March 31, 2007

Skirmish at HotAir over James Dobson and Heathen Thompson (UPDATED, BUMPED)

Over at HotAir, Allah and Bryan are engaged in a vigorous debate over James Dobson's remarks on Fred Thompson's religious beliefs.

Bryan says:

I for one am fed up with bloggers jumping to the attack on Christians and Christian leaders. The MSM gets very few things right, and treats very few subjects fairly. Christian groups and leaders are perennial MSM targets, usually getting either an anthropological treatment a la the NYT or getting treatment that is outright dishonest and hostile. Treat every MSM report on both with the same skepticism that you treat MSM reports on war and politics, and expect that there is another side to the story that the MSM is leaving out. That’s almost always the case.

Dobson’s entitled to complain about the headline but he has only his own spokesmen to blame for the rest. If what he meant was “I honestly don’t know what religion Thompson belongs to,” his spokesman could have and should have said that. He didn’t. ... His spokesman makes it sound like Dobson meant, “I suspect he’s a Christian but he’s not nearly vocal enough about it to please evangelicals,” which of course is a veiled political threat given Dobson’s own political influence. It would be like the head of the AFL-CIO saying that Hillary’s record on labor might make it hard for union members to support her — while quickly adding that of course he’s not endorsing or non-endorsing her in saying that, just “reading the tea leaves.” Nonsense.

Personally, I think Dobson comes across as a bully, but that perspective is undoubtedly colored by my experience in my own state, where evangelical Republicans have a long-standing and well-deserved reputation as bullies. Maybe if I was more concerned with my neighbor's sexual proclivities, I'd see Dobson as an "unwavering leader and clever strategist" rather than a "bully."

In any event, there appears to be at least a perception on the part of a lot of rank-and-file Republicans that Dobson has the power to torpedo, or at least seriously sandbag, a presidential candidate not to his liking. Further, there's a suspicion that Dobson's "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" may have more to do with the candidate's fealty to James Dobson than the candidate's personal submission to Jesus Christ, and these are just a few of the reasons why Dobson's comments have stirred up so much discussion in the conservative / Republican ranks.

UPDATE: Jawa commenter David Marcoe asks:

Why do the words [of an] idiotic individual become a millstone around the neck of an entire group? You realize that men like Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson have almost no practical influence with in American Evangelism.

From what I've seen, that's not completely off the mark, but James Dobson has at least cultivated the perception that he wields enormous influence over evangelical Christian Republicans. I think a whole lot of evangelical Christians (perhaps including Mr. Marcoe) are uncomfortable with the idea of an evangelical Christian leader as a political kingmaker. A lot of Christians, including evanglicals, are offended by the very idea of "Christian politics." It appears, however, that a lot of evangelical Christian Republicans are inspired by the idea, and those individuals seem to be drawn to folks like Falwell, Robertson and Dobson.

Back over at HotAir, commenter Bad Candy weighs in on the controversy:

This is exactly how I read it Allah, and his spokesman’s comment was to me was the proof. Either his spokesman screwed up royally as well as the media, and they both need a reprimand or fired for incompetence, or Dobson was demanding Ol’ Freddie kiss the Dobson’s ring. There’s no way he sends his spokesperson out there with a sloppy statement out there given the situation. The incompetence is on him, even if he was mischaracterized, he oughta know better with the media & blog watchdogs.

Having different factions in a party is great, provided that all are willing to compromise. However, when one of those factions, or at least someone who sets himself up as a spokesman for that faction says, “It’s my way, or the highway,” then he’s holding the party hostage. I have no problem with evangelicals at all, but sorry, they don’t get to set the litmus test, and those who will behave like little children, stamping their feet and refusing to vote aren’t mature enough to be allowed to vote in the first place.