James Dobson

==Social views==

=== Views on marriage ===
James Dobson is 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 [[homemaking|homemaker]] mother and [[Breadwinner model|breadwinner]] father.<ref>{{cite book |first1=James C. |last1=Dobson |first2=Gary L. |last2=Bauer |title=Children at Risk |year=1994 |pages=119, 122}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dobson |first=James |title=Why Boys Are So Different |publisher=[[Focus on the Family]] |year=2001 |url=http://www.focusonyourchild.com/develop/art1/A0000716.html |access-date=2007-09-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006062936/http://www.focusonyourchild.com/develop/art1/A0000716.html |archive-date=2007-10-06}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=June 2023}} He recommends that married women with children under the age of 18 focus on mothering, rather than work outside the home.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://family.custhelp.com./cgi-bin/family.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=974 |title=Is it important for mothers to stay home during the teen years? |publisher=Focus on the Family |first=James |last=Dobson |access-date=2008-06-20}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

Dobson views marriage as a transaction in which women exchange sex for protection:<ref name=Johnson1998 />
{{Blockquote
|text=The natural sex appeal of girls serves as their primary source of bargaining power in the game of life. In exchange for feminine affection and love, a man accepts a girl as his lifetime responsibility-supplying her needs and caring for her welfare. This sexual aspect of the marital agreement can hardly be denied.<ref name=Johnson1998 />
|author=James Dobson
|source=''Dare to Discipline'' (1970)
}}

He advises wives to use their social and sexual skills to coerce their husbands into becoming good partners. By doing this, according to Dobson, women will transform male lust into love, and male destructive impulses into useful accomplishments. Hence heterosexual marriage is the cornerstone of civilization, in Dobson's view, when women fulfill their role of civilizing their husbands.<ref name=Johnson1998 />{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=98–99}}

In his 2004 book ''[[Marriage Under Fire]]'', Dobson suggests that heterosexual marriage rates in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have been falling, and that this is due to the recognition of [[same-sex relationship]]s by those countries during the 1990s. He remarks that the "institution of marriage in those countries is rapidly dying" as a result, with most young people [[cohabitation|cohabiting]] or choosing to remain single (living alone) and illegitimacy rates rising in some Norwegian counties up to 80%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mnmarriage.com/docs/Why%20We%20Must%20Win%20This%20Battle.pdf |title=Why We Must Win This Battle |website=mnmarriage.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714104739/http://www.mnmarriage.com/docs/Why%20We%20Must%20Win%20This%20Battle.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-14 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Dobson writes that "every civilization in the world" has been built upon marriage.<ref>Dobson, James C. ''Marriage under fire: why we must win this war.'' Sisters, Or. : Multnomah Publishers, 2004. quoted in McManus, Mike and Harriet McManus. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4QZA_AzsR2oC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77 Living together: myths, risks, and answers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119190737/https://books.google.com/books?id=4QZA_AzsR2oC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77 |date=January 19, 2023 }}''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008.</ref> He also believes that homosexuality is neither a choice nor genetic, but is caused by external factors during early childhood.<ref name=msnbc05>{{cite web |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/22/lkl.01.html |title=Interview With Dr. James Dobson |first=Larry |last=King |publisher=CNN |date=2006-11-22 |access-date=2010-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629135156/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/22/lkl.01.html |archive-date=2011-06-29 |url-status=live}}</ref> He anecdotally cites as evidence the life of actress [[Anne Heche]],<ref name=msnbc06>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8234503 |title='Healed' by God: Evangelical group sponsors conference on nature of gays |first=Alex |last=Johnson |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=2005-06-23 |access-date=2008-06-21 |archive-date=November 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123091427/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8234503 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=stranger05 /> who was previously in a relationship with [[Ellen DeGeneres]]. Criticizing "the realities of judicial tyranny," Dobson has written that "[t]here is no issue today that is more significant to our culture than the defense of the family. Not even the war on terror eclipses it."{{Citation needed|date= October 2015}}

