Jim Dobson and Rusty Red Vans

Last updated on: June 28, 2016 at 6:26 pm by G. Shane Morris

Jim Dobson and Rusty Red Vans 2016-06-28T18:26:42-04:00 G. Shane Morris

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A few days after Jerry Falwell, Jr. was photobombed by Trump’s prized copy of Playboy Magazine, Dr. James Dobson, who’s on Trump’s faith advisory committee, claimed that The Donald has “accepted a relationship with Christ,” and is now a “baby Christian.” Am I skeptical? No more skeptical than I am about the authenticity of this famous marine biology photograph.

Matthew Lee Anderson has this basically right. We shouldn’t be so cynical that we absolutely refuse, in an a priori kind of way, to believe that a thrice-married casino baron who brags about his sexual exploits has had a Damascus road experience at the precise juncture when it would be most politically convenient. But let’s not make the 2016 election the latest chapter in the evangelical classic, Gullible’s Troubles. Not everybody believed in Saul’s conversion, even after the scales fell from his eyes. But Trump won’t get the benefit of my doubt until the pornography magazines fall from his office wall.

Dobson_and_me

B.T. (“Before Trump”)

Speaking of falling, for Dr. Dobson to fall for this makes the kids who buy the rusty red van with “free candy” spray-painted on the side seem judicious. What is he thinking? What is his motive? It’s hard to say, and I don’t want to disrespect him, given the role his ministry played in my childhood and how much his work meant to me. I grew up on “Adventures in Odyssey.” The Institute he started at Focus on the Family helped kick off my adult life. You could say I was a fan.

The whole thing is deeply cynical and depressing–as some have put it, a bitter end for the Religious Right. But as another friend reminded me, if watching evangelical leaders drive away with Trump in the rusty red van shatters our faith, then we were trusting in men, rather than God.

I’m praying for Dr. Dobson, and the other evangelical leaders for whom throwing in with Trump seems to be an uncharacteristic lapse of judgement (there are a few). I understand the reasons why some of them–even friends of mine–are getting behind the GOP nominee. I don’t agree, or even grasp their decision, but I get their reasoning, especially after the ruling the Supreme Court handed down today. But if the influence of the Religious Right in 2016 amounts to choosing an unknown evil over a known evil, then it truly is dead.

If Hillary Clinton is Pennywise the Clown beckoning from the gutter, some will inevitably decide to take their chances with the rusty van that says “Make America Great Again.” I prefer to ignore both and keep walking.

EDIT: Update on this story, apparently Dr. Dobson has walked back his remarks about Trump’s conversion after significant criticism.

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