A Dobson's 10 Commandments Wedding
All the wingnuts are talking today about the Supreme Court decisions about Ten Commandments monuments. When I saw the issue discussed on TV, it seemed fairly clear-cut (monuments that were part of displays about legal and cultural history were okay in public buildings; monuments meant to establish Christianity as the State Religion, poke a thumb in the eye of the courts, and jump on Roy Moore's bandwagon weren't constitutional). But the wingnuts are making it sound like not only are they being sorely oppressed again, but that now nobody will know whether it's okay to steal, covet, and commit adultery and stuff.
So, let's hear what James Dobson and Focus on the Family have to say about this:
Court Issues 'Dangerous' Decisions on Ten Commandments
Two key decisions on public display of the Decalogue fail to clarify what's constitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a pair of Ten Commandments cases today, decisions Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson, Ph.D., said "tore a hole through the First Amendment."
Gee, if it has a hole it it, how will we be able to have a free press, peaceably assemble, or petition the government for redress of grievances?
On separate 5-4 votes, the Court ruled unconstitutional Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses, while it upheld the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol.
But the Texas ruling is far from a victory, according to Dobson.
"This was no affirmation of the right of religious expression — particularly Christian religious expression — in the public square," Dobson said. "It was an argument rooted in logic along the lines of, "Well, the Commandments have been around for a long time, so long, in fact, that they're kind of like any other historical decoration that might be used to adorn the walls or the grounds of a public building. So let them stay in place and keep accumulating dust."
And the Justices never should have relied on logic to make their decision -- they should have used GOD!
In the Kentucky case, ACLU v. McCreary County, the justices ordered McCreary and Pulaski counties to take down framed copies of the Ten Commandments placed in their courthouses in 1999.
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Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence said what seemed to make the difference for the justices was the fact Kentucky county commissioners had issued a resolution expressing openly religious motives and purposes for putting up the display.
"They later went through a series of three displays where they increasingly conformed with what the Supreme Court has said about having secular documents with the religious documents," Lorence said. "But even with that, the court basically was swayed by what they perceived to be a 'bad attitude' that had been expressed in the past."
That rationale bothered Gary Bauer, president of American Values.
"Is this now the great sin in American culture — to be defiant of our masters on the federal courts?" Bauer asked. "The people of Kentucky, operating through their elected officials, were doing what I thought America was all about, which was expressing their own deeply held views about what they wanted to honor in displays on public property. The Supreme Court is on dangerous ground."
What kind of America is this, where judges say that it's unconstitutional for elected officials to express their own deeply held views about how their religion should be honored in displays on public property?
Both decisions, [ex-judge Roy Moore] told CitizenLink, struck a devastating blow to Christianity.
"They have actually confused the public by leaving one display and removing one display,
Because the public is so stupid (and religion is so weak) that any decision that isn't totally black-and-white will strike a devastating blow to Christianity.
but their reasoning is what's so dangerous and harmful," Moore said. "They are saying basically you can acknowledge God as long as you don't recognize that you believe in Him."
Then maybe you shouldn't have tried your Ten Commandments rock stunt, Roy, because I think God blames you for this devastating blow to His religion.
Dobson agreed.
Well, any reasonable person would. ... No, wait, I guess Dobson actually agrees with Moore, and not with me.
"What the court decided today," he said, "is that it's OK to keep a Ten Commandments monument on state-owned land, so long as you don't consider what's written on the stone tablets to be anything more than empty words from a bygone era that is only worth remembering as a distant point on a timeline."
He added all people of faith need to be ready for the next step — the fight to fill an anticipated vacancy on the Supreme Court.
"These decisions make it more evident than ever that the next justice must be a 'strict constructionist,'
In other words, the next justice must be somebody who constructs the First Amendment to say, "The Judiciary shall not forbid the other two branches (and the states) from establishing evangelical Christianity as the state religion, and shall not prohibit tax money from being used to promote the free exercise thereof."
a jurist who understands his or her role is to uphold, not shred, the Constitution," Dobson said. "All people of faith, those 'values voters' who made the difference in the last election, must be prepared to make their voices heard to make sure a future Supreme Court lineup doesn't eradicate our rights as individuals to acknowledge God publicly."
And to keep the Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, atheists (and probably the Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and other weirdos) from having the same rights.
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Anyway, reading the Focus on the Family call to arms reminded me that we haven't focused on Dobson's family for a while. So, let's check in with surfer dude (and author of Be Intolerant: Because I'm With Stupid) Ryan Dobson.
6/8/2005
Yes, yes, I know. I haven’t posted very much this (or last) month. It’s cuz I’m getting married this weekend! It’s finally here. Everyone is arriving in town these next few days, there’s a party at my place this weekend and then the big day is here. That is also the reason for the shortage of shows, but fear not. I have three shows coming so that while I’m away on my honeymoon you’ll have some great interviews to listen to. Next week the infamous Sid Stankovitz gets interviewed in his own tattoo shop (this is the same place Stephen Baldwin was interviewed. The next week I interviewed Jean Marie Jobs from ACCD. This is a great interview about transforming lives and communication. Finally the third interview is with my good friend and pro skater Richard Mulder. They are great shows so listen up and tell some friends. Send up some prayers for Laura and I as we embark on this new journey together and I’ll be back in the studio late this month bringing you some more great shows.
