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James Dobson

Evangelical Christian psychologist, author, and radio broadcaster

James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American psychologist, evangelical Christian author, counselor and conservative political activist.

James Dobson c. 2007

Quotes

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1970s

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  • "[P]ain is a marvelous purifier. . . It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child. However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely."
    • From Dare to Discipline, pages 6 and 7
  • "Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked, and their wishes should be granted. . . [T]wo or three stinging strokes on the legs or buttocks with a switch are usually sufficient to emphasize the point, 'You must obey me.'"
    • From The Strong-Willed Child, pp. 53-4.

2002

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  • KING: You're an outspoken supporter of Israel. You and Bill Bennett co-authored an op-ed piece on the subject, responding to a letter from a group of prominent Evangelical Christians who urged George W. Bush to employ an even handed policy toward Israel and Palestine. You don't want an even handed policy?
  • DOBSON: Well, I do. It depends on what you mean by that. I feel very strongly about Israel. You know it is surrounded by its enemies. And it exists primarily because God has willed it to exist, I think, according to scripture, but also, because America has stood with Israel. If we ever abandon it, it's gone. There are six million Jews in Israel. There are 400 million Muslims around them that hate them and want many of them -- hate them and want to drive them into the sea. And that is a major concern to me. It's the only democracy in the Middle East. Why wouldn't we support them?
  • KING: And the Palestinian people are the only people without a state...
  • DOBSON: Yes.
  • KING: … of any kind. Should they have a state? Do you agree with the president there? There should be a Palestinian state?
DOBSON: You know, here again, I'm not smart enough to figure out that conflict. That's been going on — that's ancient. It goes way back. And I'm not sure that I'm — in fact, I know I don't have the answer for that. But whatever the solution, whether it's a Palestinian state or whatever the answer to it is, it has to involve security for Israel. And that's where I make my stand.
  • KING: Franklin Graham called Islam a very wicked and evil religion. More recently, he said that Muslim leaders haven't done enough to show their sorrow over 9/11. Do you agree with that?
  • DOBSON: Well, I certainly agree that many factions within Islam are very, very violent. I mean, how can we deny that? The war against the west and against Israel certainly didn't start with 9/11. For us, it began really in 1979 when the Iranians, you know, invaded the embassy there. And from that point on, they've been doing things like this, so there's a lot of violence within the Islamic faith.
  • KING: But you don't think the faith is violent? You don't think American Muslims are, by nature, violent, or Muslims are by nature violent or do you?
  • DOBSON: I think some Muslims are, but certainly...
  • KING: Well, some Christians are.
  • DOBSON: Yes, but that...
  • KING: There's a lot of killing in the name of Christ in history.
  • DOBSON: Yes, there has been down through the years, but I don't think that's the predominant factor. I mean, if you look at the teachings of Christ, the centerpiece is love. That's been the essence of what He has thought.
  • KING: Not Mohammed — Mohammed did not teach love?
  • DOBSON: Not to that degree, no. There's a lot — you know I'm not an expert on this subject. I told you that last time we were here, and so I can just give you my impressions about it. And there are very, very violent people within the Islamic faith. There are also some that are not violent.

2004

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  • Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth.
  • GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Dr. Dobson, ...in the Daily Oklahoman, [you were] quoted saying, "Patrick Leahy is a God's people hater. I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people." Now, Dr. Dobson, that doesn't sound like a particularly Christian thing to say. Do you think you owe Senator Leahy an apology?
  • DR JAMES DOBSON: George, you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about? You know, I think -I think I'll stand by the things I have said. Patrick Leahy has been in opposition to most of the things that I believe. He is the one that took the reference to God out of the oath.
  • GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: But Dr. Dobson, excuse me for a second. You use the word hate. You said that he's a "God's people hater." How do you back that up?
  • DR JAMES DOBSON: Well, there's been an awful lot of hate expressed in this election. And most of it has been aimed at those who hold to conservative Christian views. He is certainly not the only one to take a position like that. But I think that that is -that's where he's coming from. He has certainly opposed most of the things that conservative Christians stand for.
  • GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apology?
  • DR JAMES DOBSON: No apology.
  • "By learning to yield to the loving authority... of his parents, a child learns to submit to other forms of authority which will confront him later in his life — his teachers, school principal, police, neighbors and employers."
    • From Dare to Discipline discussed on Good-Natured Child Needs His Share of Parents' Attention, Focus on the Family, 11/21/2004

2011

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  • Into that world comes a young William Wilberforce — a young Parliamentarian — who saw this and said this is evil, this is wrong, I will do what I can to fight it. In some ways, it's very similar to our situation here with regard to abortion because that's a multi-million dollar industry. You know the money that even our own Congress gives to Planned Parenthood is reminiscent of the evil that was expressed in that day because other Parliament members didn't want to touch that very lucrative business. And so here you've got Wilberforce standing up and saying "this is wrong" and he was vilified and attacked and discredited and marginalized. It sounds kind of familiar to what happens to pro-life people today.

2012

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Quotes about James Dobson

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  • The "child-centered" proselytizers were met by a "parent-centered" corps of self-proclaimed "Judeo-Christian" experts loudly condemning the decadent state of American culture. Dr. James Dobson, psychologist and the author in 1970 of the popular Dare to Discipline, had long been active in the cause. The founder of the Focus on the Family, a right-wing Christian radio "ministry" with a following in the millions, he emerged as a prime mover in the conservative family values crusade that crested as the century ended.
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