COLO. SPRINGS — BY JOSEPH COTTLE
Dr. James Dobson has died, aged 89, per a statement released today by the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. Dobson founded and led Focus on the Family, a conservative family values think-tank, publisher, and radio studio based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He hosted a radio show and authored books about parenting that emphasized corporal punishment and teaching children traditional Christian morals.
In the 90s and 2000s, Dobson joined other prominent Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell on talk shows, radio shows, and other media in opposing LGBTQ+ legal rights, and Dobson is partially credited with making Evangelicals a major politcal player in the Republican party, including his pronounced support of Donald Trump before the 2016 election.
In recent years, adults who were parented under Dobson’s principles are pushing back on Dobson’s advice. Stephanie Warren, a vocal critic of Dobson, an “exvangelical” with over 26,000 followers on instagram, and the host of the podcast “Focus on Your Own Family” said in a Substack post about Dobson’s death, “Dobson built a vast empire—radio programs, books, ministries, political networks—his influence felt by millions worldwide…This platform, once used to whisper cautionary tales about ‘the disintegration of the family,’ eventually normalized authoritarian control, corporal punishment, gender policing, and purity ideology as divine mandates.”
Journalist David Farrier noted that Dr. Dobson was mentored by Paul Popenoe, a famed eugenicist praised by Nazi Germany, who wrote the foreword to Dobson’s best-seller, Dare to Discipline.
However, Focus on the Family President, Jim Daly, said in a statement on the organization’s website, “With Dr. Dobson’s passing, we remember the life of a gifted man who walked with the Lord. I’m thankful for his sensitivity to those who were weak, downtrodden, and sometimes overlooked.”
Charisma Magazine, a prominent evangelical publication, echoed Daly’s sentiments—”Dobson became a trusted voice in the defense of marriage, the sanctity of life and the call to live by the authority of Scripture. His best-selling books, nationally syndicated broadcasts, and tireless advocacy reached millions, influencing not only households but also the cultural conversations of our nation.”
