In a recent column, Denver Post editorialist Cindy Rodríguez wrote a scathing attack on values voters — and Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson. (If you care to read it for yourself, you can find it on the newspaper's Web site.)
CitizenLink Associate Editor Pete Winn responds to Rodriguez's vitriol here, in the form of an open letter.
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Dear Cindy:
In your recent commentary, the likes of which we're hearing more and more of these days, you didn't just express serious disagreement with values voters in general, and Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson in particular.
You called us "sheeple." Mindless quadrupeds. Grazing subhumans. You called Dr. Dobson everything from a "puppet-master" to a "hypocrite." Do you really believe this?
Well, I'm a values voter — and we're not puppets or "sheeple." We don't get our "marching orders" from anyone — least of all you. We don't need you to tell us how to vote — or what we should care about most.
That a major metropolitan newspaper would allow people to be called such ugly names is bad enough. But that your bosses would let your assertions go unchallenged is unacceptable.
So, here's my response to your diatribe. Let's begin by referring to your charges.
"By manipulating religious teachings, Dobson represses his followers with a reactionary societal code: Get married, stay married, procreate and — most important — donate your money to Focus on the Family."
Manipulating religious teachings? Yes, it's probably a surprise to you that we values voters actually support the idea of marriage for life. It's far worse than that, though — we actually think babies represent our future and healthy families are the backbone of civilization.
As value voters, we're grateful to Dr. Dobson for articulating that message over the years, but this is something most of us figured out ourselves. It's pretty basic.
Some of us have actually experienced what happens when life isn't centered on marriage and family — we may have grown up amid divorce and unrestrained sexual license, or worse. It can be frightening.
So don't try to tell us that marriage and family don't really matter. Those of us who name the Name of Christ are downright proud to stand up for God-ordained institutions.
"Dobson represses?" Get real.
Only governments can repress. Saddam Hussein repressed his people, Cindy. He ordered his opponents gassed, tortured or killed. Hugo Chavez represses his people in Venezuela. Hitler repressed millions — making slaves of those he did not send to the crematoria. Millions of Chinese and others died under the regime of Mao Zedong.
All of those people are/were political leaders who headed governments. Some, like Hitler, were actually elected democratically. Dr. Dobson, on the other hand, is more like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; he is merely a citizen whose only power is the force of moral suasion.
That means, Cindy, he has used his voice for many years to try to persuade men and women by appealing to their sense of morality. He speaks for many of us who feel just as strongly about these moral issues. Most of us have a great deal of respect for the man and his courage.
But you know what? He didn't manufacture the morality or the reality he talks about — it existed long before any of us were born. He simply is calling us back to it.
It is not "manipulating religious teachings" to assert that abortion is wrong and that it violates the teachings of Christ — or that any marriage which doesn't involve the union of one man to one woman is wrong.
Oh, and just for the record, the "donate your money to Focus on the Family" slam, trying to make it sound like it's all about the money for us, also doesn't wash. In fact, we insist that anyone who desires to contribute make sure that their commitment to their local church body is taken care of before anything else — and then we ask that they pray about sending us anything before they do. And in case you didn't know, Dr. Dobson has never drawn so much as a penny in salary from his nearly 30 years as founder, president and now chairman of Focus on the Family.
"Dobson talks about having a pro-life agenda, but never speaks out against the deaths of more than 2,700 American troops in Iraq, or against capital punishment, which is really a euphemism for state-sponsored murder."
We listen to Dr. Dobson because he found his "voice" — and his audience — in the midst of a holocaust, and he has been consistent in telling the truth about it.
The murder of more than 40 million people through abortion — babies in the womb who can't really defend themselves — is the biggest moral atrocity of our time. True, more people were killed en toto during World War II — more than 60 million lost their lives — but that war was the largest armed conflict the world has yet seen, and remains one of the most important events in history.
No sane person denies that World War II occurred, however. True, there are those who sadly deny that the Nazi Holocaust took place against millions of Jews and others during World War II, but no one denies the war itself took place.
Yet there are many people today who won't even acknowledge abortion is causing the deaths of millions of the preborn. Based on what you've said, my guess is you may be one of them — an Abortion Holocaust denier.
On the other hand, there are Christians on both sides of the two other issues you mentioned — the war in Iraq and capital punishment. Though you seem to want to force pro-family Christians and values voters to embrace one argument over another, we'll decide those issues for ourselves.
Whether we support or oppose — no one is going to force us to believe anything against our wills, not even you.
"The more his listeners believe, the more easily they can be exploited. That explains why many of those listeners — hardworking middle-class people who are struggling with bills or caring for elderly loved ones — vote against their own interests."
Actually, Cindy, we values voters have a pretty good handle on what our "interests" are. A lot of us went to college. Many of us have advanced degrees. Almost all of us, though, have earned sheepskin from The School of Life — a.k.a, The School of Hard Knocks.
