A Prayer for the Redemption of James Dobson

Mr. Dobson is in need of redemption. Mr. Dobson is a influential spiritual leader... and it goes without saying, a sinner.

Mr. Dobson, if you are unaware, has quite a following in the conservative religious community. But he is a very polarizing figure, because of the staunch anti-gay stand his "Focus on the family" organization takes.

At first, it sounds benign, "Focus on the Family". But the anti-gay message and the support for Proposition 8 has a malignant message: gays aren't family. Gays can't form families. Gays aren't worthy of love and acceptance. Their sin is unacceptable.

His anti-gay message provokes moral outrage. Words like "perverse", "disgusting" and "abomination" abound, and judgments are made. Are gays sinners? Of course, it says in the Bible that all have sinned and gone astray.

Are Christians sinners? Yes. No one can live a sin free life. But Mr. Dobson would have you believe he is less of a sinner than the homosexual.

But I disagree. I think Mr. Dobson is more of a sinner and a source of more evil influence than any one single gay person.

So according to the Bible, I have a bit of a responsibility to gently advise him of the error of ways, so that he might be given the chance to repent and ask for redemption.

As much as I want to rant with moral outrage at the evil he does and the evil he encourages and the evil he empowers with his anti-gay message, I shouldn't. We shouldn't.

We should pray for grace for him because we think he may be an unreformed sinner. His sin? He appears not to obey the "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

His further sin? He leads others into the temptation to judge. And this judgment is very polarizing.

The wages of the sin? Mr. Dobson's provocation of "moral outrage" attracts a lot of supporters, but it also alienates a lot of people. It turns people away from Christ and His message of grace.

Mr. Dobson's message of judgment obscures and perverts the core message of Christ and grace, and thus Christianity is dis-graced. People are turned away from Christ due to Dr. Dobson's anti-gay messages.

So Mr. Dobson, I pray for you, and ask for grace and for your redemption. Even though it is not really my place to judge, a man who polarizes millions and possibly turns millions away from Christ, is probably a much bigger sinner than a couple of lonely gays just looking for family and acceptance, love and grace in harsh, cold, judgmental, hateful homophobic world.

Gays need grace from us. And they get more grace in the secular world than in the Christian world. And the ugliness of that fact gives Christianity a bad name with a large chunk of America. And Mr. Dobson, you had a large hand in it.

So I have confronted you, Mr. Dobson. May God speak to your soul and convict you of your sin that you may repent and welcome gays into our family.

To share the dream?

I turned on the iPod today. It was on shuffle. Stevie Wonder was up next. It was a song from his wonderful Innervisions album.

I have listened to this album bunches of times and never really listened to the words, but today they struck me... his lyrics follow:

• People hand in hand
• Have I lived to see the milk and honey land?
• Where hate's a dream and love forever stands...
• Or is this a vision in my mind?
• ---
  
• The law was never passed
• But somehow all men feel they're truly free at last
• Have we really gone this far in space and time?
• Or is this a vision in my mind?
• ---
  
• I'm not one who make believes
• I know that leaves are green
• They only turn to brown
  
• when autumn comes around
• i know just what i say
• today's not yesterday
• and all things have an ending...
• ---
  
• But what I'd like to know
• is could a place like this
• exist so beautiful?
• Do we have to find our wings
• to fly away to the visions in our minds?
  

I have a vision. I have to share it, but I need help. The Bible says we need but the faith of a mustard seed in order to move mountains, and it is true.

If we can all share our little bits of faith, we can move mountains. We could carve up the mountains and rivers and move mud around, and grow a lush garden paradise of an Earth. Free of hunger, free of hurricanes, free of war, with freedom of religion and freedom for all.

A preacher once told me that a mustard seed is incredibly tiny. I've never really seen one, but I'll take it on faith.

If...

• If we can just combine our little bits of faith...
  
• If our mustard seeds can become "mustered seeds"...
• If we can all come together for the good of mankind...

Then...

• We can grow God's lush "hurricane free" Garden Paradise.
• We can have a world of peace and prosperity
• With freedom for all

We need help to share the dream. Will you help share the dream?