An Evangelical Indulgence
Dobson owes Christians an apology. Dr. James Dobson has been a luminary among American evangelicals for the last half-century. In 2016, the trusted psychologist, author, and radio superstar claimed New York real estate mogul, reality TV star, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. If that ever happened, it sure didn’t stick.
If Dobson’s assertion were true, it meant to millions of evangelicals that Trump was not only “one of us” but also forgiven his past transgressions and had a clean spiritual slate. In other words, a born-again believer could vote with a clear conscious for the braggart and one-time playboy. When some of my Christian constituents asked me at the time what I thought about Trump’s alleged conversion, I cautiously answered, “Time will tell.”
Time has told us about Trump’s religion, and self-deification best describes it. What I mean by that is that the man does not give evidence of his being a Christian. If I’m right, this leaves the venerable Dr. Dobson with one of two options. It could be he humbly admits to having made a severe and enormously consequential mistake. Or, he might need to fess up to having manipulated the facts–ahem, made something up–to ensure his brothers and sisters–ahem–constituents–rallied around the doctor’s preferred candidate.
An Apology Owed
Whichever it is, I do believe Dobson at least owes American Christians his admission of wrong. I think one could make a case, though, for a Dobson mea culpa to the whole country–maybe the world–with reparations of some kind to follow. Dobson’s spiritual endorsement of Trump relieved millions of Christians from examining and accurately assessing the candidate’s true character.
The problem is even believers who hear such a report from a revered Christian leader must still discern what type of person they are engaging. Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matt 7:15-20)
If the “fruit” of one’s life indicates who they are spiritually, morally, and ethically, it’s worth asking what type of fruit we are looking for in a Christian, and therefore in Donald Trump. The Apostle Paul lists such traits in his letter to the Galatians, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” (Gal 5:22) Simply asking in what ways Donald Trump exemplifies these virtues should be enough to conclude he doesn’t. Then you add Jesus’ instruction to His disciples, “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:35) Compare that to Trump’s treatment of his “fellow Christian” Mike Pence and he again fails the test–even as the “baby Christian” Dobson tagged Trump to be.
If we extend Trump’s fruit beyond his persona to his actions and policies while in office, the test of his Christian identity doesn’t fare any better. The Apostle James writes, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) His administration’s treatment of orphaned and unaccompanied children at the southern border was enough to contradict this Christian criterion. As for keeping oneself unstained by the world, Mr. Trump’s coarse and menacing stage theatrics are enough to indicate he won’t pass that measurement. Of course, none of this is even to mention his complicity in the January 6, 2021, mob violence at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump’s Non-testimony Of Faith
At a recent Fox News televised town hall forum, Trump was asked by one of his own boosters how he has grown in his faith and who has mentored him. His answer was awkwardly evasive. Instead of explaining how his love of God and neighbor has changed how he thinks and behaves toward others, he deflected the inquiry. He answered an entirely different question that he posed in response. It should be clear to anyone who has watched him over the years that he was supremely uncomfortable with the question and had no answer.
Even A Psychologist Must Admit When He’s Wrong
Mr. Trump’s self-promoting braggadocio, arrogance, demeaning insults, privately obscene and publicly vulgar denunciations, veiled threats, and open declaration of himself as the personification of “retribution” belie any claim of his being a Christ-follower. A Christian figure of James Dobson’s caliber can see these apparent contradictions as much as anyone else can.
For all these reasons and more, I renew my opinion that Dobson owes Christians an apology. –and everyone so negatively affected by Dobson’s destructive presence in the political arena. He shouldn’t offer his apology simply for the sake of confession, though; he should do it to help reclaim the integrity of our Christian witness in the world, for the repair of damage done to the social fabric, and to relieve the now dangerous level of conflict inside and outside the church.
A Humble Appeal
Dr. Dobson, after reading your books, admiring your leadership, and collaborating with you for decades, I humbly–and with all due respect to my elder–ask you to consider apologizing for misjudging a political demagogue who has wreaked havoc on the country you and I so deeply love.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In