I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
[COMMENTARY]
James Dobson, Ph.D.
Focus on the Family
Colorado Springs, CO 80995
June 25, 2008
Dear Jimmy,
How ya doin’ over there in Colorado? I hear spring is lovely in the mountains, and I remember, although vaguely, a time when I was 14 visiting the Air Force Academy. Lovely place. I even bought a ring there.
It’s just too bad my whole perception of Colorado Springs has been poisoned by the bile and filth that you and your organization, Focus on the Family, regurgitate on a regular basis. Generally, I ignore your homophobic, sexist, race-baiting language and comments. Frankly, for a man with a Ph.D., you seem quite stupid to me. Sorry for so many big words. I know a man with a Ph.D. might have trouble understanding them.
But your recent attack on the presumptive Democratic nominee went overboard.
First, you are quoted in The Bulletin, Philadelphia’s Family Newspaper, as stating, and I quote:
“I am not a Reverend. I am not a minister. I am not a theologian. I am not an Evangelist. I am a psychologist.”
Um … OK. I note you don’t mention you are also not a constitutional law professor, but that certainly doesn’t stop you from calling Barack Obama — who is, by the way, a constitutional law professor — and his interpretation of the Constitution a “fruitcake interpretation.”
Continued -
But these “I am nots” evidently don’t really matter to you when you decide to pontificate on matters. While not being a “theologian,” a “minister,” a “reverend” or an “Evangelist,” you don’t hesitate to attack Obama on his own beliefs. You called his understanding of Scripture “distorting the Bible.”
The senator from Illinois made a damn good point in his speech. The Bible in places does endorse slavery, and it does call eating shellfish an abomination. It also condemns people for wearing mixed-fiber clothing (which your suits are, by the way) and says that women should be placed in a menses shack for the seven days of their menstruation. During that time, no person should have contact with the women, as they are unclean.
So, Mr.-I-am-not-a-theologian-not-a-minister-not-a-reverend-not-an-evangelist-psychologist, just which part of the Sermon on the Mount is it you think we are living up to? Is it the “love thy neighbor” passage?
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Here, Jesus is asking us to love everyone, the same, without condition. I think we all fall a wee short of that provision. And you are certainly no exception.
Just exactly how are you loving, unconditionally, a gay couple, a rape victim, or the family of a brain-dead woman kept alive by machines for no other reason than others couldn’t let go? That’s what you expect from leaders, according to your May 12 speech to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, when you said:
“It causes me to wonder who will be left to carry the banner when this generation of leaders is gone. The question is, will the younger generation heed the call? Who will defend the unborn child in the years to come? Who will plead for the Terri Schiavos of the world? Who’s going to fight for the institution of marriage, which is on the ropes today?“
Hey, maybe your idea of unconditional love is a bit more conditional than mine.
Maybe, perhaps, your issue is with honesty.
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.’ Anything beyond these is of evil.”
You have accused the senator of distorting the Bible, yet you have no issue with distortions.
“I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work this week in a guest column you wrote in Time Magazine
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