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.
Billbears, you get points for cleverness if not for persuasiveness.
Domestic slavery was not banned, nor was a Civil War fought, because of how slavery affected “foreign commerce.” But nice try.
Further you write: “If the Framers knew there were some advocating passage of an Amendment to ban associations at the federal level (no matter how disgusting they may be), they would be laughing their heads off.”
I’ll concede that the Framers would have thought it simply inconceivable that what was at the time a capital offense in some colonies (sodomy, or “buggery” as it was called then) would EVER be claimed as the basis for marriage.
And if the Framers understood that the only way to stop a latter-day runaway tyrannical Supreme Court from overturning the traditional marriage laws and constitutional provisions of the states, they’d have written the definition of marriage into the document at the time.
If the Supreme Court in the 19th century had failed to uphold the Congressional action banning polygamy, there’d have been a ONE-man, ONE-woman marriage amendment adopted then, which would have saved us all the trouble of doing it today.
“Most states have already taken care of this issue after Massachuesets legalized gay marriage. That is the way it is supposed to work in this country. People can decide the issue at the state and local level.”
And five members of the U.S. Supreme Court can overnight overturn all the laws and constitutional amendments approved by the states to protect marriage, including yours in Missouri.
Only way to stop that — permanently — is a Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Which President Bush, the RNC national platform, 43 out of 49 GOP U.S. senators, etc., etc., all endorse, by the way.
“The fact remains, the federal government should not be deciding this (marriage) issue. They tried it with alocohol....what did that accomplish?”
They also tried it with slavery. Did that accomplish something?
I support a U.S. Constitutional Ammendment defining marriage as being between 1 man and 1 woman.... this is very important because the feds will still need to address the issue of a “gay marriage license” from another state being “recognized” in a State where “gay marriage” is prohibited... A constitutional ammendment is the way to resolve the issue.. IMHO ...
David
oops. my bad.. just realized I was signed in on my wife’s screen name..
David
[...]issue of a “gay marriage license” from another state being “recognized” in a State where “gay marriage” is prohibited... A constitutional ammendment is the way to resolve the issue.
I am afraid I must grudgingly agree. An amendment seems to be less damaging than an exception to the reciprocity clause (though wouldn't that be an amendment too?). I don't like opening the door to that. It is a wedge that will eventually be exploited to create further division.
I never witnessed his private devotions. I never inquired about them. I should have thought it the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity. His life, his writings, prove that he was a Christian. He was not one of those who act or pray, “that they may be seen of men” [Matthew 6:5]. He communed with his God in secret [Matthew 6:6].
Nelly Custis-Lewis, 1833, Granddaughter of Martha Washington
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g011.html
I am very interested where he said this? A public proclaimation of Christianity is first most in my book on a canidate to vote for. Yes, I have a large family too, and they vote with me 99% of the time.
BTTT
Its going to be real hard to get evangelicals to vote for anything Republican I fear. After being burned by George W.
Maybe Mike Huckabee for me.
The way things are going now, the state governments will be nothing but window dressing and all decisions will be made in the beltway.
I fear that’s pretty much how it is already.
Just being a bit of a smart a$$
I’m just glad I don’t need excuses to support Hunter. In my opinion he’s the best candidate in the race and I don’t care what his poll numbers are. Win or lose I know I voted for the right man.
~ BUMP! ~
To be saved you must believe in Christ. Some Jews do, some Jews don’t, and this is the same as the gentiles. If you are ignorant, learn, if you are a troll, go away. Your aspersions against Dobson are contemptible.
I think that people who don’t know anything about Dobson assume that he is some sort of preacher and leader of a Church, so they judge him in that light. He is the leader of a family ministry, it focuses on child rearing, schooling, marriage, divorce, those sorts of issues, and is issues driven. He will judge candidates in a narrower light within his role as the leader of the ministry than the general voter will.
What was his name and source? A link suffice.
Bump
He spoke at Dr.D.James Kennedy's funeral last week....I was in tears...sobbing because his words were true and profound.
In essence he asked...WHO will take up the standard....WHO will be the vanguard in holding our nation accountable to Godly principles.
Falwell & Kennedy are with their Maker...
..those two giants of the Faith helped start the 'Moral Majority'....Evangelical Christian lobbying to effect positive change in our nation...(with RWR's blessing, I might add)
Dobson will 'press on' till God calls him home...
..but we need those who will take up this standard, who will uphold the foundation our nation once knew....the Judeo/Christian foundation as set forth in our Constitution!!
At the present time, we are floundering badly.....a Ship of State without a rudder.
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