Critics have stated that Dobson's views on homosexuality do not represent the [[Homosexuality and psychology|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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilgoff |first=Dan |title=The Jesus Machine How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdeHmAEACAAJ |year=2008 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |isbn=9780312378448 |pages=56 |access-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119190739/https://books.google.com/books?id=MdeHmAEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dudley |first=Jonathan |title=Broken Words The Misfortunes of Science and Scripture in Evangelical Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHIWXheyNuEC |year=2011 |publisher=[[Random House]] |isbn=9780385525268 |pages=69 |access-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119190743/https://books.google.com/books?id=UHIWXheyNuEC |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Views on schooling===
Focus on the Family supports<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |author=Morning Edition |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124105203 |title=James Dobson Signs Off At Focus On The Family |publisher=NPR |date=2010-02-26 |access-date=2010-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301035322/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124105203 |archive-date=2010-03-01 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[private school]] [[school voucher|vouchers]] and [[tax credit]]s for religious schools. According to Focus on the Family website, Dobson believes that parents are ultimately responsible for their children's education, and encourages parents to visit their children's schools to ask questions and to join the [[Parent-Teacher Association|PTA]] so that they may voice their opinions.<ref name="improveSchool">{{cite web |title=What can parents do to improve public schools? |publisher=Focus on the Family |url=http://family.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/family.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=796 |access-date=2008-06-21}}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Dobson opposes [[sex education]] curricula that are not [[abstinence]]-only.<ref>James Dobson, Bringing Up Girls, (Carol Stream, Ill. USA: Tyndale House Publishers) 2010 pp. 161-163; James Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, (Carol Stream, Ill. USA: Tyndale House Publishers) 2001, pp. 76, 128.</ref>

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.<ref name="PFAW" /> Critics, such as People for the American Way, allege that Focus on the Family encourages Christian teachers to establish prayer groups in public schools.<ref name="PFAW" /><ref name=nation06>{{cite web |url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/zirin |title=You Can Keep the Faith |first=Dave |last=Zirin |date=2006-07-28 |work=[[The Nation]] |access-date=2008-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517043711/http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/zirin |archive-date=2008-05-17 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dobson supports [[school prayer|student-led prayer]] in [[Public school (government funded)|public schools]],<ref name="PFAW" /> and believes that allowing student-led Christian prayer in schools does not violate the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref name=lat95>{{cite news |last1=Stammer |first1=Larry B. |first2=Richard Lee |last2=Colvin |title=Foes Target Amendment on Prayer in Schools; Beliefs: Citing Federal Guidelines, Activists and Some Religious Leaders say a Change in Constitution is Unneeded |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=1995-08-31 |page=3}} "We do not support teacher-led, state-mediated school prayer, but we do believe that students have the same religious rights as other people," said Alan Crippen of "Focus on the Family," a major evangelical Christian broadcast and publications ministry founded by psychologist James Dobson.</ref>

===Views on discipline of children===

In his book ''Dare to Discipline'', Dobson advocates the [[spanking]] of children as young as fifteen months and up to eight years old when they misbehave. In Dobson's opinion, parents must uphold their authority and do so consistently: "When you are defiantly challenged, win decisively."<ref name=DTD /> In ''The Strong-Willed Child'', Dobson draws 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."{{sfn|Dobson|1978|p=6}}

Dobson says corporal punishment should end with the child asking for forgiveness and receiving a hug.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=36}} After a spanking is a good time to have a "heart to heart" talk with a child, according to Dobson: "After the emotional ventilation, the child will often want to crumple at the breast of his parent" which provides an opportunity to re-bond and express love to the child.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=64}}

''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:

{{blockquote|By learning to yield to the loving authority ... of his parents, a child learns to submit to other forms of authority which will confront him later in his life—his teachers, school principal, police, neighbors and employers.{{sfn|Dobson|1978|p=235}} }}

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 in Christianity|salvation]]. Believing that "pain is a marvelous purifier" Dobson recommended corporal punishment as the most effective way to keep the child subordinate to adults. The parent should model both [[divine mercy]] and [[Divine retribution|wrath]] to prepare the [[Original sin|inherently sinful]] child for a relationship with God.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=59,61}} Dobson warned of the dire consequences of failing to discipline one's children: "[[Eli (biblical figure) |Eli, the priest]], permitted his sons to desecrate the temple. All three were put to death."{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=58}}

He warns against "harsh spanking" because "It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child. However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely."<ref name=DTD>*{{cite book |last=Dobson |first=James C. |title=Dare to Discipline |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0553127098 |url-access=registration |date=February 1977 |publisher=Bantam |isbn=0-553-22841-2 |page=23 }}</ref> In a 1997 book, he warns that "discipline must not be harsh and destructive to the child's spirit."<ref>{{cite book |first=James C. |last=Dobson |year=1997 |title=Solid Answers: America's foremost family counselor responds to tough questions facing today's families |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers |location=Wheaton, Illinois |page=130 |isbn=9780842306232 |url=https://archive.org/details/solidanswersamer00dobs/page/130/}}</ref> Dobson considers disciplining children to be a necessary but unpleasant part of raising children that should only be carried out by qualified parents:

