Dobson vs. Obama
So, I've sort of been following politics lately (much more than in recent years) but this news story came out of left field for me. Micah sent it to me and, once I read it, I couldn't really stay silent. Hopefully I can keep this semi-short.
You can find the article here:
Dobson Accuses Obama Of 'Distorting' Bible
Having read (or at least skimmed) it, here are my problems.
Dobson is criticizing Obama for a speech he gave in 2006. This makes me wonder what the hell took so long if this is such a "hot" topic. I'm not a big fan of Dobson or FotF but this should really clue in some Conservative folks that "mudslinging" is not only a Democrat/Liberal practice.
That aside, his "accusations" just make me laugh out loud. My favorite quote of the entire thing is that Dobson claims Obama is "deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology."
Can't people like me accuse Dobson of doing the same thing on a regular basis? Isn't it common practice by now to distort the "traditional" understanding of the Bible to fit your worldview? Dobson makes it sound like such a criminalizing or debasing action but, frankly, it's the different interpretations of biblical passage that have created the numerous sects of Christianity that we see on various street corners across America (and the rest of the world).
Based on the above quote by Dobson, it is 100% fair to label Christians as hypocrites, which is something I'm not fond of doing and a label I'm less fond of wearing. Radicals (note, not "Fundamentalists") like Dobson make Conservative Christians look bad to not only Liberal Christians and Skeptical Christians (like myself), but to the world at large. It's doubly humorous to me that his own language can be turned against him so easily.
Setting the global argument aside, what Obama said actually does have some merit. There's no "preferred" flavor of Christianity because of the 'Separation of Church and State' and because America was founded on the principles of religious freedom. Also, I believe that if the Bible used as part of our Defense Department Policy, once we got past the issue of interpretation, we'd be rethinking a lot of our military tactics. If did, in fact, follow Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, what do you think would have really happened after the 9/11 incident?
Ultimately, Dobson has no real leg to stand on other than the people that fawn when he walks by hanging on every word he says. People that can see through the evocative language and unfounded accusations just shake our heads and resolve even more to cast a vote for someone who stands up to people like this.
Obama for President! (literally!)
You can find the article here:
Dobson Accuses Obama Of 'Distorting' Bible
Having read (or at least skimmed) it, here are my problems.
Dobson is criticizing Obama for a speech he gave in 2006. This makes me wonder what the hell took so long if this is such a "hot" topic. I'm not a big fan of Dobson or FotF but this should really clue in some Conservative folks that "mudslinging" is not only a Democrat/Liberal practice.
That aside, his "accusations" just make me laugh out loud. My favorite quote of the entire thing is that Dobson claims Obama is "deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology."
Can't people like me accuse Dobson of doing the same thing on a regular basis? Isn't it common practice by now to distort the "traditional" understanding of the Bible to fit your worldview? Dobson makes it sound like such a criminalizing or debasing action but, frankly, it's the different interpretations of biblical passage that have created the numerous sects of Christianity that we see on various street corners across America (and the rest of the world).
Based on the above quote by Dobson, it is 100% fair to label Christians as hypocrites, which is something I'm not fond of doing and a label I'm less fond of wearing. Radicals (note, not "Fundamentalists") like Dobson make Conservative Christians look bad to not only Liberal Christians and Skeptical Christians (like myself), but to the world at large. It's doubly humorous to me that his own language can be turned against him so easily.
Setting the global argument aside, what Obama said actually does have some merit. There's no "preferred" flavor of Christianity because of the 'Separation of Church and State' and because America was founded on the principles of religious freedom. Also, I believe that if the Bible used as part of our Defense Department Policy, once we got past the issue of interpretation, we'd be rethinking a lot of our military tactics. If did, in fact, follow Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, what do you think would have really happened after the 9/11 incident?
Ultimately, Dobson has no real leg to stand on other than the people that fawn when he walks by hanging on every word he says. People that can see through the evocative language and unfounded accusations just shake our heads and resolve even more to cast a vote for someone who stands up to people like this.
Obama for President! (literally!)
Labels: barack obama, church and state, focus on the family, interpretation, james dobson
posted by Todd Newton at 10:27
1 Comments:
I always find it interesting the things that come up and about when a presidential election nears. Mudslinging is always a shame, but when it comes from someone who claims to love Jesus (thereby love others, since that's the numero uno command), it just makes me sad because now I'm associated with that person, somewhat by default.
It really sheds an unfavorable light on my faith.
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