Anyway, well articulated interview, Steve. I’m a huge Obama supporter but I get the willies whenever I hear any politician talk a lot about faith in politics. The reason we shy away from faith and politics in social discussions is because they are all about power. And then we get into huge power struggles in our discussions. I know I do sometimes. The reason we have this country is because we got away from religious tyranny. When we get our egos in check around politics and faith, then let’s talk. Until then, I guess we will have to let our egos flare and talk about these issues. Dr. Dobson claims to have the only interpretation of my beloved Bible, beloved for many of us. Last I checked, this is America and I have freedom of thought. While I don’t like mixing politics and faith, I do agree with Senator Obama’s statements about the Bible. Anyway, this is my view and opinion.I respectfully disagree with the good Dr. D.

==The reason we have this country is because we got away from religious tyranny.==
Not true.
The original reason the settlers came here was to get away from the Church of England, headed by the King, which required subjects to come to it for worship and access to God. Subjects could not worship, through the Word of God, on their own. As a matter of fact, the man who brought an English Language translation of the Word of God to people was burned at the stake.
So, the settlers came here to establish a place where they and their posterity could worship God freely and without interference from a “king-headed” Church. They didn not come here to get away from “religion,” ratgher to advance Christianity, as they said in The Mayflower Compact.
==Dr. Dobson claims to have the only interpretation of my beloved Bible, beloved for many of us.==
If he doesn’t, who does?
==..this is America and I have freedom of thought.==
Those who are born again are supposed to be of one Mind, on the same page and going in the same direction.
Yet, you are saying that you are allowed to go in your own direction.
The Devil is happy that there are so many variations, so many versions, so many translations and so many arguments. Makes for plenty of confusion, and NObama supports it. Some Christian.

==Those who are born again are supposed to be of one Mind, on the same page and going in the same direction.==
Are these people or lemmings?
Incredible, indeed!

Check this out if you think Dobson doesn’t know his own crap stinks:
http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/

Why is James Dobson’s cherry picking & interpretation of the Bible better that Obama’s?

====Those who are born again are supposed to be of one Mind, on the same page and going in the same direction.==
Are these people or lemmings?
Incredible, indeed!==
The Word of God explains it, that people are imperfect, wandering, without the Shepherd Who knows the universe and can protect them.
The “lemmings” charge is supposed to make them feel guilty for following Him, as though they are following an imperfect leader.
However, Romans 8:1. The accusations never land.

==Why is James Dobson’s cherry picking & interpretation of the Bible better that Obama’s?==
To those who know Scripture, Dobson relies on Scripture upon Scripture interpretation which is the proper way to read and understand and interpret the Word of God. All we have to do is go back to the Word of God to find that Dobson is correct and Obama is not.
The scoffer wants to make it seem as though this amounts to “cherry picking” so he can more easily dream up arguments discounting Scripture.

Dobson calling Obama a “fruitcake” is so much the pot calling the kettle beige (or pink). Dobson lost all sense of credibility years ago with his ‘beat your child’ mantra.
Just another hate-monger who’s time is long past. Thank God.

==Dobson calling Obama a “fruitcake” is so much the pot calling the kettle beige (or pink). Dobson lost all sense of credibility years ago with his ‘beat your child’ mantra.
Just another hate-monger who’s time is long past.==
For you, that is.

==Dobson calling Obama a “fruitcake” is so much the pot calling the kettle beige (or pink). Dobson lost all sense of credibility years ago with his ‘beat your child’ mantra.
Just another hate-monger who’s time is long past.==
Just for fun, make the SCRIPTURAL case for those statements.

==Why is James Dobson’s cherry picking & interpretation of the Bible better that Obama’s?==
Prove that Dobson is “cherry picking” the Word of God. Show us where he is scripturally wrong.

In other words, you would have to show that Dobson conradicts Scripture. Show us where, by making the scriptural case, presenting a line of scriptural thought.

Is there any reason why it matters what Dobson says? Even the Evangelicals think he’s nuts.

==Is there any reason why it matters what Dobson says?==
Not to you.

Messiah Obama’s correction of Jesus’ words:
“Goeth into all the world and teacheth men to liveth as they wish, urging each to pursue and findeth his own path to God. Letteth not any one of you maketh another to feel inferior, nor victiminized, because of their beliefs. Above all, I saith unto you, be tolerant, even of those who choose not to follow Me.
“Verily, verily, I saith unto you that what you believe and how you live do not matter, as long as you are pure of heart in your own judgment and might in your pursuits.
“I am a way to God, a truth and just one possible life, and, if you are a good person, you walk that way, that truth, that life, for that is all it takes, and, if you choose not to come to the Father through Me, rather through some other, simply being a good person will enter you into the Kingdom of Heaven regardless of the way you choose.
“Now, goeth forth into all the world to liveth according to the strength and ways of your own dreams, wishes and vision.”
In other words, “…the serpent…said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” and, “Ye shall not surely die…”
However, “the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
See??? The Devil didn’t quite quote Scripture, making what he said to Eve SOUND like Scripture, enough similarity to trick the stupid Eve.
The Devil made it SOUND as though eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil will lead to life. However, God said it would lead to death…
(Deu 30:19) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live…
It’s time to CHOOSE.

