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So I’m scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook the other day and see a link to a story on ABC about Focus on the Family running an anti-abortion ad during Super Bowl XLIV starring Tim Tebow. I may have been the last person on the 'Interwebs' (that’s what my 65 year old dad calls it) to see this, but it sparked a few thoughts. In the article, Gary Schneeberger, a Focus on the Family spokesman, is quoted as saying, “There is nothing political or controversial about the spot.” Are you kidding me? Nothing political or controversial… right. Focus on the Family has become synonymous with both politics and controversy due to its strong alignment with crazy right-wing ideologies.
 Regardless of where one stands on abortion, the only thing most us will take away from this commercial is that Focus on the Family ran a commercial during the Super Bowl, and the message, however good it might be, will be lost. Look, I do think abortion should be avoided in most circumstances and there are many folks on both sides of the political aisle who agree on this. But how to actually reduce the occurrence of abortions is the point of contention and Focus on the Family has unfortunately become associated with the Christian Coalition/Pat Robertson political machine on this. (FYI, Robertson says things like, “The feminist agenda encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”) If anyone who sees this commercial actually gets past the politics of Focus on the Family, then I’m guessing he (probably not a she) already adores James Dobson – of course in a purely platonic sense, not in a gay way. However if Focus on the Family is really interested in shaping a productive dialogue on the issue of abortion rather than having a shouting match, then I would suggest they spend their $2.8 million for a 30 second Super Bowl commercial elsewhere.
-jonathan |
Comments
Whether we are right or left of center, we should wield our words with care. I understand the emotion in your posting, but are we not practicing the same incendiary methods when we use unsubstantiated generalities? ("due to it strong alignment with crazy right wing ideologies" or linking FOF to Robertson's fringe quote you mentioned). Whether you agree with the ad or not, I understand the money for the advertisement was not funded by FOF but through a private donor. These facts seem germane to your criticism.
One session scrolling through my postings will speak for my being uncomfortable with many of evangelicalism's public relations disasters. But the tone of your piece breaks my heart. Do past associations, real or perceived, compel an organization to silence its message in a free and open society?
Caroline is correct, of course. That is, there's certainly a sense in which one shouldn't participate in the sorts of incendiary methods practiced by Dobson, just as one shouldn't adopt his demogoguery, dogmatism, and bigotry. Still, there's something to be said for expressing a bit of the outrage that much of the rest of the world justifiably feels towards this man and his organization. For an effected and concerned outsider such as myself, it goes a long way to know that there are Christians who are as repulsed by Dobson as I am. That is, it goes a long way in assuring me that not all Christians are, as to their moral compasses, deranged.
It doesn't sound like you've done your homework before posting this article.
Dobson is no longer associated with FOTF. Any constructive criticism you may have to offer didn't come through. A poorly written and uninformed post from conversantlife.
I'm used to reading far better pieces from those I may disagree with.
"James C. Dobson, Ph.D., is founder and chairman emeritus of Focus on the Family"
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/profiles.aspx