Thursday, August 21, 2025

We Come to Bury James Dobson, Not Praise Him

James Dobson

Infamous religious leader James Dobson died today. 

Dobson was a prominent and influential figure of the religious right because he not only started Focus on the Family but also had a hand in creating the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom. He also, according to The Advocate, help to push the Republican Party further to the right. 

Those who have kept up with my blog over the years know how I feel about the religious right, or as I call them, the anti-LGBTQ industry.  And how I also feel about the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom.  It shouldn't take a palm reader to guess how I feel about Dobson in general and the specific news of his passing.

To put it politely, James Dobson was an odious, self-righteous, evil man who weaponized Christianity to hurt LGBTQ people. It was never about love or God with him. It was always about power and control. He thought that Christians who believed as he did should control this country, our laws, and general culture.

And he didn't mind overlooking certain passages of the Bible in his quest for political power.  How else could anyone explain his embracing of Donald Trump. In exchange for White House access, Dobson made excuses for Trump, at one time even calling him a baby Christian. Other times, Dobson would not only ignore Trump's behavior, but he also praised him in spite of it all. 

Then again, praise is too weak of a word to describe what was going on. Dobson not only kissed Donald Trump's ass. He wiped and polished it:




 In the coming days, you're going to hear a lot of nice comments about Dobson. Folks are going to talk about his so-called strong character and devotion to God. His so-called commitment to preserving purity and American culture.

It's all a lie. 

The comments you are welcome to read below tell us just who James Dobson actually was. These are voices of the people he hurt and those who were tasked to pick up the pieces of broken spirit which came from his "teachings."


“James Dobson cynically used faith as a cudgel to bludgeon vulnerable communities, spread disinformation, and inject toxic bigotry into the bloodstream of American culture. His legacy is one of cruelty disguised as Christianity, and our nation is worse off because of the relentless campaigns of intolerance he orchestrated. 

 Dobson’s obsession with changing LGBTQ people was a moral abomination that caused immeasurable harm. Parents were misled, children were traumatized, and lives were destroyed because he refused to accept people for who they are. His pseudoscientific crusade for conversion therapy will be remembered as one of the darkest chapters of modern religious extremism.”- Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen.   

(Editor's note - Truth Wins Out created a wonderful project, Respect My Research, which exposed Dobson for deliberately distorting scientific research against LGBTQ people.) 


" James Dobson helped me in my career by providing therapy clients who were harmed by religious, spiritual, emotional, and physical abuse. He gave me clients who were traumatized and self-loathing because they had the great misfortune to be born to parents who believed that being LGBT is "not God's plan" and that they could be "cured."

 He provided clients who were physically abused by parents who hit them with objects - "paddles" - "rather than your loving hands." He helped create clients who believed they were innately evil, undeserving of kindness, unworthy of love, and hated by God. Yes, I've been told that in the therapy room. 

 Because of him, I sought specialized training in treating traumatic injuries, which has helped me to help others. He was ignorant about human development, a religious extremist, and someone who is personally responsible for uncountable incidents of child abuse as well as suicide. He caused incalculable harm to be inflicted on countless innocent children. Good riddance." - Alice Clearman, psychologist.


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)