James Dobson Biography
James Dobson is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he ran from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s, he was regarded as one of the most powerful advocates for conservative social viewpoints in American public life.
How old is James Dobson? – Age
He is 87 years old as of April 21, 2023. He was born in 1936 in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. His real name is James Clayton Dobson Jr.
James Dobson Family – Education
Myrtle Georgia (née Dillingham) and James C. Dobson Sr. gave birth to Dobson in Shreveport, Louisiana. Religion has been an important aspect of his life since he was very young. He once told a reporter that he learnt to pray before he began to speak, and he claims to have given his life to Jesus at the age of three in response to his father’s altar call. He is the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Church of the Nazarene pastors.
Dobson’s mother was intolerant of “sassiness” and would strike her child with whatever weapon was available, including a shoe or belt; she once dealt Dobson a “massive blow” with a girdle furnished with straps and buckles.
The parents brought their small boy along to see his father preach. Like most Nazarenes, they outlawed dancing and going to the movies. Young “Jimmie Lee” (as he was known) focused on his academics. Dobson studied academic psychology and came to believe that he was called to be a Christian counselor or psychologist. He attended Pasadena College as an undergraduate and was the tennis team captain. The University of Southern California awarded Dobson a doctorate in psychology in 1967.
James Dobson Wife – Children
Dobson and Shirley Deere married on August 26, 1960. The couple has two children: Danae and Ryan. Dobson is a staunch supporter of marriage, which he defines as “one where husband and wife are lawfully married, are committed to each other for life,” and have a homemaker mother and a breadwinner father. According to him, women are not considered inferior to men because both are created in God’s image, but each gender has biblically assigned roles. He suggests that married women with children under the age of 18 focus on motherhood rather than working outside the home.
James Dobson Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $4.5 million.
James Dobson Family Talk
In 1977, he created Focus on the Family. By the mid-1990s, he had transformed the organization into a multimedia empire, with ten radio shows, eleven periodicals, several movies, basketball camps, and a weekly fax of suggested sermon ideas and bulletin fillers to hundreds of churches. In 1995, the organization’s budget exceeded $100 million per year.
In 1979-1980, Jimmy Carter hosted a White House Conference on Families, which specifically featured a “diversity of families” with varying configurations. Dobson opposed, claiming that only his chosen definition of the traditional family — one led by a man breadwinner married to a female caregiver — should be accepted by the conference. He also complained about not being invited to the event planning meetings. At Dobson’s encouragement, his listeners mailed 80,000 letters to the White House requesting that he be welcomed, which he was eventually granted. This revealed to Dobson his ability to mobilize his followers for political purposes.
Beginning in 1980, Dobson established networks of political activists and lobbying organizations to oppose LGBT rights and legal abortion, among other socially conservative policy aims. He fostered links with Republican figures like Ronald Reagan. In 1981, he co-founded the Family Research Council, a federal lobbying organization categorized as a hate group, as well as the Family Policy Councils, which lobby at the state level. When Focus on the Family moved to Colorado Springs in 1991, the city started to be called “the Vatican of the Religious Right” with Dobson imagined as an evangelical pope. When Focus on the Family moved to Colorado Springs in 1991, the city was dubbed the “Vatican of the Religious Right,” with Dobson depicted as an evangelical pope.
James Dobson Interview with Ted Bundy
Dobson interviewed serial killer Ted Bundy on tape the day before his execution on January 24, 1989. The interview became contentious because Bundy was given the opportunity to try to justify his conduct (rape and murder of 30 young women). Bundy stated in the interview (in a reversal of his former position) that violent pornography played an important part in shaping and crystallizing his fantasies. During an interview with Republican Florida prosecutor John Tanner in May 1989, Dobson advocated for Bundy’s forgiveness. The Bundy tapes generated more than $1 million in revenue for Focus for the Family, with $600,000 donated to anti-pornography and anti-abortion causes.
James Dobson Dare to Discipline
Dobson became well-known for his 1970 book Dare to Discipline, which discussed corporal punishment. In it, he advises parents to strike children with switches or belts, which should be stored on the child’s dresser as a reminder of authority. Popenoe authored the book’s introduction. Dobson’s book was a challenge to Benjamin Spock’s lax parenting ideals.Though the book was not overtly political, Dobson saw his parenting practices as a solution to the 1960s’ social unrest. Dobson felt that by returning to the authoritarian parenting approach prominent in previous ages, he might maintain order, obedience, and social hierarchy.The book immediately sold over two million copies, cementing Dobson’s reputation as a trusted expert among parents perplexed by the rapid changes of the time.
James Dobson Books
♦ 2000 – Straight Talk to Men
♦ 2000 – Life on the Edge
♦ 2001 – The New Hide or Seek: Building Confidence in Your Child
♦ 2001 – When God Doesn’t Make Sense
♦ 2002 – Bringing Up Boys: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Men.
♦ 2003 – Parents’ Answer Book. Living Books
♦ 2004 – Romantic Love: How to Be Head Over Heels and Still Land on Your Feet. Regal Books
♦ 2004 – Dr. James Dobson on Parenting
♦ 2004 – Love for a Lifetime: Building a Marriage That Will Go the Distance
♦ 2007 – Love Must Be Tough: New Hope for Families in Crisis
♦ 2007 – The New Strong-Willed Child
♦ 2007 – Stories of Heart and Home
♦ 2010 – Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women. Tyndale House
