James Dobson Accuses Barack Obama of Distorting the Bible, Pushing ‘Fruitcake Interpretation’ of Constitution

And we are off the nastiest leg of the run-up to the presidential elections. The latest dust-up comes courtesy of the evangelicals. I wondered when they would get in the dogfight for the White House. It seems as Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, James Dobson has accused him of distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution. The criticism, to be aired Tuesday on Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program, comes shortly after an Obama aide suggested a meeting at the organization’s headquarters here, said Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family.

Here are some excerpts for the speech that has struck a nerve in James Dobson–“Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?” Obama said. “Would we go with James Dobson’s or Al Sharpton’s?” referring to the civil rights leader.

Dobson took aim at questions asked concerning which Biblical passages should guide public policy – chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, “a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application.” “Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles,” Obama said.

Dobson and Minnery accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament. “I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said. “… He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.” Wait a minute? What has the Catholic priests been doing to innocent kids for eons? Weren’t they dragging the Bible through the mud? What have pastors such as the disgraced Ted Haggard been doing for years when he lived a dirty lie?

Dobson reserved some of his harshest criticism for Obama’s argument that the religiously motivated must frame debates over issues like abortion not just in their own religion’s terms but in arguments accessible to all people. He said Obama, who supports abortion rights, is trying to govern by the “lowest common denominator of morality,” labeling it “a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution.” “Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?” Dobson said. “What he’s trying to say here is unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe.”

Isn’t Dobson the same person who said that he could not vote in good conscience for McCain because of concerns over his credentials? I rest my case. This man is just itching for a fight with either candidate. I wish he would take a look around the religious community. I am pretty sure that he will find many pressing issues to address right away. I suppose President Bush has exceeded the expectations of James Dobson for all the unhanded and secretive things his administration has engaged in. For my African American brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged by the attacks on Barack Obama. He’ll either sink or swim and we will see his true mettle. We have the ultimate weapon to overcome the detractors and the naysayers–our votes. People get ready for a bumpy ride to Election Day in November mindful of what the Bible says, “this too shall pass.” Just my thoughts, you be the judge…..

Filed under: Barack Obama, Dr. James Dobson, John McCain, President George Bush