James Dobson is dead but his ministry’s culture warring lives on in a falsehood-laden attack on America’s Catholic bishops for a “special message” they issued reaffirming “the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants.”
“As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in our Lord Jesus Christ,” said the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in a Nov. 12 missive that was approved by 216 of the 225 voting bishops.
“We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants,” they said. “We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.”
The U.S. bishops lead and represent America’s 60 million Catholics, but Gary Bauer of Dr. James Dobson Family Institute questioned their legitimacy and called them woke and wayward:
- He insulted the bishops by calling them a group “claiming to speak for Christians.”
- He called the bishops’ message “a distortion of the gospel” that “was disguised in the language of compassion and concern for illegal aliens.”
- He claimed the bishops chose “to throw the Bible away and instead side with some of the most radical forces in America.”
- He suggested the bishops’ seeming concern for immigrants is motivated by money.
- He accused the bishops of “actively promoting and enabling mass migration into our country.”
The lengthiest portion of the bishops’ message is a passionate defense of human dignity and appeal for love of neighbor.
Bauer’s Nov. 19 critique, “Distorting the Gospel: The Need for Discernment,” repeatedly claimed the bishops’ concern for immigrants put them in opposition to Bauer’s understanding of Christ:
- “Yes, Christ loves immigrants, but he loves taxpayers, too.”
- “Christ supports law enforcement. Jesus does not love chaos and disorder.”
- “The gospel of Jesus Christ does not endorse mass migration that causes social disintegration and the horrors of civil war.”
Debates over how people should treat immigrants are happening at a time when Donald Trump has called Somali immigrants “garbage” and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has called for “a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches and entitlement junkies.”
The James Dobson Family Institute did not respond to questions about Bauer’s critique.
Bauer, who worked for Dobson at Focus on the Family and Family Research Council, falsely accused the bishops of “defending open borders” and said they “opposed the enforcement of our immigration laws.”
Perhaps he didn’t read their message.
“We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good,” said the bishops’ message. “Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks.”
That wasn’t the only part of the bishops’ message Bauer overlooked. Bauer charged the bishops with not caring about the people enforcing U.S. laws. “Where is the bishops’ concern for the men and women of our federal immigration enforcement agencies?” he asked.
“We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement,” said the bishops’ message.
Bauer also questioned the Catholic leaders’ motives, suggesting their “statement reflects financial self-interest. According to USASpending.gov, which tracks government spending, Catholic charities around the nation received approximately $2.4 billion of taxpayer money during the Biden-Harris years.” Bauer noted Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, also has questioned Catholic teaching on immigrants.
The lengthiest portion of the bishops’ message is a passionate defense of human dignity and appeal for love of neighbor that cites seven Old and New Testament passages.
“The church’s teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). As pastors, we look to Sacred Scripture and the example of the Lord Himself, where we find the wisdom of God’s compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the Prophets remind us, is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10). In the Lord Jesus, we see the One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9), we see the Good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust (Luke 10:30–37), and we see the One who is found in the least of these (Matthew 25). The church’s concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord’s command to love as he has loved us (John 13:34).”
The bishops declared: “To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!”
The bishops commended those who already are caring for their immigrant brothers and sisters at this time and urged others to join them.
“We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of good will to continue and expand such efforts.”
Bauer didn’t cite any Scripture passages in his critique of the bishops’ approach to immigrants, but Dobson did so in one of the last articles to appear under his name before his death in August. The article was part of a July celebration of the 15th anniversary of the James Dobson Family Institute, which he founded in 2010 after leaving Focus.
Dobson’s critique of lax border enforcement compared national borders to biblical boundary stones.
“America is being rocked with violence and riots driven by those who believe our country is not a sovereign nation founded on biblical principles with the obligation to defend its borders and citizens,” he said. “Protesters scream that America is not good and never has been, and it’s unrighteous to enforce boundaries or borders. Yet they ignore the biblical principles that integrate boundaries and mercy.”
“Moses instructed the Jewish people that, ‘Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone’ (Deuteronomy 27:17), and afterward he instructed them, ‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow’ (Deuteronomy 27:19). We learn from these Scriptures that while we are to help the foreigner, it’s not merciful or right to steal from a neighbor to do so. Boundaries and borders matter.”
This article was originally published in Baptist News Global.