{{blockquote|Anyone who has ever [[child abuse|abused]] a child—or has ever felt himself losing control during a spanking—should not expose the child to that tragedy. Anyone who has a violent temper that at times becomes unmanageable should not use that approach. Anyone who secretly 'enjoys' the administration of corporal punishment should not be the one to implement it.<ref name=ffcorporal>{{cite web |url=http://www.uexpress.com/focusonthefamily/?uc_full_date=20041121 |title=Good-Natured Child Needs His Share of Parents' Attention |first=James |last=Dobson |date=2004-11-21 |publisher=Focus on the Family |access-date=2008-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612122328/http://www.uexpress.com/focusonthefamily/?uc_full_date=20041121 |archive-date=2008-06-12 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

When asked "How long do you think a child should be allowed to cry after being punished? Is there a limit?" Dobson responded:

{{blockquote|Yes, I believe there should be a limit. As long as the tears represent a genuine release of emotion, they should be permitted to fall. But crying quickly changes from inner sobbing to an expression of protest ... Real crying usually lasts two minutes or less but may continue for five. After that point, the child is merely complaining, and the change can be recognized in the tone and intensity of his voice. I would require him to stop the protest crying, usually by offering him a little more of whatever caused the original tears. In younger children, crying can easily be stopped by getting them interested in something else.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.troubledwith.com/stellent/groups/public/%5C@fotf_troubledwith/documents/articles/twi_012701.cfm?channel=Parenting%20Children&topic=Discipline&sssct=Questions%20and%20Answers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051212215944/http://www.troubledwith.com/stellent/groups/public/\@fotf_troubledwith/documents/articles/twi_012701.cfm?channel=Parenting%20Children&topic=Discipline&sssct=Questions%20and%20Answers |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-12-12 |title=Discipline problems |access-date=2008-05-04}}</ref>}}

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 [[Scientific method|empirical testing]], but rather are nothing more than expressions of his religious doctrines of "biblical literalism and 'authority-mindedness.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=Divergent Models of Childrearing in Popular Manuals: Conservative Protestants vs. the Mainstream Experts |year=1995 |journal=Sociology of Religion |pages=21–34 |volume=56 |issue=1 |last1=Bartkowski |first1=John P. |last2=Ellison |first2=Christopher G. |doi=10.2307/3712036|jstor=3712036 }}</ref> In the 1980s [[Penelope Leach]] wrote that Dobson's approach is ineffective because, rather than establishing parental authority, spanking only communicates parental frustration and weakness.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=62}}

Although childrearing experts have discredited corporal punishment, Dobson has not moderated his view. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.drjamesdobson.org/blogs/5-reasons-why-spanking-fails |title=5 Reasons Why Spanking Fails |date=November 9, 2015 |first=James |last=Dobson |website=Dr. James Dobson }}</ref>

===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 (character)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]) to "promote tolerance and diversity."<ref name=bbcsb>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4190699.stm |title=US right attacks SpongeBob video |work=BBC News |date=2005-01-20 |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323022539/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4190699.stm |archive-date=2007-03-23 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dobson contended that "[[Toleration|tolerance]]" and "[[Diversity (politics)|diversity]]" are "buzzwords" that the We Are Family Foundation misused as part of a [[homosexual agenda|"hidden agenda" to promote homosexuality]].<ref name=tolerance>{{cite web |url=http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/event.jsp?p=0&ar=625 |title='We Are Family' DVD Still Available |date=2005-09-06 |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |access-date=2008-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114095317/http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/event.jsp?p=0&ar=625 |archive-date=2009-01-14}}</ref> Kate Zernik noted Dobson asserting: "tolerance and its first cousin, diversity, 'are almost always buzzwords for homosexual advocacy.'"<ref name=nytkz>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE1DE153BF933A05752C0A9639C8B63 |title=Buzzwords; Hello, Synergy, Begone, Crisis |date=2005-01-30 |last=Zernike |first=Kate |author-link=Kate Zernike |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109205644/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE1DE153BF933A05752C0A9639C8B63 |archive-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> He stated 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=131 |title=Religious Right Attacks Tolerance Pledge |date=March 2005 |access-date=2008-06-20 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713225454/http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=131 |archive-date=July 13, 2007}}</ref> He offered as evidence the association of many leading LGBT rights organizations, including [[GLAAD]], [[Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network|GLSEN]], [[Human Rights Campaign|HRC]], and [[Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays|PFLAG]], with the We Are Family Foundation as shown by links which he claims once existed on their website.<ref name= cpost>{{cite web |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/dobson-clarifies-pro-gay-spongebob-video-controversy-20875/ |title=Dobson clarifies Pro-Gay SpongeBob Video Controversy |last=Chang |first=Pauline J. |date=January 28, 2005 |newspaper=The Christian Post |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721232727/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20050128/20875.htm |archive-date=2012-07-21 |access-date=May 9, 2018 |url-status=unfit}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0035309.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051005224429/http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0035309.cfm |archive-date=2005-10-05 |url-status=unfit |title=Dr. Dobson Takes on Media over 'SpongeBob' Controversy |website=CitizenLink}}</ref>

