Tag: James Dobson

Being a serial plagiarist may no longer be the professional equivalent of a hair shirt. Look at Vice President Joe Biden. Good thing for ex-Bush administration political operative Tim Goeglein too. He's been named the top Washington, D.C., lobbyist for Focus on the Family, according to a little-noticed "comings and goings" political column in the Fort Wayne, Ind., Journal Gazette. UPDATE: Focus on the Family Action responds to our post below the fold.

An outfit calling itself The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (CADC) has put out a Top 10 list of what it considers “the most outrageous Christian bashing in America in the year 2008.” Coming in at No. 4 is a claim that “Colorado Law Criminalizes the Bible.” What? The assertion is actually a reference to last year's Senate Bill 200, which expands the definition of discrimination to include sexual orientation. At the time, you’ll remember that Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family went bonkers over the bill, claiming that transgendered people would be able to go into bathrooms and molest children. But criminalizing the Bible? How on earth did Focus miss that angle?

Just in time for Christmas, we’ve stumbled across Colorado Republican state Sen. Dave Schultheis’ list of recommended reading, “for the education of a good conservative.” And not one of the 15 must-reads are a day younger than 35 years old. OK, we exaggerate. One of them was published in this century.

The fallout is still coming down in a big way over California’s Proposition 8 election results. There have been largely symbolic pushbacks over the voter-approved law that strips gay couples from the right to marry each other — like last weekend’s protest in Colorado at the Century Boulder Theater. And there are larger stakes issues at play as well — like an investigation into whether the Mormon Church, which heavily funded the measure, violated state laws by failing to report campaign expenditures.

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker has really done it this time. Last week, she wrote about how hard-right evangelicals have brought down the Republican Party. Her column has sparked the ire of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who wrote his own column smiting Parker and responding exactly the way she described in her column — by getting defensive at the very suggestion that the rigid right has had a hand in eroding the power of the GOP. Dobson even went so far as to claim the conservative columnist is no longer a conservative. Take that, Kathleen Parker!

UPDATE: Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950. Focus on the Family is poised to announce major employee layoffs today from its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay marriage ban in California. Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the last round of dismissals in the organization, as a sad commentary on the priorities of the families on which the ministry is truly focusing.

President George W. Bush may be entering his last 10 weeks in office with a 68 percent disapproval rating, but not everyone is unhappy — indeed some are downright pleased — by the president’s performance. Take the conservative Colorado Springs Focus on the Family ministry and media empire for example, which is reminding supporters it’s not too late to thank Bush for “defending the preborn” – and for his legacy of hard-right Supreme Court justices. You too can take advantage of sending Bush a message of your own via Focus’ auto-generated customizable letter-sending software.

Colorado evangelicals are on the political outs. At least that's what Salon.com reporter Mike Madden says. Madden visited Colorado Springs' legendary New Life Church on Sunday, and found that Pastor Brady Boyd was less-than-partisan during his sermon, a phenomenon that the Colorado Independent noted last month.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says she believes God brought her Down Syndrome child, Trig, into her life to help the "hardcore pro-lifer" movement. The interview was taped Monday during Palin's visit to Colorado Springs and airs Wednesday on Christian radio stations.

The news, that same-gender couples have the right to marry in Connecticut, has gays and lesbians rejoicing — and James Dobson of Focus on the Family fuming http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000008410.cfm. But hey, at least his Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire has something to celebrate: McDonald’s has removed the “Gay Agenda” from its menu, and now Dobson can supersize his Big Mac special value meal with pride.