DOBSON POINTS TO CULTURE WAR DEFEAT....

[ProSense]

April 12, 2009

DOBSON POINTS TO CULTURE WAR DEFEAT....

James Dobson delivered a farewell speech to the Focus on the Family staff, and conceded that the culture war he helped start hasn't turned out well for the agents of intolerance. Indeed, Dobson almost sounded resigned to defeat.

James Dobson, 72, who resigned recently as head of Focus on the Family -- one of the largest Christian groups in the country -- and once denounced the Harry Potter books as witchcraft, acknowledged the dramatic reverse for the religious Right in a farewell speech to staff.

"We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action," he said.

"We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles."

Now, in fairness, this report omitted some context. As my friend Kyle reported, Dobson actually emphasized his desire to keep the fight going, despite the religious right movement's setbacks: "Humanly speaking, we can say that we have lost all those battles, but God is in control and we are not going to give up now, right? ... I have been assured by the board and by many of you that we're not going to cow, we're not going to be discouraged."

That said, whether Dobson and his cohorts give up now or not, his assessment about their lack of success is nevertheless accurate. The culture war is all but over, and far-right evangelicals have precious little to show for their efforts. After about three decades of fighting, the culture warriors are hard pressed to point to any progress at all.

<...>

Dobson isn't giving up, and I suspect the religious right movement will keep pushing its misguided agenda. But humanly speaking, this crowd has not only lost all their battles, they should probably stop trying to win.

[ruggerson]

1. the expansion of human rights, historically, has always eventually won out over bigotry

it's been a long, rocky process, encompassing tens of thousands of years, but the history of mankind has been about slowly expanding human rights and dignities, not limiting them.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Time is on our side

and the Biblical underpinnings of their hate are shaky at best. When I was a kid in the 50s, it was scandalous and nearly unheard of to divorce or to marry someone from a different race (or church, for that matter). Now this is a matter of course, and few if any people yap about it. My prediction will be that more and more states will recognize gay marriage and as they do people will realize there is no big deal about two people of the same sex marrying.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Every year more old homophobes die off.

The younger generation is much cooler and much more "live and let live."

Hopefully Dobson won't be around much longer, either.

[drm604]

3. There will always be people fighting this war.

The best we can hope for is that they become a very small marginalized weak minority.

The danger is when there are still a relatively large number of them growing more and more desperate. Hopefully we're near the end of that period.

[Arugula Latte]

4. Well, if "God" is in control, looks like "God" is on the heathen lib'ruls side, Jim Dob!

HA HA HA HA HA!

Suck on it, Loser! (Or, I should say, "Looser"!)

[Arkana]

6. As the voting population gets younger and the baby boomers die off,

the "culture war" Dobson and his lackeys have fought for the past thirty years to treat gays as subhumans will slowly drag to a close--and we'll win it.

It was never going to be shock-and-awe...it was a siege, a war of attrition as we slowly ground these attitudes out of people and exposed the Dobson people for the loons they really are.

[harry_pothead]

7. I'll drink to our victory

Well one of them, we still have a way to go - especially for our gay Americans.

[uponit7771]

8. Dobson mentions the internets because it's easier to call him on his bullshit