Religious Liberty - Jim Dobson
Dr. Jim Dobson
The next Witness was Dr. James Dobson.
“Dr. Dobson, could you please tell us about your ministry?”
“Yes, I’m the pastor and president of Focus on the Family, and I’m executive director on the Family Radio Network.”
“How big is your audience Dr. Dobson?”
“We have roughly 11 million listeners nationwide, and several million more in other countries.”
“Are you familiar with the Thompson family?”
“Yes, Senator Thompson spoke at a ‘Focus on the Family’ fundraisers and has been a guest on my radio show several times. His wife and children have assisted with fundraisers and have even spoken on several of our programs. It is Focus on the Family.”
“Dr. Dobson, can you tell us your position, as a pastor, on homosexuality and transsexualism?”
“Oh yes, it’s a terrible thing. It’s unnatural, contrary to God’s creation. Homosexuality is the worst kind of perversion; the Bible says we should put homosexuals to death! They certainly don’t deserve special rights! They should not be allowed to display their affection in public, get married, or adopt children. It’s disgusting! “
“What about transsexuals?”
“They are demonically possessed. A transsexual boy has a demon telling him he’s a girl. It’s the ultimate blasphemy. Boys are boys and girls are girls. There is no in between and there is no way that a boy could be a girl or vice versa. It’s just not natural.”
“Did the Thompson family share your views?”
“Oh yes, Senator Thompson is a fine, upstanding Christian who supports family values. When the children were on my show, they also echoed these same values.”
“Your witness.”
“Dr. Dobson, when did you first contact Senator Thompson?”
“As soon as he won his party’s Senate nomination. I called and asked him to appear on my show, and to help with the fundraiser. He was quite eager to do both.”
“Dr. Dobson, you are a doctor of psychology? A medical doctor? A doctor of anthropology?”
“No, I am a Doctor of Divinity!”
“I see, and what kinds of courses to you take to get a doctor of divinity?”
“Theology, biblical studies, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and church history.”
“History of all churches? Muslims? Hindus? Buddhists? Judaism?”
“No, just Christianity.”
“What formal training to you have in psychology, Dr. Dobson?”
“I took an introductory course as an undergraduate. A bunch of malarkey if you ask me.”
“What about sociology?”
“One semester, statistics, that kind of thing.”
“Anthropology.”
“A bunch of nonsense. They didn’t even try to teach creation. Just that Evolution nonsense.”
“What exactly makes you an expert in the Family?”
“I have a wonderful wife, two children and several grandchildren. I have a successful family.”
“I see, so your expertise is based entirely on a single case study?”
The jury giggled
“As a young pastor, I ministered to many families in my church. It was a small church, but I got a good understanding!”
“I see, and what makes you an expert in homosexuality? Are you a homosexual?”
The jury giggled.
“Of course not!”
“Are any of your children or grandchildren homosexual or transgendered?”
“Absolutely Not!”
“I suppose if they were, they wouldn’t tell you!”
“Objection!”
“Sustained.”
“Dr. Dobson, do you have ANY experience at all regarding homosexuals? Have you treated them? Given them counseling?”
“I have had guests on my show who have we cured by conversion therapy.”
“These men were exclusively attracted to men?”
“No, they realized that they also had some attraction to women?”
“I see, so they were bisexual, and you shifted their preference for men to women by - by doing what exactly?”
“Oh, I didn’t do it, the places that do that use a variety of techniques, counseling, therapy, medications.”
“Do those techniques include shock therapy, torture, induced medical insanity with drugs like LSD and epinephrine, sleep deprivation, and intimidation?”
“We have discussed those elements off-air, but we never discuss them on-air.”
“I see, so you trick people into seeking a cure for their children. They think it’s just going to be some friendly conversations. They don’t know that you will strap their kids to a table, shock them, then strap them to a chair and pumped full of fear inducing drugs. That your doctors will torture them with electrodes in the penis and anus? You never told your listeners that someone might anally rape their children?”
“Objection!”
“Overruled, answer the question Dr. Dobson!”
“Yes, that’s part of it! For extreme cases, there are also whippings and caning!”
The jury gasped, horrified.
“I see. What about your experience with transsexuals?”
“I’ve had a guest who claimed he could use similar techniques with transsexuals. He also added anal rape to make him hate the idea of being a girl.”
“How effective is this?”
“I have no idea.”
“So, Dr. Dobson, you are admitting under oath that you have no qualifications to treat homosexuals or transsexuals! Yet on your radio program, you advocate treatment programs that traumatize, torture, and terrorize their victims! All this without their parents’ knowledge? AND, you have no idea whether these methods are effective or whether they are killing the “patients”?”
“I suppose you could say that.”
“I have actual records for these treatment techniques. Those treated using these techniques have a 95% suicide rate. Most had to be lobotomized to keep them from killing themselves.”
“I have not seen that research.”
“So, Dr. Dobson, you are using your radio show to lure parents into putting their kids in programs that will lead to their children’s deaths?”
“I can’t confirm that.”
“Dr. Dobson, you say there are only boys and girls, and there is NO in between or moving from one to the other?”
“Yes, it’s against the laws of nature?”
The prosecutor held up a picture of flowers in a field. “How many colors do you see Dr. Dobson?”
“I don’t know, thousands?”
“Good, I was afraid you would only see black and white, not even shades of grey.”
“That’s just silly!”
“Yes, however, you advocate persecution of anyone who experiences some shade of grey in their gender, as someone who is demonically possessed?”
Dr. Dobson just froze.
“It’s fine DOCTOR Dobson, you are obviously not qualified to answer that question, so I won’t make you do so.”
“No more questions.”
Defense decided not to redirect.
Conversion Therapy
“Your honor, I would like to submit this document, which describes in detail, complete with illustrations, the methods used in so-called conversion therapy. This is to give the Jury a better understanding of the overall concepts.”
Defense objected on the basis that it was inflammatory.
The Judge frowned. “I told you I would grant more latitude to the prosecutor. You’re the one who wanted to make this a ‘Freedom of Religion’ issue. You can’t blame the prosecutor for looking under the rocks.”
The Defense
The following is an excerpt from "Religious Liberty on Trial"
The trial resumed the following week. As the jury came in it was obvious that they were not happy. They had not originally been told they would be sequestered, and they had already been isolated for a week. They all knew it was because of the surprises motion of the defense. He had not won their hearts and minds with this stunt.
The defense called Dr Jim Dobson of Focus on the Family.
