Dobson's Foolish Comments

Dr. James Dobson has done some commendable work in the past, and I believe that he is a well-meaning individual who is passionate about his country and principles. Having said that, he misspoke terribly recently, and left himself wide open to the accusation that he is a shill for the Newt Gingrich campaign. Consider:

1. Gingrich does a public confessional on Dobson's radio show.
2. Gingrich is trying to position himself as the only conservative option in the Republican primary so far.
3. Fred Thompson is well liked in the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
4. Fred Thompson's associates begin floating his name in the media as a potential candidate.
5. Polls come out showing that Fred Thompson's potential candidacy hurts Gingrich more than other candidates.
6. Within days, Dobson calls a reporter of a secular news outlet that he hasn't talked to in years, and then makes the odd statement that he "doesn't think Thompson is a Christian".
7. Dobson also makes complimentary statements about Gingrich in the same conversation.

It would be very easy for someone to infer the following:

• Dobson is working at the behest of--and following orders from--the Gingrich campaign. Only Gingrich would have wanted someone like Dobson to immediately try to preempt Thompson's momentum.
• Dobson is willing to make personal judgements (in public) about the salvation of another human being purely for political motives. That is very alarming, and Dobson should be very careful.

What is worse, when called by another reporter about his comments, Dr. Dobson's spokesman said that Dobson was "just reading the tea leaves" of the campaign.

Instead, Dr. Dobson should have said something like this: "My interactions with Senator Thompson, and his legislative record, are insufficient to convince me that he shares my principles and convictions. Of course, it would be inappropriate for me to set myself up as the Senator's judge. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity in the future for the Senator to convince me that his values are the same as my own."

Such a statement would have sent the message that Dr. Dobson meant to send (which I disagree with strongly, by the way), but it would have avoided the political and spiritual pitfalls that he fell into.