An interesting historical perspective

[neilepi]

In an idle moment I was doing some digging around to see if I could find a slant on why James Dobson had backed out of joining the team to counsel ex-pastor Haggard. My suspicion is that he probably sees it as a no-win situation and possibly feels such a deep sense of disgust and contempt that he wants nothing to do with it but I will confess that I came up with no evidence whatever to support this very personal view. What I did find and which, in light of the last 5 1/2 years and this week's elections, I found fascinating was an article written by Dobson in February of 2001. In a cynical way one could even wonder if a conclusion which some might draw is that the Bush administration has been God's punishment for Clinton's misdeeds - perhaps the ultimate "it was all Clinton's fault". Anyway, draw your own conclusions, I will only post a short excerpt here:

"Let me close by asking what you think the "moving hand" might write on the wall of the White House. But before you answer, let me personalize the question by asking another. What would the great hand of God write on the walls of your house and mine? Would it say, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting"? I pray not. But it might. The truth is that we are responsible for the tragedy of the Clinton presidency. Many in the church remained silent when he vetoed the ban on partial-birth abortion. We looked the other way when he courted and granted enormous political power to homosexuals who sought to destroy the traditional family. We hardly uttered a peep of protest when he vetoed the marriage penalty tax, which discriminates against husbands and wives living in committed, legal relationships. More indicting is the fact that millions of Christians didn’t even bother to vote in 1992 or 1996 when Clinton was given power.60 People living in a democracy get the government they deserve, and we share the blame for the disaster of the past eight years. And here we go again. Only 31 percent of Arizonians voted in the most recent election; only 39 percent went to the polls in California; only 40 percent voted in Hawaii;61 and so it went. We cannot merely point a detached finger of accusation at the immoral behavior of our president when we stood by and let it happen!

Not only must we hold our elected officials accountable, but we must examine our own behavior in the light of Scripture. You and I are held to the same standard of righteousness that governs the behavior of our national leaders. Let’s live our lives daily so as to hear those words of commendation when we stand before our Maker: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Matthew 25:21, KJV).

I urge you to pray for our former president. God’s grace is extended to everyone who seeks forgiveness and restoration, including those who have been in rebellion against Him. That is the unfathomable love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who said, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37, KJV).

Let’s also intercede on behalf of our new president, George W. Bush, and hold him and future leaders to a higher level of accountability than we did these past eight years. We are all flawed individuals and need to help one another to do what is right."

James Dobson Feb. 2001


The whole article


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