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."<ref name=nytdk2>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/politics/20sponge.html?ex=1263877200&en=a1bb4268064fb8bd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland |title=Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge |last=Kirkpatrick |first=David D. |author-link=David D. Kirkpatrick |date=2005-01-20 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610210042/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/politics/20sponge.html?ex=1263877200&en=a1bb4268064fb8bd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland |archive-date=2008-06-10 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dobson countered:

{{blockquote|I want to be clear: the We Are Family Foundation—the organization that sponsored the video featuring SpongeBob and the other characters was, until this flap occurred, making available a variety of explicitly pro-homosexual materials on its Web site. It has since endeavored to hide that fact, but my concerns are as legitimate today as they were when I first expressed them in January.<ref name=cpost />}}

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."<ref name=tolerance />

===Views on homosexuality===
Dobson believes that God defines marriage as between one man and one woman only and describes this as the central stabilizing institution of society.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} Dobson believes that any sexual activity outside of such a union—including homosexuality—cannot be approved by God.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} In Dobson's view, homosexuality results from influences in a child's [[environment and sexual orientation|environment rather than an inborn trait]]. He states that homosexual behavior, specifically "unwanted same-sex attraction", has been and can be "[[Sexual orientation change efforts|overcome]]" through understanding developmental models for homosexuality and choosing to heal the complex developmental issues which led to same-sex attraction.<ref name=stranger05>{{cite news |first=David |last=Schmader |title=Jesus Hates You; Christians Rationalize Bigotry at "Love Won Out" |work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |date=2005-06-30 |volume=14 |issue=42 |page=16}}</ref>

Focus on the Family ministry sponsors<ref name="autogenerated1"/> the monthly conference [[Love Won Out]], where participants hear "powerful stories of [[ex-gay]] men and women."<ref name=msnbc05 /> [[Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays]] (P-FLAG) has protested against the conference in Orlando, questioning both its [[methodology]] and supposed success.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/orlando-sentinel-gay-activists-to-protest-orlando-event-notion-that-homosexuality-is-curable/ |title=Orlando Sentinel: Gay activists to protest Orlando event, notion that homosexuality is 'curable' |date=2008-06-06 |access-date=2008-09-05 |work=Truthwinsout.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011221908/http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/orlando-sentinel-gay-activists-to-protest-orlando-event-notion-that-homosexuality-is-curable/ |archive-date=October 11, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In regards to the conference, Dobson has stated that "Gay activists come with preconceived notions about who we are and what we believe and about the hate that boils from within, which is simply not true. Regardless of what the media might say, Focus on the Family has no interest in promoting [[homophobia|hatred toward homosexuals]] or anyone else. We also don't wish to deprive them of their basic [[constitutional right]]s ... The Constitution applies to all of us."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/gays-still-looking-for-love-from-christians-31579/ |title=Gays Still Looking for Love from Christians |newspaper=The Christian Post |last=Kwon |first=Lillian |date=2008-03-19 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102070247/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080319/31579_Gays_Still_Looking_for_Love_from_Christians.htm |archive-date=2013-01-02 |access-date=2018-05-26 |url-status=unfit}}</ref> Dobson strongly opposes the movement to legitimize same-sex relationships.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} In his book ''Bringing Up Boys'', Dobson states, "[T]he disorder is not typically 'chosen.' Homosexuals deeply resent being told that they selected this same-sex inclination in pursuit of sexual excitement or some other motive. It is unfair, and I don't blame them for being irritated by that assumption. Who among us would knowingly choose a path that would result in alienation from family, rejection by friends, disdain from the heterosexual world, exposure to sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis, and even a shorter lifespan?"<ref>''Bringing Up Boys'', Focus on the Family 2003, pp. 115-116</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paulson |first=Steven K. |title=Gay rights group: Dobson manipulated research |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=2006-07-17 |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/17/gay_rights_group_dobson_manipulated_data/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304194456/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/17/gay_rights_group_dobson_manipulated_data/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-03-04}}</ref> In response to Dobson's claim that "there have been more than ten thousand studies that have showed that children do best when they are raised with a mother and a father who are committed to each other,"{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} Stacey replied that "[a]ll of those studies that Dobson is referring to are studies that did not include gay or lesbian parents as part of the research base."<ref>{{YouTube|gaCCe9XVSRo|Dr. Judith Stacey on James Dobson's Distortions}}</ref>

