Thanks, Focus on the Family, for using my government to save me from myself.
Really, now, someone please explain to me the difference between this organization, and, say, a group called ZAP telling Los Angelians they can't use leaf blowers.
[Update]
Let me expand some on my irritation with Focus on the Family. I guess I'm not really sure what they are trying to do. They seem very unconcerned with the "conditions of men's souls" and more concerned with how we all behave--that is, they appear more interested in the appearance. To that end, I'd like to know how they can legitimately consider themselves a Christian organization. In my mind, the values they expound are perfectly lived by Mormons--Mormons are family and community centric, and live very "pure" lives free of alcohol, drugs, gambling, tobacco, and R-rated movies. (I can't find it now, but I know I read an article once about a guy making a killing in Utah selling home-made versions of mainstream DVDs with the "naughty bits" edited out.) And, the Mormons are also very effective at using the legislature to enforce their morality--forget their backing of Prop 8 in California; until a few years ago, it was illegal for a waitress in Salt Lake City to ask you if you wanted a drink with your dinner because that was considered promoting alcohol consumption. So clearly these people should be charter members of Focus on the Family.
Unfortunately, the majority of Christians do not consider Mormons to be part of their faith. I'll leave that debate to the theologians, but I am pretty sure a fundamentalist view, like the one of James Dobson, would not include Mormons on the list of "saved." So what is he really getting at? Does he really believe that if he can rescue all those apparently pathological gamblers-in-waiting from unleashing their dormant addiction by ensuring internet poker never becomes a US-regulated industry, that they will then use that extra time to suddenly accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? It shouldn't need proving how ridiculous that thought is, but if he needs proof, I'd think the Mormons would provide it.
If he wants to run a lobbying organization to promote a particular lifestyle that is based on some nostalgic view of a Protestant nuclear family, fine. But what makes my head explode is that he considers this synonymous with Christianity and a faith in Christ. See my post below on my own views of Jesus. But tell me that that view is somehow "less Godly" than James Dobson believing he can legislate Christ into the fabric of our society by lobbying for his own biases.
By the bye, a long time ago I read part of his book The Strong Willed Child. I realize it's since been revised, but it struck me then as an incredibly primitive piece of schlock dressed up as a sophisticated parenting technique. I will make this clear: while I guess some people believe that spanking is a successful technique for disciplining their children (when done as a deliberate consequence stated up-front, rather than in anger and as a surprise), I think that hitting is never acceptable. If you hit your kids, even in "love," don't be surprised if they hit other kids, and don't be surprised if they grow up with latent anger issues that could lead to violence.
Given my view of his book, I wonder how Focus on the Family would feel if I was rich and powerful enough to have a lobbying organization that sought to regulate the distribution of a book I think causes increased incidents of domestic violence?
Friday, May 15, 2009
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Yeah - I put a lot of the goals of the "Religious Right," especially when it comes to bringing government regulations into line with "Biblical values" into the category of NOT HELPING YOUR OWN CAUSE.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong, but Jesus pretty much taught that we should let Government out of our ministry focus. He didn't come to convert the Roman Government. I don't think it's our job either.
No, Jesus didn't come to convert the Roman government, it's true. Although, it's a pretty safe bet that today we're Christians because later, someone did. Maybe those are the people Dobson et al draw their inspiration from. I dunno, perhaps in some ways that makes them more "true Christians" than those inspired by the words of Christ, since I generally wonder how successful a movement the Christian church would have been without the co-opting of the Roman government's penchant for centralized organization and their far spread in the Western world.
ReplyDeleteThe America I believe in though isn't really like the Roman government with its top-down structure and penchant for imbalanced democracy (I seem to recall they were effective at using street mobs in later years to influence Senate votes).
This is of course the America we're living in, but the one I think was once envisioned by our founders was most decidedly not like this. This is why I cringe when people (like Dobson) insist this was a "Christian Nation" once, that has since turned "pagan." If "Christian Nation" means centralized, top-down, authoritarian, and patriarchal decision making based on rationalized group biases, I suppose we're more of a Christian Nation now more than ever.
Hey, I just realized I answered my own question: I asked in my post, how could Focus on the Family consider itself a Christian organization, given they seem more concerned with the appearance of morality than whether people are actually "seeking Christ?" Then in my comment, I said that maybe Christianity is really more about institutionalized biases, than following the teachings of Christ. So, that's how I guess Focus on the Family can be a Christian organization.
ReplyDeleteI guess the real question for me, then, is how can I be an individualist, ascribe to a faith that I believe at its heart is very individualistic, but owes so much of its existence to a collectivist structure?
Deep thoughts to ponder...
yup... again, I shall direct you to the folks at http://www.thegodjourney.com/podcast.html.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this week's topic might even add to your own answers.
Surely, one of the greatest failings of the Christian RELIGION has been replacing Faith & Relationships with more Religious Law; to the point that it is hard to distinguish differences between the bureaucracy of government and the "structure" of Religion.
Interesting, as I think of it, Jesus didn't push to change Government of even the established Religious order of the day. When He began to preach and explain that Faith and Relationship are far more important than following every jot and tittle of Religious Law, that's when the High Priests put the smack-down on Him...
James Dobson does sometimes (as Jerry Falwell often did) make me embarrassed to be a Christian. I often hear what he says and think, "Really? Is that what you're choosing to fight over?" There are many things that the organization says that I think are valuable, but very little that I think is necessarily Christian.
ReplyDeleteIt really, really bothers me that Focus on the Family has such a strong emphasis on bashing public schools. There are so many ways that Christians could help our communities (and our own children) by helping public schools, but instead he implicitly argues that homeschooling is the only "Christian" choice and goes out of his way to criticize education in America. Yes, there are many problems with the educational system we have right now. But we're not going to create a godlier, more just nation (which he seems to want) if Christian children don't ever interact with non-Christian children, and if a large group of citizens who should care about justice choose not to participate.
there, that's my rant.