Views on marriage James Dobson was a strong proponent of marriage defined as "one where husband and wife are lawfully married, are committed to each other for life", and have a
homemaker mother and
breadwinner father. According to his view, women are not deemed inferior to men because both are created in God's image, but each gender has biblically mandated roles. He recommended that married women with children under the age of 18 focus on mothering, rather than work outside the home. Dobson could be said to have viewed marriage as a transaction in which women exchange sex for protection: He also believed that homosexuality was neither a choice nor genetic, but was caused by external factors during early childhood. He anecdotally cited as evidence the life of actress
Anne Heche,
private school vouchers and
tax credits for religious schools. According to the Focus on the Family website, Dobson believed that parents were ultimately responsible for their children's education, and encourages parents to visit their children's schools to ask questions and to join the
PTA so that they may voice their opinions. Dobson opposed
sex education curricula that are not
abstinence-only. According to
People for the American Way, Focus on the Family material has been used to challenge a book or curriculum taught in public schools. Dobson supported
student-led prayer in
public schools,
Views on discipline of children In his book
Dare to Discipline, Dobson advocated the
spanking of children as young as fifteen months and up to eight years old when they misbehave, using switches or belts kept on the child's dresser as a reminder of authority. In Dobson's opinion, parents must uphold their authority and do so consistently. In
The Strong-Willed Child, Dobson drew an analogy between the defiance of a family pet and that of a small child, and concludes that "just as surely as a dog will occasionally challenge the authority of his leaders, so will a little child—only more so."
The Strong-Willed Child says that if authority is portrayed correctly to a child, the child will understand how to interact with other authority figures: If allowed to challenge parental authority, Dobson says, children would challenge God's authority when they grew older. Hence, rebellion must be punished to protect the child's
salvation. Believing that "pain is a marvelous purifier", Dobson recommended corporal punishment as the most effective way to keep the child subordinate to adults. He believed the parent should model both
divine mercy and
wrath to prepare the
inherently sinful child for a relationship with God. Dobson warned of the dire consequences of failing to discipline one's children: "
Eli, the priest, permitted his sons to desecrate the temple. All three were put to death." He warned against "harsh spanking", as he found it unnecessary to beat a child into submission. In a 1997 book, he warns that "discipline must not be harsh and destructive to the child's spirit." Dobson considers disciplining children to be a necessary but unpleasant part of raising children which should only be carried out by qualified parents: When asked "How long do you think a child should be allowed to cry after being punished? Is there a limit?" Dobson responded: Sociologists John Bartkowski and Christopher Ellison have stated that Dobson's views "diverge sharply from those recommended by contemporary mainstream experts" and are not based on any sort of
empirical testing, but rather are nothing more than expressions of his religious doctrines of "
biblical literalism and 'authority-mindedness. In the 1980s,
Penelope Leach wrote that Dobson's approach was ineffective because, rather than establishing parental authority, spanking only communicates parental frustration and weakness. Although childrearing experts have discredited corporal punishment, Dobson did not change his views. In 2015, he wrote that, when spanking fails to make a child obey, the problem may be that the parent is not hitting hard enough or frequently enough.
Views on tolerance and diversity In the winter of 2004–2005, the
We Are Family Foundation sent American elementary schools approximately 60,000 copies of a free
DVD using popular cartoon characters (especially
SpongeBob SquarePants) to "promote tolerance and diversity". Dobson contended that
tolerance and
diversity were "buzzwords" that the We Are Family Foundation misused as part of a
"hidden agenda" to promote homosexuality. Kate Zernik pointed out Dobson asserting: "tolerance and its first cousin, diversity, 'are almost always buzzwords for homosexual advocacy. He said on the Focus on the Family website that "childhood symbols are apparently being hijacked to promote an agenda that involves teaching homosexual
propaganda to children." He offered as evidence the association of many leading LGBTQ rights organizations, including
GLAAD,
GLSEN,
HRC, and
PFLAG, with the We Are Family Foundation as shown by links which he claims once existed on their website. The We Are Family Foundation countered that Dobson had mistaken their organization with "an unrelated Web site belonging to another group called 'We Are Family', which supports gay youth." Dobson countered: In September 2005, Tolerance.org published a follow-up message advertising the DVD's continued availability, including We Are Family Foundation president Nancy Hunt's speculation that many of the DVDs may be "still sitting in boxes, unused, because of Dobson's vitriolic attack". Focus on the Family ministry sponsored In regards to the conference, Dobson stated that Dobson strongly opposed the movement to legitimize same-sex marriages. In his book
Bringing Up Boys, Dobson stated, Critics have stated that Dobson's views on homosexuality do not represent the
mainstream views of the mental health community, with Dan Gilgoff referring to the positions of the
American Psychiatric Association and the
American Psychological Association on homosexuality. Sociologist
Judith Stacey criticized Dobson for claiming that sociological studies show that gay couples do not make good parents. She stated that Dobson's claim "is a direct misrepresentation of my research". Dobson objected to a bill expanding the prohibition of
sexual orientation-based discrimination in the areas of "public accommodation, housing practices,
family planning services and twenty other areas". He said that, were such a bill passed, public businesses could no longer separate locker rooms and bathrooms by gender, which he claimed would lead to a situation where "every woman and little girl will have to fear that a
predator,
bisexual,
cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence". In 2017, Dobson was among the first to sign the
Nashville Statement, written by the
Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The statement specifies conservative evangelical views on gender roles and sexuality, condemning
LGBTQ-affirming Christians: "We affirm that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness."
