James Dobson

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James Dobson

James Clayton ("Jim") Dobson, Jr. (born April 21, 1936 in Shreveport , Louisiana ) is an American psychologist and chairman of Focus on the Family , a non-profit organization founded in 1977 and based in Colorado Springs . In this role, the conservative evangelical produces the daily radio program Focus on the Family , which is broadcast in more than a dozen languages ​​and, according to Focus on the Family, by over 6,000 radio stations worldwide and heard daily by more than 200 million people in 164 countries. Focus on the Family is also broadcast daily on approximately 80 US television networks. He is the author of over 30 books.

Life

Dobson's parents were traveling evangelists from the Church of the Nazarene who held revival events in small towns in the southwest. He grew up in Oklahoma and Texas .

Dobson attended Pasadena Christian College (now Point Loma Nazarene University ) for his undergraduate studies, and received his PhD in child development from the University of Southern California in 1967 . He was Professor of Clinical Pediatrics for 14 years and spent 17 years in the Child Development and Medical Genetics Department of the Los Angeles Children's Hospital . He's in California approved as a licensed family and marriage counselor as a psychologist, as well as in California and Colorado and is in Who's Who lists in medicine and health.

He first became known in 1970 with the publication of Dare to Discipline , a conservative response to the then modern anti-authoritarian education that sold 4.5 million times and became a cultural phenomenon among conservative Christian families. In 1977 he founded Focus on the Family , initially as a weekly radio show.

Dobson and his wife Shirley (married since 1960) have two children: Danae and Ryan. Ryan Dobson is himself a sought-after speaker on topics such as youth and abortion (Ryan Dobson is anti-abortion). James Dobson is a passionate advocate of adoption , especially the adoption of children with problems. Their son Ryan was adopted by James and Shirley Dobson.

Dobson has 17 honorary doctorates, all of which were awarded by religiously sponsored colleges (including three each from churches sponsored by the congregations of Christ and the Church of the Nazarene; there is also a university founded by Jerry Falwell , as well as a charismatic- Catholic University). No university without a religious background has honored him; only his doctorate took place at a secular university.

At the invitation of US presidents and attorneys at law, Dobson has served on various advisory bodies and has testified at hearings. Honors include the National Association of Evangelicals ' Lay of the Year Award (1982), Childhelp USA's ( Child Abuse , 1987) Humanitarian Award from the California Psychological Association (1988).

Dobson was an eyewitness to the death of professional basketball player Pete Maravich .

Rating

Dobson is an influential evangelical in the United States known for mobilizing his large audience to take positions on ethical and political issues . It is generally counted as part of the religious right .

An October 2006 poll by the Barna Institute found that 45% of Americans surveyed had heard of Dobsonian. 27% had a positive impression of him, 8% a negative one, 9% no opinion. The numbers were different among evangelicals: 79% had heard of him, 69% had a positive and 4% a negative impression. (The missing percentages did not express an opinion).

In contrast to other evangelicals, Dobson has no reservations about people of different faiths; on the contrary, he regularly invites Catholics, Mormons and Jews to his radio broadcasts. He also has an honorary doctorate from a charismatic Roman Catholic university.

Major scientific associations such as the American Psychiatric Association , the American Psychological Association , the American Counseling Association , the National Association of Social Workers , the American Academy of Pediatrics , the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the American Academy of Family Physicians reject James Dobson's goals .

Views held by Dobson

Views on Corporal Punishment and Authority

In his book, Dare to Discipline (see above for context), Dobson emphasized the value of authority in education. Corporal punishment should follow any child disobedience and should not be used as a last resort. However, Dobson was aware of the dangers of child abuse and warned that "corporal punishment should not be common." Furthermore, "Discipline should not be strict and harmful to the child's mind". It is therefore “not necessary to hit a child into submission; even a little pain can go a long way in a young child. However, the blows should be strong enough to make the child really cry ”. Someone who is prone to uncontrolled anger or who secretly enjoys beating the child should not use corporal punishment.

Dobsonian and homosexuality

He believes that homosexuality in adults can be changed through " reparative therapy " and that it can be "prevented" in children. He is a regular and fierce critic of the lesbian and gay movement and anything he believes promotes homosexuality.

Unlike many evangelicals, Dobson does not believe that lesbians and gays choose their sexual orientation freely. In his book Bringing Up Boys , he explains: “Homosexuals are deeply annoyed when they are told that they have freely chosen this same-sex inclination in search of sexual arousal or for other reasons. This is unfair and I don't blame you for being annoyed by this assumption. Who of us would knowingly choose a path that resulted in alienation from family, rejection by friends, loathing of the heterosexual world, exposure to sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and tuberculosis, and shorter life spans? No, homosexuality is not 'chosen', except in rare circumstances. On the contrary, confused children and adolescents are able to deal with something that they themselves do not even understand ”( Bringing Up Boys , Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family 2003, pp. 115–116).

However, Dobson does not believe that homosexuality is genetic in origin. In his June 2002 newsletter, he states: “There is more compelling evidence that homosexuality is not hereditary . For example, since identical twins share the same chromosome pattern or DNA , the genetic contributions are identical in each pair. So if a twin is 'born' homosexually, the other would inevitably have to show this condition too. However, this is not the case. When one twin is homosexual, the chance that the other twin will have the same condition is only 50 percent. So something else must be at work. "

In early November 2006, Dobson recommended therapy to a Christian ex-gay group to his friend Ted Haggard , the ex-president of the Evangelical National Association of Evangelicals .

