Christian Political Influence

The folks over at QandO are a little concerned over the future of conservatism. They are mostly libertarians and fit in the fiscal conservative/social moderate camp of the Republican party. They are very concerned with the influence of social conservatives like James Dobson on the presidency.

I did a little commenting on their site, but I think it is worth while to reiterate here. I don't think Jim Dobson is that influential in the Christian community. Or more precisely, I think his influence is on the wane. Some of this is because Dobson has committed himself to political lobbying instead of ministry. Ministry is how you get real support in the Evangelical community, not politics. Dobson also seems to represent the Evangelicals of certain age group. People my age do not listen to Focus on the Family. We probably never will. Those that do are mostly my parents' age and are moving into retirement. Dobson himself is 68.

If you want to look at the Evangelicals who will have a big influence in the future, look at Franklin Graham or Rick Warren. The younger generation.

The recently leaked recordings of confidential conversations with President Bush indicate that he shares this assessment.

If Bush still perceives Dobson as an unsatisfiable perennial critic, it may explain why a Bush aide recently told Time, "We respect him greatly, but [Dobson's] political influence is not everything people might think."

As for the tapes themselves, it seems that their political effect is small. Most of what they have done is confirm that Bush is the guy we think he is. He is a decent caring man, not some evil manipulator looking to pull the strings of the various Republican constituencies.

What we have here is Bush being "exposed" as a decent, thinking Christian. I must admit, that when Dubya first ran for president I figured he was just another politician pandering to evangelicals by pretending to be a believer. Four years on, while I don't always agree with Bush on everything I have become convinved that he is a sincere Christian.

Good. I think Dobson and his ilk also need to realize something. I am much more loyal to my president, Republican or Democrat, than to any organization like his. The president has the weight of scripture like Romans 13 compelling my support for him. Dobson might have some ideological commonalities, but they really can't compare.