Out-of-Focus Family Values

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Focus on the Family, a national Christian group with the purported aim of strengthening families, announced this week that it is laying off forty-six people, the group’s third major layoff in the past four years. Focus is, in fact, more clearly “focused” on promoting a fundamentalist Christian agenda than it is on strengthening families.

The founder of Focus on the Family, James Dobson, is a media-savvy evangelist who consistently finds it difficult to recognize and stand clear of the line separating church and state. Through Dobson’s leadership the organization recently spent over half-a-million dollars in support of California’s infamous piece of hate legislation – Proposition 8. In fact, Focus on the Family was the seventh largest donor to the Hate campaign.

So, good job, Dobson. How many of your forty-six soon-to-be-fired employees could have kept their jobs with that huge wad of cash that you shipped off to California? You got the glory and they got the boot! You’ve protected family values by denying basic civil rights to the gays and lesbians of California, but what have you done to those families who were part of the “Focus Family”? Have those families been strengthened by your capricious squandering of your beggar’s booty?

Yes, you have glorified yourself with your little foray into California politics, but at what price? While you are stuffing your face this holiday season, wallowing in greed and opulence, please take a few minutes to remember your forty-six employees who lost their jobs just before Thanksgiving. Their holidays probably won’t be as merry and bright as yours, but at least they will have the comfort of knowing that they are no longer dependent on a hypocrite for their daily bread.

And while you’re at it, also take a moment to remember the loving couples of California (and the rest of the world) whose lifestyles you abhor. May their holidays be a joyous affirmation of their love and their hopes for a better future, a future in which they will be recognized in the same manner as any other couple – with a state marriage license.

Judge not, Dobson, lest ye be judged. And when you have a little spare time on your hands, why not ponder the meaning of the Golden Rule?