We actually know how to make a living, and do. Many of us raise children, some of us raise crops, still others manage multimillion-dollar accounts, equipment or inventory. We labor over things as diverse as vehicles and hot stoves and insurance contracts and arbitrage.
We pay taxes and have bills to deal with. And yet we don't just think about ourselves. We tend to give to causes at a far greater rate than some other segments of the population. We care.
We come from many ethic groups — some of us are white, others black, some Hispanic, others Asian or Native American. A veritable rainbow.
Take Herman Cain, for example. Calling himself proudly "a black conservative," Cain has taken out ads that ask blacks to "Vote Our Values."
By the way, Mr. Cain is the former CEO and president of Godfather's Pizza, and former chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the National Restaurant Association.
You insult him to call him a "sheeple." But he's certainly a values voter.
"Instead of voting for the party that created the 40-hour work week, workers compensation, and has been pushing for universal health care, they vote for the party of James Dobson: members of Congress who for nine years have refused to increase the minimum wage above $5.15 an hour, yet accept automatic pay raises for themselves each year.
Again, who and what we vote for is up to us. That we vote is all Dr. Dobson has been asking.
But you seem to have your head stuck in the past, Cindy — and in a lot of myths.
The 40-hour work week, for instance, is a myth. As a recent story in an Indiana University publication said:
"Although the 40-hour week is still considered the benchmark in American work culture, most researchers would argue that it is nearly as obsolete as most of the factory jobs to which it was originally applied. According to a recent survey by Expedia.com, 63 percent of Americans work more than 40 hours a week, with some 40 percent exceeding the 50-hour a week mark."
I mention that because, in fact, more than 30 years ago, Dr. Dobson realized that a major problem for millions of American families — and families are, after all, his concern — is time stress.
Our busy lives, the increased pace of day-to-day existence as technology transforms us and the attempt by some to redefine the concept of family itself — all mean it is tougher for families to have meaningful time together. And that walks hand-in-glove with trends like divorce, abuse and family disintegration.
"Instead, he vilifies gay people as people who are destroying marriage."
As President Reagan used to say, "There you go again."
Gay people aren't "destroying marriage." Judicial tyranny prompted by homosexual activism is.
Dr. Dobson has never said that gay people — in and of themselves — are destroying marriage. There are many homosexuals who don't even support the idea of gay marriage.
Gay activists, however, are dedicated to redefining marriage — and he has pointed that out many times. The push to enshrine gay marriage into law is a joint effort of liberal judges cooperating with homosexual activists.
By enshrining gay marriage as law, judicial tyranny and gay activism are working hand-in-hand to destroy marriage as it has existed.
Until this moment in time, marriage has always meant the uniting of a man and a woman for purposes of raising a family. It's a bedrock American value and has been the law for the entire history of our country — and just about every other civilization on the planet.
Now, those of you who support same-sex marriage not only want to overturn existing law on marriage, to deny the power of elected legislatures to regulate marriage and to forbid the will of the people on defining marriage — you want to foist a huge social experiment on us all.
We resent that. Not only could this social experiment endanger our children, the way you're going about it is undemocratic and fascist.
It would be one thing if you could convince members of legislatures to go along with you, but you can't. Your hope rests in liberal judges, unaccountable to the people, who rule on the basis of a Constitution which means whatever they say it means.
By the way, Cindy, history shows us nations that refuse to stand up for their deepest interior values will fall for anything.
"Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst with FOTF, said during a televised debate last week that if gay people are given the right to marry, polygamists will be next."
Do you not read your own newspaper, Cindy? It was reported nationwide that the American Civil Liberties Union — which has provided the primary legal efforts behind the same-sex marriage crusade — recently weighed in on the side of polygamists in a Utah case.
Ask them. They seem to be proud of it. In their own news release they said the following:
"Living arrangements are really the most intimate kinds of decisions people make," said ACLU of Utah Legal Director Stephen Clark. "Talking to Utah's polygamists is like talking to gays and lesbians who really want the right to live their lives, and not live in fear because of whom they love. So certainly that kind of privacy expectation is something the ACLU is committed to protecting."
Moreover, in the recent ACLU members meeting in Washington, D.C., President Nadine Strossen committed the group to championing polygamy rights.
"A man of real moral values would urge Congress to increase college Pell grants, expand work training programs, and offer struggling working-class families subsidized day care. The sad part is the sheeple don't see the hypocrisy and don't realize they're being used."
Babies are dying, Cindy. Marriage is on the verge of being redefined out of existence. You may not think these are as important as Pell grants, but we do.
It used to be that reasonable people could disagree on these issues and still be civil to one another. I still believe that. But you know what? I'm not at all sure you do.
TAKE ACTION
Let the Denver Post's Cindy Rodriguez know how you feel about her inflammatory column — but please do so respectfully. In fact, you might consider letting her know how Focus on the Family and/or Dr. Dobson has helped you and your family. You can leave a voice message for her at 303-954-1211 or e-mail her by clicking here.
You also can e-mail two of her superiors, Features Editor Judith Howard and Editor Greg Moore.