Dobson alleges that human rights organizations campaigning for the rights of lesbians and gay men are intentionally misusing the English language: “While words like 'diversity' and 'unity' sound quite harmless - yes, even noble - the reality is that they do are often used as a cover by gay activists to convince children that homosexuality is morally and biologically equivalent to heterosexuality. "

On January 20, 2005, an article appeared in the New York Times entitled "Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge." According to the article, Dobson reportedly said the creators of SpongeBob had him appear in a pro-homosexual video along with other children's television characters. The article went on to say that the producers described this as a misunderstanding. Dobson then stated that his words had been misinterpreted by the media and that he had not accused the cartoon character of being homosexual. The Los Angeles Times then published a correction.

Dobson's views on marriage

Dobson advocates patriarchal marriage. He believes that men have an obligation to God to lead their families and women have an obligation to God to submit to the authority of their husbands. He supports organizations that hold similar opinions, such as B. Promise Keepers . He advises families with underage children that (as far as the family is able to do this) one parent, preferably the mother, does not work in order to have time for the children. He also thinks this makes sense for the parents of teenagers so that the parents have reserves of strength for the challenges a family with teenagers is facing.

Political force

The online magazine Slate.com has described Dobson as "America's Most Influential Evangelical Leader" (November 12, 2004):

Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson , who have marginalized themselves with mistakes as they age, can be safely forgotten .... Dobson is now America's most influential evangelical leader with a following that is said to exceed that of Falwell or Robinson at their peak, according to some reports .... Dobson could have given Bush his victories in Ohio and Florida .
He is already implementing his new power politically. When a thank-you call came from the White House , Dobson gruffly warned the staff that Bush 'must get more aggressive' to push through the pro-life, anti- gay rights agenda of the religious right , or that his party would 'pay a price in four years '. ... Dobson has spoken several times about bringing down the GOP if it doesn't meet his expectations.

In 1981, Dobson founded the Family Research Council , which has served as his political arm, although he himself originally stayed a bit removed from Washington politics. However, as LGBT issues began to gain prominence, he went into politics with all his might. In autumn 2004, Dobson led a campaign to the appointment of Arlen Specter as chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the US Senate to block because the later the Democrats had converted Specter in matters of abortion as a moderate Republican was. When Alan Colmes asked if he would like the Republican Party to be known as the “big-tent party”, he replied, “I don't want to be in the big tent .... Me believe that the party should stand for something. "

Trump's Vice President Mike Pence recognized Dobson as a "friend and mentor".

Statements about ethics and science

While the Focus-on-the-Family radio broadcast on 3 August 2005 criticized Dobson Republican US Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee and others that stem cell research supported and said:

During World War II , the Nazis experimented terribly in the concentration camps, and I can imagine, if you took the time to read about it, that there may have been some discoveries that may have benefited humankind. ...

Works

Dobson is the author or co-author of 31 books (as of 2004) that have been sold a total of 4.5 million times in the United States, including:

  • Together or alone , 1986
  • Dare to discipline. Tyndale, Wheaton 1970
    • Our children are impossible , 1982 (multiple editions)
  • Emotions, can you trust them? Regal, Ventura 1980
  • Dr. Dobson Answers Your Questions. Tyndale, Wheaton 1982
  • Anti-frustration book for parents of willing and headstrong children , 1991
  • What You Should Know About Me ...: Marital Conflicts - and How to Solve Them , 2nd edition 1994
  • When God doesn't make sense. Tyndale, Wheaton 1993
    • If you no longer understand God , Hänssler, Neuhausen 1995 (3rd edition 1996. ISBN 3-7751-2115-3 )
  • The little marriage advisor , 3rd edition 1996
  • Take Your Life in Your Hand: [Tips for Young People] 1996
  • ... it's not easy as a man , 2nd edition 1998
  • The Great Family and Parenting Advisor: America's Most Renowned Family Counselor Answers Difficult Questions Today's Families Have to Deal With , 1998
  • Finally - I'm growing up , 2nd edition 2001
  • The idiosyncratic child , 4th edition 2001
  • Raising Boys - Shaping the Future , 2003

Dobson was also a member of the committee that produced the Meese Report on Pornography .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ About Dr. Dobson ( Memento from December 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Barna Institute: Major Christian Leaders Are Widely Unknown, Even Among Christians ( Memento from February 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Advocate: Web site launched to fight distortion of research on LGBT families ( Memento of October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ James Dobson: Dare to Discipline , p. 7
  5. ↑ [1] Online advice column from November 21, 2004
  6. ↑ Can Homosexuality Be Treated and Prevented? ( Memento from October 6, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ queer.de "Haggard starts anti-homo therapy"
  8. ↑ family.org ( Memento of October 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ New York Times: Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge
  10. ↑ family.org ( Memento of October 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ How a Husband Should Handle His Wife's Submission ( Memento from October 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Focus on the Family website  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / family.custhelp.com  
  13. ↑ Slate.com ( Memento of November 17, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Interview with Fox News ( Memento from June 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ http://nrb.org/news-room/articles/nrbt/vice-president-mike-pence-speaks-focus-familys-40th-anniversary-celebration/
  16. ↑ mediamatters.org (en)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dobson, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dobson, James Clayton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American evangelical psychologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Shreveport , Louisiana