{"id":3384,"date":"2012-12-21T11:29:38","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T15:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/?p=3384"},"modified":"2025-08-21T16:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T20:25:11","slug":"callous-theology-of-james-dobson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2012\/12\/21\/callous-theology-of-james-dobson\/","title":{"rendered":"The Callous Theology of James Dobson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When I received this piece from Peter Wehner, I wanted to publish it right away \u2014 and the fastest way to do so is as a guest post. \u00a0For those who don\u2019t know, Pete has been one of the leading evangelicals in Washington for a long time now. \u00a0He served in the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, and headed George W. Bush\u2019s in-house policy shop, the Office of Strategic Initiatives. He co-authored\u00a0City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era<\/a>\u00a0with Michael Gerson, and\u00a0Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism<\/a>\u00a0with Arthur C. Brooks. Presently he is a Senior Fellow at the\u00a0Ethics and Public Policy Center<\/a>\u00a0and writes frequently for\u00a0Commentary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Peter Wehner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Callous Theology of James Dobson<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Peter Wehner<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some Christian conservatives seemingly cannot help themselves. \u00a0They have to try to find some deep theological explanation for the evil we witness in places like Newtown, Connecticut. \u00a0But often in doing so, they injure the very faith they seek to represent. \u00a0\u2028The latest example is by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who, in speaking about the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, said this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I mean millions of people have decided that God doesn\u2019t exist, or he\u2019s irrelevant to me, and we have killed fifty-four million babies and the institution of marriage is right on the verge of a complete redefinition. \u00a0Believe me, that is going to have consequences too.<\/p>\n

And a lot of these things are happening around us, and somebody is going to get mad at me for saying what I am about to say right now, but I am going to give you my honest opinion: I think we have turned our back on the Scripture and on God Almighty and I think he has allowed judgment to fall upon us. \u00a0I think that\u2019s what\u2019s going on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let\u2019s see if we can untangle some of this, beginning with this observation: In the New Testament, suffering and death are more often evidence of obedience than disobedience to God. \u00a0When the Lord told Ananias to go to Straight Street and place his hands on Saul (later Paul) to restore Saul\u2019s sight, the Lord said to Ananias, \u201cThis man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. \u00a0I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.\u201d \u00a0The two most important figures in Christianity \u2013 Jesus and St. Paul \u2013 died violent deaths (according to Christian tradition, Paul was beheaded by the Romans). \u00a0So the effort to create a cause-and-effect \u2013 in this case, turning your back on God leads to mass shootings and violent death \u2013 is itself theologically misguided.<\/p>\n

The workings of God in the midst of tragedy cannot be reduced to a simplistic moral mathematics in which sin yields to disaster, in part because America is not a covenant community on the model of ancient Israel. The community of faith is found in every nation. \u00a0Believers share the blessings and tragedies of their neighbors. Rather than declaring the suffering of their neighbors to be deserved, they should work and pray for the common good.<\/p>\n

A second point: Earlier this year we learned<\/a> from the FBI that violent crime rates in the U.S. are reaching historic lows. \u00a0Since 1993, for example, the rate of violent victimization has dropped by more than 70 percent. \u00a0Those findings undercut the Dobson thesis. If America has gotten less godly, why would God\u2019s judgment (which Dobson believes manifests itself in violent crimes) be getting less, not more, severe? \u00a0On the flip side, the number, rate, and ratio of abortions in America are lower<\/a> today than in the past. \u00a0So why would God lash out now, when the abortion rate is going down, rather than before, when it was going up? \u00a0And how would Dobson explain why the murder rate was higher when same-sex marriage wasn\u2019t even being discussed and more people believed in God? \u00a0One can see how terribly confused Dobson\u2019s argument is once it\u2019s actually scrutinized.<\/p>\n

Third, Mr. Dobson assumes he knows the mind of God and what most grieves, angers and moves His heart. \u00a0But surely Dobson knows that Jesus mentions divorce more often than he mentions homosexuality (which Paul addresses but Jesus does not). \u00a0So why is same-sex marriage on Dobson\u2019s list but divorce is left off? \u00a0And what about the other things that concern God \u2013 like indifference to the poor, not caring for the stranger and alien in our midst, a haughty spirit, and riches? \u00a0When I listen to James Dobson and I read the gospel accounts, two jarringly different portraits emerge.<\/p>\n

Now, assume you were a parent of one of the children who was gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School and you heard a well-known Christian figure like Dobson declare that the worst thing you could possibly conceive of \u2013 the murder of your first-grade daughter \u2014 was a result of the wrath of God. \u00a0If you believed this, it would only add to your grief. \u00a0And if you didn\u2019t believe it, it would only add to your anger. \u00a0And what would Dobson say to the father of the boy who had just dedicated his young life to the Lord? \u00a0Why was he the target of God\u2019s judgment? \u00a0Because Washington State passed a same-sex marriage initiative?<\/p>\n

Why is it that tragedies often bring out such callous statements \u2013 including from the very people you would hope would show some measure of grace, discernment, and perspective? \u00a0And why are some of the most offensive statements made by some of the nation\u2019s most visible (conservative) Christians? \u00a0I am at something of a loss to explain it.<\/p>\n

Since in the past I\u2019ve criticized<\/a> other Christian leaders for making similar statements, I wanted to explain why I, an evangelical Christian and social conservative, find them to be disquieting.\u00a0 It\u2019s because they discredit a faith I cherish \u2013 and what these people say is not the expression of the faith I hold. \u00a0For them politics, not faith, is their interpretive lens. \u00a0Christianity becomes a blunt instrument in an ideological struggle. \u00a0The result is that people of faith explain a brutal massacre by connecting imaginary dots. \u00a0And the fact that doing so damages the Christian faith seems to bother them not at all.<\/p>\n

Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris couldn\u2019t have done it any better.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I received this piece from Peter Wehner, I wanted to publish it right away \u2014 and the fastest way to do so is as a guest post. \u00a0For those who don\u2019t know, Pete has been one of the leading evangelicals in Washington for a long time now. \u00a0He served in the Reagan and George […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":3385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,211,1100,44],"tags":[1321,974,1101,356,1096,1097],"class_list":["post-3384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abortion","category-christians-in-government","category-gay-marriage","category-peter-wehner","category-scandals","tag-abortion","tag-james-dobson","tag-peter-wehner-2","tag-same-sex-marriage","tag-sandy-hook","tag-school-shooting"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Callous Theology of James Dobson - Philosophical Fragments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I received this piece from Peter Wehner, I wanted to publish it right away -- and the fastest way to do so is as a guest post. \u00a0For those who don't\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2012\/12\/21\/callous-theology-of-james-dobson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Callous Theology of James Dobson - 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