Posted on 10/04/2007 5:25:13 AM PDT by Neville72
It hasn't gotten much comment yet, but in his interview on Fox last night, Fred Thompson rather emphatically told Focus on the Family chief James Dobson to take a hike. Host Sean Hannity asked Thompson about Dobson, who has attacked Thompson and made it clear he would not support a Thompson candidacy. "Don't read too much into the Dobson thing," Thompson told Hannity, continuing:
A gentleman who has never met me, who has never talked to me, I've never talked to him on the phone. I did have one of his aides call me up and kind of apologize, the first time he attacked me and said I wasn't a Christian…
I don't know the gentleman. I do know that I have a lot of people who are of strong faith and are involved in the same organizations that he is in, that I've met with, Jeri and I both have met with, and I like to think that we have some strong friendships and support there…
Hannity then asked: "Would you want to have a conversation with Dr. Dobson? Do you think that might help?"
I have no idea. I don't particularly care to have a conversation with him. If he wants to call up and apologize again, that's ok with me. But I'm not going to dance to anybody's tune.
That's the leftist/liberal version of the quote that they use in order to avoid any moral judgements.
The complete quote includes "by the same measure" - if you judge someone, be prepared to BE judged by the same measure you used.
Oh please, no I do not want a Muslim as President
I don’t think Thompson’s kicking anyone out.
Whatever Dobson might think Dobsonite isn’t the same thing as Christian.
At the time he asserted Thompson wasn’t a Christian, I observed that as a mere subdeacon of the Patriarchate of Antioch (where the disciples were first called Christians) I had a better claim to the name than Dobson, and to deciding who got to bear it. Neither I nor my bishop would deny the name ‘Christian’ to someone just because he was lax in their church attendance, nor even because he wasn’t in communion with us.
Quite frankly, questioning someone’s faith, as Dobson did of Thompson, unless the person is an notorious sinner who does not repent after correction or has denied a major doctrine, or the questioner is his spiritual father and knows the weakness of the person’s faith and questions it to strenghten it, is an insult for which the questioner deserves to apologize.
As Thompson is neither a notorious unrepentent sinner, nor an apostate, and Dobson has never even met him, much less gained enough insight into his spiritual state to question his faith as a means of correction, Dobson owes him a public and forthright apology.
Thompson’s attitude can hardly be characterized as kicking Christians anywhere, unless maybe you regard Dobson as your Pope, and his declaration of Thompson’s non-Christianity to be an infallible ex cathedra pronouncement.
That kind of question would have tied Rudy and Romney and any of the others I can think of in knots. It ‘s a hard question. The urge to pander (or “reach out”) is great, because Dobson does, at least on the surface, represent a large constituency. For a frontrunner to answer honestly, in spite of the risks, shows intestinal fortitude and real leadership. Just like he showed with Rush yesterday when all the others were heading for the tall grass.
Give me an example of one of the others taking any risk of an equivalent nature to speak their mind. Oh, I forgot. They all have to consult with their focus groups in order to know what they think.
“but God is Lord, and making God mad does not sit well in the here and now, nor for in the future.....Tick off God at one’s own risk.”
LOL! Since you apparently feel YOU have a direct line to the ALMIGHTY HEAVENLY FATHER, please let us in on how Fred Thompson has “ticked off GOD”.
I see where you're coming from, and you actually have something of a point, but it's a bit of a broad brush. I'm a born-again Christian, and I'd fight the donks every step of the way in that position. I'm actually entirely on board with this guy when it comes to strategy. And I'm not the only one.
Ah! I see you’ve changed the headline, Nevill72. That’s what confused me.
Fred didn’t say, “Take a hike.” And the headline writer didn’t write, “Take a hike.”
Looks like you’re wanting to pile on to Dobson like the rest of the MSM.
This is a strange time, when a decent Christian man like Dobson is misrepresented and demonized. Stranger yet that it’s happening on FR....
You are a quick study!
I believe the meaning is the same either way you word it. I don’t know about my version being the “leftist/liberal” version - I am 51 years old, daughter of a Southern Baptist deacon - I was in the church every time the doors were open & that’s the way I’ve always heard it said.
Judging what’s in someone’s heart - only the Lord can do that - not Dobson. Even by your version of the saying - Dobson falls short. He is in no way capable of judging someone’s faith, therefore - he was wrong & should have kept his mouth shut.
“Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson – considered the most politically powerful evangelical figure in the U.S. – said in a phone call to Dan Gilgoff, senior editor at U.S. News & World Report.
“[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian. At least that’s my impression.”
from Newsmax. March 28, 2007.
attending church does not equal Christianity. I am a Christian, but I choose not to get involved in church because my work schedule changes month to month. From your post, it sounds like your last name may be -cracy because you consider faith in God and fellowship with believers to be an important quality in a candidate. Seems to me that important qualities in a conservative candidate should be: tough on national security, fiscal conservatism, tough on immigration, and a belief in small government and the clearly defined rights between states and the federal. If being Christian is one of the criteria on your conservative checklist, would you ever vote for a Jew? Or a Buddhist? Or a Hindu?
You’re playing games. Christians fellowship with other Christians. Scripture commands that, and those of us who are Christians do that.
“Who is acting more like Christ or Christian?” you ask? Who are you to judge? Where is your faith?
Good for Thompson.
James Dobson does for conservatives what Al Shaprton does for african americans.
Same here!
Dobson presumes to speak for all Christians and frankly, I'm getting tired of hearing what he thinks.
The more he speaks, the less I care for him.
“That was an excellent response from Thompson. Dobson was way off base to say what he did. It’s people like him that give the religious right a bad name.”
I agree. I did have respect for Mr. Dobson, but it is obvious now that he seems to think he should make judgements of others. Mr. Dobson has never talked to or met Fred Thompson, but has said that Fred is not a Christian. Not a very Christian thing to say!
US News and World Report——Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson said of Thompson. “[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression,” Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
How’s that?
“I’d heard about the “not a Christian” thing, but I guess I missed the news when this second slam against Thompson came out. Would someone please clue me in? What was it, anyway, that Dobson said against Thompson?”
Here you go
3/28/2007
“Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson said of Thompson. “[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression,” Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson’s characterization of the former Tennessee senator. “Thompson is indeed a Christian,” he said. “He was baptized into the Church of Christ.”
In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson’s claim. He said that, while Dobson didn’t believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless “has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian—someone who talks openly about his faith.”
“I don’t know the gentleman. I do know that I have a lot of people who are of strong faith and are involved in the same organizations that he is in, that I’ve met with, Jeri and I both have met with, and I like to think that we have some strong friendships and support there…”
There is some evidence that he did say it. Why else would an apology be offered? I have also seen some evidence that Dobson said he didn’t say it, in an interview with Glenn Beck, I believe.
As to the latest email, a friend called Focus on the Family and they admitted he did write the email. I called them and they refused to say, then I saw something from a staffer in an article that he did write the email.
It isn’t completely clear to me, but there is enough evidence for me to believe it plausible.
After Falwell’s work, people from many churches tried to work together to accomplish something in the political realm. All this with Dobson is tearing that apart.
Every church has a definition of what you have to do to be a Christian, Dobson does not meet my test but I respect him on family issues and have for almost 30 years. Dobson believes he is obedient to God, I don’t believe he is. I can work with him on issues where I believe he is right.
It is impossible to prove a negative, but how can I believe that Dobson didn’t say this stuff when his staffers at Focus on the Family are saying something different? Or if they refuse to give an answer to a direct question? The first thing I did was ask if he had done that [write the email] and they refused to give me an answer.
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