James Dobson, influential founder of conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, has died

[drumdude]

I suppose I should quote DCP here in case he tries to edit it away:

Very occasionally, the good folks over at the Peterson Obsession Board attack people other than Y’r Humble Servant. For instance, although he doesn’t receive even five percent of the gentle ministrations that I do, my friend Louis Midgley is sometimes an object of their attention, which is always given with the same kindness and charity that they show to me. Once in a while, though, they even look beyond the Latter-day Saint community for people on whom to bestow their blessings.

A recent example is illustrative: Dr. James Dobson, for many years a very prominent Evangelical writer, lecturer, and radio personality who focused on issues relating to families and parenting, passed away yesterday, 21 August 2025, at the age of 89. Years ago, I listened to portions of his radio program a few times. I never really followed him much, and I hadn’t heard him or his name for a long time, but what I had heard from him seemed to me both reasonable and congenial. It was certainly always expressed in kind and calm terms.

think it instructive to compare the tenor of that article with the announcement of James Dobson’s death — made by one of my own chief critics there, the pseudonymous poster who styles himself something like Dumb-Dud — over at the Obsession Board. Even though he wasn’t a Latter-day Saint, Dumb-Dud writes, Dr. Dobson was a principal figure

in creating and fueling the awful culture wars that Mormonism has embraced along with much of Evangelical Christianity.

Progress is made through the death of monsters like this. I am hopeful that the LDS church may one day cut its ties with the disgusting bigotry that men like him and his organization promoted.

Good riddance. And if there is a hell, hopefully Dobson is enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Dumb-Dud apparently disapproves of strife and of anything that savors, even remotely, of moral judgmentalism[sic].

He titles the blog entry “I can imagine worse deaths.”

I agree with Dr. Peterson, I can imagine the death of Hitler, for example, was even worse. So apparently in DCP’s mind, that somehow minimizes the damage that Dobson has done since it is lower in comparison.

That’s the hard hitting and very insightful take you get only from an emeritus BYU professor.

My youth was filled with LDS parents who took Dobson's advice on hitting their kids. Specifically when it came to attending church. It wasn't spanking either, it was closed fist contact.

You can draw a direct line between Dobson and heaps of violence laid on children. My wife got an overwhelming sense of relief at the news.

I'm usually a little more nuanced than this, but earnestly “F” Dobson and the horse he rode in on. If there were a hell, there would be a special place just for him.

I watched first-hand as a family member raised his two kids using Dobson’s focus on the family methods. It’s difficult to get someone like DCP to understand what it looks like. Mormonism has a version of it, of course. But this really applies to children raised in the 80s and 90s at the height of evangelical Christian moralizing.

Both of those children completely lost their faith in God and became (in my opinion) rabid left wing zealots. They were stripped of the opportunity to become moderates because their childhood was so focused on this disgusting Christian culture war.

Reddit the last few days has been replete with the stories of children who were raised in this hellish Christian environment that Dobson and others were responsible for creating and fostering.

[I Have Questions]

Perhaps Peterson agrees that Dads should shower with sons so that they can check out his junk in order to reinforce that they are male. He hasn’t clarified other than to praise Dobson, so I guess his silence should be taken as tacit agreement.

[GiordanoBruno]

Dobson:

"Our country really does seem in complete disarray. I'm not talking politically, I'm not talking about the result of the November sixth election; I am saying that something has gone wrong in America and that we have turned our back on God.

I mean millions of people have decided that God doesn't exist, or he's irrelevant to me and we have killed fifty-four million babies and the institution of marriage is right on the verge of a complete redefinition."

Three observations:

1. He's right about the disarray in this country, especially after a series of November elections in which his Evangelical electorate--and their LDS fellow travelers--played decisive roles.
2. Nobody could know when the soul (if there is a soul) enters the body, not the First Presidency in 1909 or since, neither can Dobson. We neither attach a name to or record the birth of stillborn children. So declaring that millions of babies are victims of deliberate killing is an uninformed provocation unconnected to what can be known. Remember that the head of the Southern Baptist Convention (W.A. Criswell) was in my lifetime once pro-choice, so fluid has the whole discussion necessarily been.
3. Once again, if the institution of marriage is in trouble, it is heterosexuals who've done the damage since Dobson entered public Life. Leave our beloved gay brothers, sisters and friends out of it if you please, Dr. Dobson.

I'm with Dum-Dud on this, not the portly guide to Book of Mormon lands.

[I Have Questions]

Peterson has started to walk back from his glowing endorsements of James Dobson…

I never read any of Dr. Dobson’s books. I doubt that I’ve ever read more than a few paragraphs that he wrote. Over several years altogether, I heard perhaps thirty minutes of his radio programs. I didn’t follow him.