Obama made a succint point – you are going to have a tough time convincing some others to your point of view simply by saying “God said it”. Maybe God DID say it, but for alot of people, they want more than your say-so. In govt, you have to make a broader case than than something like “revealed truth”. That is all Obama was saying.
To describe it as “a fruitcake interpretation of the constitution”, and take offense at it, are the comments of a man who did not hear what Obama said.
I think the above poster is right – Dobson is losing it.

==…you are going to have a tough time convincing some others to your point of view simply by saying “God said it”.==
Oh, well. It doesn’t impact my Salvation, only theirs.
==Maybe God DID say it, but for alot of people, they want more than your say-so.==
It’s not MY say-so. We report. They decide.

Do you think that James Dobson eats shellfish/pork or wears mixed fabric clothing?
Do you think James Dobson has ever told George Bush that it’s easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven?

Since the beginning of Christianity, people have used literal biblical text and interpretation to justify their causes.

==Since the beginning of Christianity, people have used literal biblical text and interpretation to justify their causes.==
So what? Those who reject God and His counsel also use their rejection of Him as enablements and empowerments to do the most heinous things. More have been killed by the godless than by anyone else.

==Do you think that James Dobson eats shellfish/pork or wears mixed fabric clothing?==
Irrelevant. Those who are born again are not under the Law, rather under Grace.
In fact, Jesus rejected eating as a defilement, saying that what comes OUT of the mouth is what defiles a person. After all, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
The wearing of certain fabrics, under Grace, is also not significant, since showing off one’s “religiosity” is a defilement.
You really ought to read the Word of God, not like it’s a newspaper, so you don’t look so foolish.
==Do you think James Dobson has ever told George Bush that it’s easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven?==
Irrelevant, though it’s true that it is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a man rish in worldly goods, proud of it, to go to Heaven.
As a born again person, George Bush understands that the Lord, not worldly riches, is first in his life.

==Since the beginning of Christianity, people have used literal biblical text and interpretation to justify their causes.==
What do you use to justify the things YOU do?

Ever read “The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible” by A. J. Jacobs?
Now that was a man who lived the Bible literally

So let me get this “straight”
It’s okay to use Old Testament text to judge someone else’s behavior, but when it comes to your own you can stick with the New?
BTW, I try to live my life by the two greatest commandment:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

One of my biggest issues is with people who will use Old Testament text to judge someone else’s behavior, but reuse to apply it to themselves; people who ignore some of the very teachings of Jesus by using Jewish law to judge those who commit sins of faith while ignoring their own pecadillos.

What do you mean lived the Bible “literally”? An example.

==One of my biggest issues is with people who will use Old Testament text to judge someone else’s behavior…==
For those who are not under Grace, the Law applies, and there’s nothing wrong with putting the Law up to somebody so he can see his condition before God. It’s what we who are born again are supposed to do.
==…but reuse to apply it to themselves…==
Except that those who are born again are not under Law, rather under Grace, and we have changed our want-to’s.
==…people who ignore some of the very teachings of Jesus by using Jewish law to judge those who commit sins of faith…==
The Law applies to those who are not born again.
==… while ignoring their own pecadillos.==
Not true.
Those who are born again understand that Man cannot adhere to the Law perfectly, that Man needs the Grace of God, through Christ, to survive eternity.
Those who are not born again think that the Law will save them, that 70% is passing, that those under Grace have to be perfect, too. Again, not true.
All we are trying to do is show people who are not born again their condition before God — the Law as a mirror — and what it will take to improve that condition for Salvation. However, the darkness does not comprehend the Light.

==So let me get this “straight”
It’s okay to use Old Testament text to judge someone else’s behavior…==
If they are not born again, they are under the Law. Their conduct is compared to the Law so that they can see their condition before God.
==…but when it comes to your own you can stick with the New?==
That’s the way it works, essentially.
==…I try to live my life by the two greatest commandment:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’==
And, when Jesus tells those who are born again to judge Righteously — that is, according to the Word of God, not self-righteousness — what are those who are born again to do?
Where He says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” what does “love” mean, biblically, not according to the world. Does it mean that, if somebody defies God, I keep quiet? Does it mean that I don’t warn that person with the Word of God? Do I keep the Word of God to myself?

