Christianity’s fruitcake

It takes a special kind of person to lead an extremist christianist group. To boldy champion things that the vast majority of people oppose—and to attack people for having the temerity to disagree with you—takes a special kind of arrogance that most normal people simply cannot achieve, no matter how hard they might try.

James Dobson is one such arrogant champion. Leader of the far, far right christianst group Focus on Hate, er, the Family, Dobson is renowned for his extremist views—including of his own importance.

When John McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee, Dobson famously huffed and puffed and declared that he couldn’t vote for McCain because of McCain's support for embryonic stem cell research and opposition to an amendment to the US Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. Apparently, Dobson was also fretting about McCain’s temper and use of naughty words.

Well now—surprise!—Dobson has decided that he “may” endorse McCain after all. He said, "Barack Obama contradicts and threatens everything I believe about the institution of the family and what is best for the nation,” which gives me even more reason to support Obama.

Last month, Dobson condemned Obama for a speech he gave two years ago. Dobson said, "I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology." That confused me because it’s actually what Dobson himself has always done, so I wasn’t sure who he was talking about.

Dobson also accused Obama of having “a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution." Again, Dobson was describing his own views, in which the Constitution he wants has no room for the rights of women or gay people.

When Dobson made that attack to try and get attention for himself, shrill Republican “strategist” Bay Buchanan said on Fox Noise that Obama “should never have picked a fight with Dobson”—until the usually frothing Hannity reminded her that, in fact, Dobson started the fight. Not even extremist Republicans could get any traction out of Dobson’s weird tirade.

But Dobson has frequently used lies, smears and the rhetoric of hate to not only defame gay and lesbian Americans and deny their humanity, but also to deny their citizenship. So, it’s not surprising that he used a two-year-old speech to attack Obama, since it helped set-up his move to endorse McCain, something he’s sure to do soon.

Dobson is one of the people who brings all of Christianity into disrepute. Real Christians need to reclaim their faith from the radicals who have branded Christianity with the far right political agenda of people like Dobson. Failing to do that could mean that one day Dobson’s “fruitcake” vision for America could become reality.