And

Since Dr. Dobson’s death, though, I’ve run across some quoted advice from him that seems, well, genuinely strange and, in some cases, much more approving of corporal punishment than I’ve ever been. Are such specimens cherry-picked? Are they representative? I don’t know. As I say, I didn’t follow him.

[Rivendale]

Peterson has started to walk back from his glowing endorsements of James Dobson…

I never read any of Dr. Dobson’s books. I doubt that I’ve ever read more than a few paragraphs that he wrote. Over several years altogether, I heard perhaps thirty minutes of his radio programs. I didn’t follow him.

And

Since Dr. Dobson’s death, though, I’ve run across some quoted advice from him that seems, well, genuinely strange and, in some cases, much more approving of corporal punishment than I’ve ever been. Are such specimens cherry-picked? Are they representative? I don’t know. As I say, I didn’t follow him.

Again and again it has been shown that research is not the answer. How could you not be familiar with Dobson and his dominance on am radio in the 70s and 80s? Tom's summary of what Dobson advocated for is a few clicks away seems prudent before you post a blog that ridicules an accurate description by dum dud.

[drumdude]

I can imagine DCP’s gleeful rush to criticize me as an unhinged atheist who must be attacking a poor undeserving man of faith who only wanted to make families stronger.

As with many things, DCP has no issues speaking on topics of which he is completely ignorant with a smug air of authority and condescension.

I hope this helps DCP reflect on the damage that the culture wars his generation of Christian believers has inflicted on society hath wrought. He perhaps should read some of the accounts of people my age who have had to grow up under the loving care of Christian boomer parents.

Some of the myriad accounts are available here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/c ... r_and_key/

[Tom]

“[L]isten[ing] to portions of his radio program a few times” “[y]ears ago” is no substitute for becoming at least somewhat familiar with Dr. Dobson’s books, views, and activism, as well as the many testimonies of witnesses who have described how Dr. Dobson’s views and teachings harmed them.

[Jersey Girl]

If I had a really good arm I could just about throw a rock and hit Focus from here. This place is fundie ground zero. The Focus campus looks very nice from what I can see when I drive past it. It's got a popular children's space where parents (not necessarily believers) take their kids for a day out. I should actually go in there some time and check it out for myself.

As for Dr. Dobson. My growing up church used to have movie nights where his parenting videos were used. I didn't think anything about what Ma described (one story from a film was so cute and funny) but as an early childhood professional for just shy of 3 decades and given what I know about his parenting views, all I can say is that I think they are the polar opposite of how I see parenting.

A good parent serves as loving guide and mentor that helps a child learn to navigate this world from infancy. A good parent doesn't physically assault their child. Guiding is the whole point, not scaring, intimidating, and hurting a child into submission.

If you are a Christian believer all you need to do is ask yourself if Jesus ever physically beat the hell out of anyone he encountered in his ministry. If your answer is "no" then you know your New Testament scripture and Jesus.

in my opinion people who follow Dobson's advice are insecure, don't know what their job is about or anything much about how their own child works. "These kids don't come with owners manuals!" Oh yes they do. It's called taking a course in child development and child guidance techniques and they'd cost less than the phone parents are using.

See how I didn't swear even once? If you are reading this you have no idea how much I am holding back composing this post.

p.s. Corporal punishment wasn't a regular feature of my own childhood. I don't recall ever being spanked as a child. My father got ready to spank me once. I got so scared I peed all over him. When I was a mouthy preteen I once told my (then single parent) mother "I hate you!" and she slapped me across the face. Other than those two times I don't recall being struck as a child though the words "Do I need to take my belt off?" came out of my father's mouth on occasion.

[I Have Questions]

Peterson has started to walk back from his glowing endorsements of James Dobson…And

Again and again it has been shown that research is not the answer. How could you not be familiar with Dobson and his dominance on am radio in the 70s and 80s? Tom's summary of what Dobson advocated for is a few clicks away seems prident before you post a blog that ridicules an accurate description by dum dud.

The problem Peterson has is he has conditioned himself to have a knee jerk reaction to anything said on this board. He has to bash it no matter what. It’s what drives most of his blog. Had he paused for a moment and actually read what drumdude (Peterson’s childish fixation with making up silly names is a window into what is really going on within him) had written, considered that maybe it was worth checking out some of the points being made, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so effusive in his praise for Dobson and wouldn’t now be having to back away from it. His blog is just slapdash utterances that have either been copied or haven’t been thought through. It’s just manure for his audience of mushrooms.

[Kishkumen]

I’ll never understand how decent LDS folk get drawn in by fundamentalist lunatic Christians who seem nice while spouting cruel nonsense. It is genuinely puzzling.