajole, and otherwise convince the opposition that the right way is to protect life.
But we can't force it on anyone.
There you go again saying thing you do not wish to understand and telling the story in the most uncomplimentary way you can produce!
I said nothing of the sort; in fact I said just the opposite. Jesus was not in any sense "created" - he is eternal; he has always existed. He "became flesh", not (primarily) to "understand the temptation from Satan" (what an odd phrase), but to give his life for ours; to break the power of sin and death, and to usher in a New Covenant between God and man.
GOD recreated himself from himself to grow up in Satans world and show how to handle him. That’s it. Jesus prayed to the Father did he not!
It may be a subtle correction, but the truth is that God did not “create” himself again. He was “begotten.” He remained one Being, present in three Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). His reason for becoming Man wasn’t to understand temptation, but to take our punishment on the cross.
I don’t understand all this very fully, but this is orthodox.
Your insult and comment are not appreciated.
Then refute my statements, rather than merely appeal to your authority.
i know what you mean on bell, i’d hit it too.
Dobson probably wants Jesus to come back and run.
“my guess is someone made a little donation to this guys ministry in that last coupla weeks. someone not from the fred camp.”
I believe it when it is said that he is speaking as a private individual and not for Focus on the Family organization. He does have the progative to do that, and the IRS evidently has believed him in a previous question along this line.
Then REFUTE what I pose, rather than merely dismiss me. Are Satan and Jesus brothers? Yes or no? I am not ashamed of sound doctrine. You are clearly ashamed of such ridiculous and indefensible doctrines as this.
That is why you are a former pastor
You have my respect sir. I am halfway done with my life and my earlier comments about the coronation process going through the media elites and the party apparatus reflect my frustration with the theater our government has become.
I really like Duncan and respect him very much. I also really like Fred Thompson as a former Tennessean who followed him closely as my senator.
I would be happy with either of them. By the time I vote in the primary it will be decided anyways. :(
Jesus did not know it was to take our sin until he understood the temptation.
I actually like Dobson quite a bit but I’m not with him on this one.
Not sure what he has against Fred, I’ve noticed he has been against him from the getgo.
I generally share similar views with my Christian conservative homeos....but not always
Yikes! Where are you getting this doctrine?
Jesus did not owe Satan anything. Jesus was not punished by Satan. Jesus was punished by the Father. He experienced not the wrath of Satan, but the wrath of the Father ... on my behalf.
Yes, Jesus prayed to the Father. From the beginning the Trinity enjoyed fellowship, a type of community that I don’t understand. Did God not say “Let US make Man in OUR image”?
Good grief. *I will tell them not to send their magazine to my house any more, after reading it for 20 years or more.*
Is that better?
I agree with you completely. I don’t agree with everything Dobson says. But he is a man of integrity (though a sinner, like me). And to assume that he’s corrupt betrays a subtle animosity toward high-profile Christians.
No, they know they already have one but he's not running for office...he stays above that sort of thing.
Speak for yourself. Fred NEVER said he didn’t want the support of the Christian Right, but he isn’t going to pander either.
And as a member of the “Christian Right” Fred still has my support.
I, too, support Mitt Romney.
He is, by far, the most solid, most competent, most energized and focused candidate we have.
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