Views on mass shootings In 2012, in a broadcast titled "A Nation Shaken by the
Sandy Hook Tragedy", Dobson said that the mass shooting was a judgment by God because of American acceptance of gay marriage and legal abortion. Similarly, Dobson said the
2019 El Paso shooting and mass shootings in general happen because "the LGBTQ movement is closing in on the God-inspired and established institution of the family."
Views on abortion Early in his career, Dobson appeared to accept abortion. He wrote a forward for a 1973 book,
Sex is a Parent Affair, that takes a nonjudgmental stance toward abortion because "the Bible is silent on the subject" except for some interpretations of which "may indicate a developing embryo or fetus was not regarded as a full human being". In general, the evangelical movement did not speak much about abortion until the 1980s. Starting in the 1980s, Dobson became a major force in the
anti-abortion movement. His message centered upon biblically moral mothers who sacrificed for their children; he chastised unmarried mothers or "rebellious", believing pregnancy to be a sacred duty. He broadcast interviews with women who kept pregnancies because their trust in God overcame their own emotions and desires. Dobson contended that abortion invites women to reject God, diverts women from their natural role as mothers, and prevents more Christians from coming into the world. Ending abortion, in his view, would redeem society by binding women to their divine role. Focus on the Family and its allied lobbying organizations are among the US's most powerful advocates for restrictions on abortion access.
Views on gender Dobson viewed the
gender binary as fundamental to humanity; he believed God created men and women to differ "in every cell of their bodies". The
complementary differences make them well-suited to
traditional gender roles. "Males and females differ biochemically, anatomically, and emotionally", according to Dobson. Men like to "hunt and fish and hike in the wilderness" while women prefer to "stay at home and wait for them". Because men have a fragile ego and women are emotionally vulnerable, "men derive self-esteem by being respected; women feel worthy when they are loved." Men and women are obligated to adhere to the "time-honored roles of protector and protected". The effects of hormonal differences, he argues, make women more suited for the home. Dobson argued that confused gender relationships in a household result in homosexuality if a child displaces their sexual feelings onto the same-sex parent. Hence, parents should model a romance-like relationship with their opposite-sex child, according to Dobson, with the ultimate goal of steering the child toward heterosexual marriage as an adult. Dobson encouraged "daddy–daughter dating" in which fathers and daughters set aside time for special activities together. Because he believed heterosexuality must be cultivated, Dobson intended these romanticized attachments to model proper heterosexual partnership to girls age six or younger. An employee of Dobson's created the first
purity balla father-daughter dance event promoting female chastityin 1998. Dobson promoted the purity balls on his radio show. Along with other fundamentalist figures such as
Billy Graham, Dobson is considered a founder of
purity culture, a Christian subculture in which sexual immorality by women or LGBTQ people is considered a national threat. Dobson considered
transgender people a threat, writing in 2016 that "a married man with any gumption" would defend his wife's privacy in the bathroom from "a strange-looking man, dressed like a woman". He also considered feminists a threat because they question the natural leadership of men. In his 1975 book
What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women he denounces the "feminist propaganda" of
strong female characters in movies, complaining when men are shown as inferior to a "confident superchick".
Gendered language in the Bible In response to a 1997 article in
World magazine claiming that the
New International Version of the Bible was going to be printed with
gender-neutral language, Dobson called a meeting at Focus on the Family headquarters of influential men in the religious publishing business. The group drafted the
Colorado Springs Guidelines, which require Bible translations to use
male-default language such as
the word man to designate the human race. As a result, plans for the gender-neutral Bible version were halted. When Dobson discovered his own
Odyssey Bible used gender-neutral language, he discontinued it and offered refunds. Along with over a hundred other evangelical figures, in 2002 Dobson opposed publication of ''
Today's New International Version'' because of the "
political correctness" of the translation and the publisher's rejection of the Colorado Springs Guidelines. ==Political and social influence==