Monday, July 21, 2008

Dobson the Flip-flopper?

This is Dr. Dobson's Values Voter Pledge found on this webpage.

As a concerned citizen, I am signing this Values Voter Pledge for 2008 indicating my commitment to stand for the values of life, faith and family during this election year. I am pledging to support candidates who uphold these bedrock values of:
•Life -- I will only vote for candidates who have committed to defend sanctity of life from conception to natural death.
•Family -- I will only vote for candidates who stand for one-man, one-woman marriage and oppose efforts to undermine the nuclear family.
•Faith -- I will only vote for candidates who support the public acknowledgement of God and affirm the religious liberties of all Americans. I also oppose any and all efforts by the media, organizations or candidates to diminish the role that Values Voters are playing in this year’s election. I authorize Focus on the Family Action to represent my Values Voter Pledge before the media, political candidates or other suitable forums as a demonstration of the strength and seriousness of Values Voters in this election cycle.

Now he says that he might endorse John McCain.

Conservative Christian leader James Dobson has softened his stance against Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, saying he could reverse his position and endorse the Arizona senator despite serious misgivings. "I never thought I would hear myself saying this," Dobson said in a pre-taped radio broadcast "...While I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might."

Now let's look at how McCain lines up with the Values Voter Pledge (that I assume Dr. Dobson pledged).

Life



Family


To me, voting for McCain or endorsing him is going back on this pledge. It is not like he has to endorse/vote for only McCain or Obama. There is always Chuck Baldwin or some other third party candidate. Is it right to go back on a pledge made before God? I think not.

Now I suppose that you could say, well McCain has been saying all of the right things here of late. He reminds me of Bill Clinton; he says whatever is most expedient for the crowd or at that time.

This whole election is making me rather disgusted.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

To an extent I share your analysis of the apparent inconsistency Dr. James Dobson has expressed past and present toward John McCain and his candidacy. Dr. Dobson first declared he would never vote for McCain. (Of course it was understood that he was even more opposed to Obama.)

Still, I do not want to be overly critical of Dr. Dobson. I have maintained great respect for his values and leadership through the years. He has undergone much external and internal pressure from many sides as this entire election cycle has unfolded. Balancing principle and pragmatism
is often a difficult task.

I do not normally hear Dr. Dobson's radio program. But yesterday when he and Albert Mohler of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary were discussing the upcoming presidential election it happened that I heard the entire interview of the special Focus on the Family Action program on my car radio as I was driving home from another town.

Recently some news sources have revealed that many of the conservative evangelical leaders are getting behind McCain in an attempt to block Obama.

As for myself, I do not see my way clear to vote for McCain. Like you,
of all of the accessible presidential candidates I prefer Chuck Baldwin and the Constitution Party above all others. But I am not really comfortable with Baldwin either as I think he veers too much in the direction of libertarianism and tends to confuse the Constitution party with the Libertarian party. This could be the first time in my many years of voting that I reluctantly skip the presidential slot and concentrate on the lesser offices.

Frances Clements said...

Raymond,

Thanks for your comment. I agree that I don't want to be to hard on Dr. Dobson. He was a pioneer in encouraging parents to train their children. His books have helped me a lot.

I do think that principle should not be compromised for pragmatism.

I don't agree with everything that Chuck Baldwin says, but I don't think that any of his beliefs are immoral.

Wsmith said...

Great post, I am sure it is making some people twinge in the seats. Looks like we will face a difficult decision this winter.

Frances Clements said...

Thanks, ATWC.

I agree. We are in for a hard November (and following).

Anonymous said...

I've posted a link to your post and the youtube video to ...
McCain vs Obama on stem cell research

Frances Clements said...

Thanks for the link, Wayne.