Dobson, who suggested Trump and 4 different US presidents, was a fierce opponent of abortion and LGBTQ rights.
James Dobson, a controversial and deeply influential Christian activist who suggested a number of presidents, together with US President Donald Trump and campaigned in opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights has died.
Dobson died on Thursday on the age of 89, based on the Dr James Dobson Household Institute, which highlighted his function in “creating one of many largest faith-based organizations on the earth”. No trigger was given for his demise.
Born in 1936 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dobson, who was a baby psychologist, began a radio present counselling Christians on tips on how to be good dad and mom and in 1977 based Concentrate on the Household.
On the peak of his affect within the Nineteen Eighties, Dobson was seen as probably the most highly effective figures within the so-called “non secular proper” or “Christian proper”. Critics seen him as an agent of intolerance, however he had broad assist within the US heartland, the place his folksy model and love for looking went down properly.
His organisation at its peak had greater than 1,000 staff and gave Dobson a platform to weigh in on laws and function an adviser to 5 presidents.
Dobson efficiently pushed for conservative Christian beliefs in US politics alongside fundamentalist giants, reminiscent of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, campaigning for bringing non secular conservatives into the political mainstream. Along with his every day radio broadcasts heard on greater than 3,000 radio stations in North America, he promoted his conservative agenda and encourage like-minded folks to vote for candidates who mirrored their views.
This often meant Republicans, though Focus on the Household’s tax-exempt standing prevented it from explicitly endorsing events or candidates.
Many years later, Dobson served on a board of evangelical leaders that suggested Trump in 2016. He supported Trump in all three of his presidential campaigns.
Dobson was a ferocious opponent of abortion rights and homosexual marriage, viewing each as assaults on the “conventional household” and, by extension, his imaginative and prescient of a functioning society. However he denied fees from opponents that he was a bigot.
“It’s primarily the gay activist group that has an agenda and sees me as a risk to it, and they also mischaracterise me as hateful and harsh. I’ve been on the radio for 30 years and you’ll not discover one single remark [like that],” he informed Reuters in an interview in 2007.
He celebrated the 2022 overturning of Roe v Wade – together with Trump’s conservative appointments to the US Supreme Court docket credited with the landmark choice that allowed states to ban abortion.
“Whether or not you want Donald Trump or not, whether or not you supported or voted for him or not, if you’re supportive of this Dobbs choice that struck down Roe v Wade, it’s important to point out in the identical breath the person who made it doable,” he stated in a ministry broadcast.
On social media, whereas some mourned his loss, many highlighted the trauma that they had endured because of his work. Dobson had inspired corporal punishment of youngsters and was a fierce advocate for so-called conversion remedy, a pseudoscientific apply geared toward forcibly altering the sexual orientation or gender identification of LGBTQ youth.
“I do know we’ll must take care of James Dobson’s legacy for a very long time, however I felt such aid this morning,” Sarah Jones, a New York Journal author, posted on X. “He dedicated his complete life to violence and cruelty and now he’s gone. I’ve been ready to jot down his epitaph since I used to be a baby.”
Zach Lambert, a Texan pastor, wrote on X: “It’s genuinely onerous to quantify the ache he and his group are accountable for. I’ve walked with lots of and lots of of people that skilled extreme trauma (religious, emotional, bodily, and so on.) due to his teachings.”
James Dobson’s legacy isn’t “household values” — it’s intolerance.
He blamed mass shootings on LGBTQ rights & abortion and lowered marriage to a sexist discount.
FFRF will maintain preventing the Christian nationalism he championed.https://t.co/AtCBxY3OnQ
— FFRF (@FFRF) August 21, 2025
