Has Jim Dobson (or "SpongeDob") officially entered Caligula-mode?
Dobson has taken on cartoon characters head to head, but now he's attacking prominent Evangelical leaders who dare to utter the words "climate-change."
Dobson is calling for the resignation of Richard Cizik, Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals after Cizik refused to waver on his conviction that Christians should actually be careful stewards of God's Creation.
I've always found Cizik to be a remarkably articulate and reasonable public voice for the NAE - and certainly not just on the issue of "creation care." Do Dobson, and his brother-in-arms Jerry Falwell, feel threatened?
I am currently agnostic on the issue of "global warming" or "climate change." It does seem the Earth is trending to the warmer side. But the human causes of this trend seem to be miniscule. I am no scientist, and I reserve the right to be flat wrong on this subject I know little about.
I still think Dobson needs to stick to his strengths - writing books about parenting advice. Politics has not been good to James Dobson.
-BC
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There was an interesting article in the Economist last week (Mar 3-9) talking about Mr. Dobson and his troubles with politics. Check out Trouble in the Family if you get a chance.
Thanks Wade -- v. interesting, especially the last two paragraphs:
"The 70-year-old Mr Dobson (who has already suffered a heart attack and a stroke) is increasingly looking like a relic of an ancien régime rather than a harbinger of a new order. The average age of people on Focus's mailing list is 52. Mr Dobson and his acolytes are rapidly being displaced by what Mr Gilgoff calls a New New Right—people who are concerned about international justice and climate change as well as abortion and gay marriage, and people who are willing to work with liberal pressure groups over issues such as Sudan and sex slavery.
All this suggests that the battle for the “values voters” will be more complicated than it was in 2004—and certainly will involve a lot more than kissing Mr Dobson's ring. In the Republican “evangelical primary” rising stars like Rick Warren, another reluctant politician, may count for as much as the old war horses. And Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—who both like to stress their religious credentials—have a chance of picking up disillusioned evangelicals. The Jesus machine is changing fast."
Actually, the "New New Right" (as The Economist puts it) sounds a lot more like a Brownback/Huckabee Conservative. Obama/Clinton? That may be a stretch.
I think Obama and Clinton will have to do more than talk about going to church or having faith to get the values voters. Seems hard to imagine nearly as many people getting worked up about Sudan as abortion...
Add some environmental stewardship to your meat and potatoes family values, and the "old" right gets up to speed with the "new new" right.
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