obama dobson 2

James Dobson and Barack Obama on political efforts, religious efforts, and the role of politics in religion, and the role of religion in politics:

Street Prophets: Confused Theology?

CNN: Distorting the Bible?

And doesn't Dobson's claims of distortion hinge on dispensationalism? I think Obama has higher theological ground here because he's saying "honestly, let's take the Bible as a whole seriously, then let's figure out how to conduct ourselves publicly, plurally." Dobson's position is necessarily more weak, because he must at once defend the passages in the Torah which condemn homosexuality, but he then must say that taking the other legalistic passages as seriously as Obama suggests we must is bad form. Dobson's position is clearly the more confused of the two.

However, this is not a theological argument. This is a debate about faith and secular democracy. Obama, by admitting to the tough parts of Leviticus then talking about how best to navigate our way faithfully through modern American life shows himself in a much stronger position than the Dobson camp would like. They're scared of Obama because Obama is right and they are wrong.

The cracks are showing in the old quid pro quo between the religious right and the economic and constitutional conservatives.