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 [[sexual predator|predator]], [[bisexual]], [[transvestite|cross-dresser]] or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence."<ref name=dpost08>{{cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9420864 |title=Anti-bias measure inked: Governor signs bill covering sexual orientation, religious beliefs |last=Ingold |first=John |work=[[The Denver Post]] |date=2008-05-30 |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609234946/http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9420864 |archive-date=2008-06-09 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=137923 |title=Controversial ad offends transgendered community |last=Welte |first=Rachel |date=May 22, 2008 |work=Colorado Connection |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708175530/http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=137923 |archive-date=July 8, 2011}}</ref>

===Views on mass shootings===

In 2012, in a broadcast titled "A Nation Shaken by the [[Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting|Sandy Hook Tragedy]]," Dobson said that the mass shooting was a judgement by God because of American acceptance of gay marriage and legal abortion.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/james-dobson-connecticut-shooting-a-result-of-god-allowing-judgment-to-fall-on-america-newtown-ct-sandy-hook.html |title=James Dobson: Connecticut Shooting a Result of God Allowing Judgment to Fall on America |first=Elena |last=Garcia |date=December 18, 2012 |work=The Christian Post}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Dobson2019">{{cite web |first=James C. |last=Dobson |title=Dr. Dobson's September Newsletter |date=September 2019 |website=Dr. James Dobson |url=https://www.drjamesdobson.org/newsletters/dr-dobsons-september-newsletter-2 }}</ref>

===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 nonjudgemental stance toward abortion because "the Bible is silent on the subject" except for some interpretations of {{Bibleverse|Exodus|21:22–23|NRSV}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rethinking Life: Embracing the Sacredness of Every Person |first=Shane |last=Claiborne |year=2023 |isbn=9780310363910 
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irx3EAAAQBAJ |publisher=Zondervan |pages=193–202}}</ref>

Starting in the 1980s, Dobson became an implacable enemy of legal abortion, and a major force in the [[anti-abortion movement]].{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=196}} His message centered upon biblically moral mothers who sacrificed for their children; he chastised unmarried mothers or rebellious teenagers who selfishly treated unwanted pregnancy as an inconvenience rather than a sacred duty. He broadcast interviews with women who kept pregnancies because their trust in God overcame their own emotions and desires.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=198–199}} For example, he published a story celebrating Jane Stillson, who chose to finish a pregnancy even though it prevented her from completing her treatment for cancer, thus risking her life.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=201}}

Dobson contends 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.{{sfn|Ridgely|2016|p=200}} 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 views the [[gender binary]] as fundamental to humanity; he believes God created men and women to differ "in every cell of their bodies."{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=82}}  These [[Complementarianism|complementary]] differences make them well-suited to [[traditional gender roles]].{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=96–98}} "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."{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=82–83}}

Though created for traditional gender roles, people are not born following these roles. The roles must be taught, Dobson says, and must be defended from anyone who questions them.  Dobson argues 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.{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=96–98}}

Dobson considers [[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 seemed to romanticize a time in the past in when men were masculine enough to shoot trans women.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/6/01/james-dobson-be-man-shoot-transgender-woman-bathroom |title=James Dobson: Be a Man, Shoot a Trans Woman in the Bathroom |work=The Advocate |date=June 1, 2016 |first=Trudy |last=Ring }}</ref> He also considers 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 character]]s in movies, complaining when men are shown as inferior to a "confident superchick."{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=83}}<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Dobson |year=1975 |title=What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women |location=Wheaton, Illinois |publisher=Tyndale House |pages=140–141 |url=https://archive.org/details/whatwiveswishthe0000dobs/ }}</ref> This is dangerous, he says, because the true role of women is to harness the superior energy of men.{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=84}}