Jacobs didn’t just keep the Bible’s better-known moral laws (being honest, tithing to charity and trying to curb his lust), but also the obscure and unfathomable ones: not mixing wool with linen in his clothing; calling the days of the week by their ordinal numbers to avoid voicing the names of pagan gods; trying his hand at a 10-string harp; growing a ZZ Top beard; eating crickets; and paying the babysitter in cash at the end of each work day. (He considered some rules, such as killing magicians, too legally questionable to uphold.)

“The Year of Living Biblically is about my quest to live the ultimate biblical life. To follow every single rule in the Bible – as literally as possible. I obey the famous ones:
-The Ten Commandments
-Love thy neighbor
-Be fruitful and multiply
-But also, the hundreds of oft-ignored ones.
-Do not wear clothes of mixed fibers.
-Do not shave your beard
-Stone adulterers”

And, so, he rejects Jesus’ sacrifice and prefers to try to obtain Salvation by following every dot and t in the Law. Well, how’d he do? Not very well, I’ll bet.
The New testament creature is not about adhering to the Law, rather in understanding that he cannot perfectly adhere to the Law, and that he needs Grace to survive. Under the Law, you must be perfect. It’s pass-fail. No passing grade. No grading on a curve.
So, that guy was as the Pharisees who thought that the Law would save them. They thought, as Muslims do, that performance is the key to Salvation. It is not, of course.

==…trying to curb his lust…==
Under the Law, there’s no such thing as “trying” to follow it. There is no grading curve. No “70% is passing” stuff. It’s pass-fail. You have to be perfect. ‘Cept you cannot, but you must.
Those who are born again don’t have-ta be perfect. They just have to be under Grace, realizing that they cannot perfectly serve the Law.
God will not treat the disobedient as He does the obedient.
So, trying to follow the Law, how did he do?

==I obey the famous ones:
-The Ten Commandments
-Love thy neighbor
-Be fruitful and multiply
-But also, the hundreds of oft-ignored ones.
-Do not wear clothes of mixed fibers.
-Do not shave your beard
-Stone adulterers”==
No, you don’t.
(Jas 2:10) For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
(Jas 2:11) For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Not only that, but, for example, if you make a rule for yourself that you will not yell at your spouse, and, then, you raise your voice to him/her, VIOLATION. God holds you accountable for that.
In other words, God says that, if you’re gonna choose the Law for Salvation, then, you must follow it to the t and to the dot.

Jesus himself said, “By their fruits you will know them” in warning us about false prophets to come. I very rarely make a negative remarks on a sitting President (regardless of whether I approve of him or not.)But Dobson has pimped the Gospel and its Churches. Take a look at the fruit of the labors of Focus on the Family. Did he name it that so that Satan would have no doubts as to what the target would be? His brand of Psychology is directly responsible for the divorce rate inside of Churches in almost ever denomination escalating almost even with the divorce rate secularly. Jesus warned his followers to be a wise as snakes and as harmless as doves. But very few of them are/were. Dobson either really is anti-abortion, or knew it was the perfect stand to take to fool most Christians. Lenin
was antiabortion. Lots of atheists have and are antiabortion. Being antiabortion does not a man of God make. In every way, huge portions of people who call themselves Christians, in the USA, and elsewhere have followed Dobson as if he is a true prophet. Most of them people who believe there is not such thing as prophets anymore since the New Covenant Scriputures were compiled. And the Pentecostals who did so should truly be ashamed of themselves. Dobson never did pass the criteria. While he was viewing pornography for Congress no one was defending a wifes right not to be forced to testify against her husband (in order for her or her children to receive relief from abuse.) While Dobson was keeping us all from going to the defense for the chosen faiths of so many wives in traditional marriages by doing in effective attacks on Pro-Life issues “marriage” has been destroyed in the USA. While he and his favorite political parties and cronies say they are all have faith in our judicial system they never once tried to make due process of law be the way to deal with domestic abuse/sexual assaults in families. Nope, we just force, coerce, and extort the women involved into divorcing the bums. Too bad if the bums are not guilty. Too bad if the wives do not believe in traditional lifestyles, they can just be retrained. Too bad if it causes the children stress beyond humanly possible. The fruits of this man’s labors are the demise of traditonal Christianity and its Churches. Pastors just mindlessly handed their flocks over, one and two and three at a time to Psychologists. Because of some lies that their practices work. If they worked so well, why don’t the numbers show it? In fact, the numbers (the fruit) says exactly the opposite.
Mr. Incredible, the perfect “Word of God” is Jesus. See John, Chapter 1. No Bible ever bled for you, or me, or anyone else.