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.
If you really wrap your mind around the worldview that the Columbia students have, that considers a sort of juvenile perspective of homosexuality from Ahminidjad to be the most contemptible thing about him . . . it ends up being scary, as well as sad, since these are American college students. They are part of our countries future.
LOL
Agree with your tagline, btw
Seems like it become a discussion on Mormonism. Certainly not my intent.
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This thread is like Mormon catnip. It offers the choice to talk down a competitor to Romney in Fred Thompson AND a chance to talk badly about evangelical Christians. A twofer, too good to be resisted!
Very well, carry on!
We have one of those radio evangelists in our family,,,
The best description:
Greedy!
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Yah, it’s always the thing to do with internet, TV and radio ministries to check into their finances before you devote time to listening to them or donate money. I checked into Dobson because of this thread. He doesn’t even take a salary from Focus on the Family. It was the same with Pastor James Kennedy — he tithed to his church but took no salary — so he paid his church in essence to be thier pastor. I’m not an easy mark, and so I usually don’t get suckered by the TV ministry phonies, but I did spend a few hours listening to one television ministry and then when I looked at the finances it was several hundred thousand dollars to the head of the ministry, half a million to their spouse, plus the income from books and other interests. That’s bogus and I stopped listening because I couldn’t trust them any longer . . . Dobson is not greedy. He could easily take a salary from Focus on the Family and no one would question it if it were reasonable. He doesn’t.
True.
Do you think this was a direct response to Dobson? If so, that's a good thing that Dobson did there.
Very well, carry on!
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Heh, I’m actually trying to read this entire thread. I’ve never actually got through one of these mega threads before. I’m at 450 or so out of the 1200.
I do not claim to be right but how would you explain this...
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..”
However in the very next verse...
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
That’s a darn good point! I’d never noticed that the next verse is singular. Only the trinity, or something like the trinity, seems to make sense putting the two verses together, Genesis 1:26 - 1:27, since one is plural and one is singular.
I think the most conservative candidate for President almost always wins. I’ve only seen it fail once in my lifetime, Jimmy Carter defeating Gerald Ford, and that was after Watergate. And no, I’m not forgetting Bush 1 vs. Clinton. I think a lot of people thought Clinton was just as conservative as Bush after Bush raised taxes and sort of cancelled the Reagan revolution.
He's said that he will not support Thompson, Guilianni, or McCain? So that leaves Huckabee, Romney, Hunter, Tancredo, Brownback for endorsement in the primaries. I hope he chooses to say something good about Hunter. He should . . . heck . . . everyone should!
Antidisestablishment, I think you've got this backwards. I think that heavy taxation has crowded out a lot of charitable giving, including giving that would have gone to the churches, and that the government programs have crowded out church programs.
I think that's because there is a big group of FReepers that couldn't care less about Dobson's ministry other than its impact on general politics. Their attitude is essentially "so he helps kids and families, I disagree with him on Fred Thompson so he's a jerk!" That ignores the reflexive anti-Christian attacks of some others!
"If you only had one in the Godhead the Jewish people would not have disputed with Jesus!" restornu
Do you know why Caiaphas condemned Jesus? Because Caiaphas believed Jesus had claimed to be 'Son of Man' in the flesh and the Jews believe God is One, Son of Man will be Messiah God, so Caiaphas believed Jesus had committed blasphemy to claim to be God!
Your constant posting of Bible verses and pieces of Bible verses without comprehending what you post or why taking the pieces out of context is foolishness appears that you are ever learning and never coming to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, resty.
You deserve some sort of award! You are the first person I've ever seen use "immanentize the eschaton" in an ordinary sentence, with its proper and natural meaning, and not done tongue in cheek! Congratulations!
I saw your earlier post Guenevere . . . the thread pushed 1200 posts ultimately, so I’d say that Dobson is relevant . . .
It's a good point that you make about the elite's always choosing for us lukewarm candidates that don't have a firm belief in what is right and what is wrong. It's very different than the Adams, Madisons, and Jeffersons in our nation's early years.
It’s a good analysis of Hunter’s campaign, that since his a congressman he needed to run an unconventional campaign to have a chance at the nomination. He has not shown any flair in campaigning and grabbing the spotlight. He’s a great looking guy, very articulate, probably the most versed on the issues, right from a conservative perspective on every issue, the main issues he focuses on (defense, the border and trade) are in the news constantly now . . . but he hasn’t been innovative in his campaign . . . and you are right he needs to be. It frustrated me when Huckabee “accepted” Thompson’s “offer” to do a Lincoln-Douglas debate, because even though it was a long shot, it was no lose and if Thompson had accepted it would have launched Huckabee potentially into the first tier. Hunter should have thought of it (I did when I heard Thompson blithering about Lincoln-Douglas debates on Leno.
I support Hunter in the hopes that lightning strikes, because he is young enough to run again, and because he is the best candidate.
I agree with Theo regarding the context of “judge not” . . . a few lines down in Matthew 7 is “neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” . . . very judgemental since you have to judge people “swine” to avoid being rended. How do you reconcile the two? I have, but have you thought them through? If not, I’d recommend the exercise. Sorry to be so zen in approach with this but given the online, message board context, it’s probably better for you to think it through . . .
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