God Bless,
Ryan
So, I guess Ryan is a married man by now. I wasn't sure that the wedding would actually come off, since he and Laura only met in November or December, and got engaged three weeks later -- but unless she faked her own kidnapping and took a bus to Vegas, they are hitched.
A while ago, English Teach (who blogs at Left in the Heartland) shared with me some interesting info. And now seems to be the appropriate time to share it with you: Ryan has been divorced! What's more, his first wife is apparently still alive, and so this second marriage constitutes adultery!
Yes, Ryan was formerly married to Cezanne N. Williams of Seattle (some sources say that her name is Danita, so she possibly went by a nickname, or maybe the other sources are just wrong). They seem to have met at Biola University ("a private Christian university based on evangelical Christianity"), where in 1994, she was the assistant manager of the women's soccer team, and he was one of the team managers. (She was apparently an accomplished athlete. While attending her private Christian high school in the 80's, she set some school track records. And as a junior and senior at Biola, she won soccer awards in 1992 and 1993. However, I can't see where Ryan won any athletic awards.)
Ryan graduated from Biola in 1995, after having dropped out of another Christian university and being a loser for a while. After graduation, Ryan's Dad got him a job at the Family Research Council, and he reportedly married Cezanne in 1999. Dad bought the newlyweds a nice condo in Southern CA (well, it should have been nice for the price). But the marriage didn't last, and the couple were divorced in 2001
You'll find no info about Cezanne at the Focus on the Family "How is Dr. Dobson's Family?" page. A letter to Exit and Support Network suggests an interesting reason why that may be:
I just found your website today because I was doing some research into Focus on the Family. My mother and I are born again Christians. Now my mother has been listening to Focus radio programs for many years and receiving magazine and Christmas cards from the organization. She knew that James Dobson's son was married to a Danita Williams in 1999 (because we live in Seattle and Danita is from a nearby town). Anyhow, my mother found it odd that Focus never published any family photos showing Ryan and Danita so she called up Focus on the phone. The operator there sounded scared and wouldn't give a straight answer... then I started hunting for information and learned only today that Ryan was divorced back in 2001 and that apparently some Focus employees have been fired just for talking about it.
My mother suspects that Danita is a black woman and this had/has something to do with James Dobson never publishing any photos of the couple (my family happens to be black by the way).
Well, Focus on the Family could have skipped the photos of Ryan's wife in order to protect her privacy. (And after the divorce, she would have been erased from the histories anyway). And there's no info about Laura at the FofFsite either. But yeah, they could have left Cezanne off the site because she was black.
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Anyway, as a wedding present to Laura, here are "Seven Secrets for Wives" from Nancy Williams, long-time married woman, and the "editress" of Above Rubies:
1. SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBAND’S HEADSHIP.
God did not devise submission to bring wives into bondage. No, it is for our blessing, protection and covering. God’s ultimate plan is for His female creation to be under protection throughout their entire lives – under their father’s protection as a single person and then under their husband’s protection when they marry.
Because God made women weak and stupid, and thus needing protection their entire lives.
2. SUPPORT YOUR HUSBAND.
In many homes today there are two Adams, both trying to fulfill the role of Adam the provider, rather than an Adam and an Eve.
No, she's not talking about one of those "Adam and Steve" marriages, she's talking about marriages where the wife doesn't stay home and bake bread and have babies, but insists on earning money and stuff.
Many women have rejected the role of embracing and nurturing children to take on the husband’s responsibility.The greatest calling that God has given to women is being cut off because they would rather have Adam’s job! As we have adopted this humanistic stance, we see more and more divorce and broken marriages.
Women who stay pregnant and barefoot rarely have the resources to consult divorce lawyers -- as God intended.
3. SERVE YOUR HUSBAND.
Daily prepare a nutritious and appetizing meal for him. There is nothing more soothing than coming home to find the table set nicely, the meal ready with delicious smells floating from the kitchen, a peaceful atmosphere, and everyone ready to sit down to the evening meal.
After a hard day of surfing, getting tattooted, and interviewing skaters and Baldwins, Ryan will need a nice, peaceful, home cooked meal.
4. SWEETEN YOUR MARRIAGE.
Ouch! This is a challenge to me. If I start to get a little harsh, Colin will say, "Come on, Darling, be sweet to me."
"Give some sugar to Colin," he will say. And Nancy will, um, honor his headship.
5. SANCTIFY YOUR MARRIAGE WITH PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING
Pumpkin pie and turkey are very sanctifying.
6. SEPARATE EVIL FROM YOUR MARRIAGE.
Keep your marriage bed holy. Just because you are married does not give you license to do kinky things. True intimacy in the sexual act can be gloriously satisfying without trying other things.
Remember: missionary position only!
Don’t bring death to your bed. Most contraceptives either kill newly formed life, or kill the sperm that holds the potential of future life.
And we mustn't do anything to kill the holy sperm that holds such potential -- so maybe you should keep any extras in a jar in the fridge.
7. STRENGTHEN YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR MARRIAGE.
There may be times when the tide goes out on your marriage. When the tide goes out, you see all the ugly things on the beach.
Ugly things. Gross things. Hideous things. And that will just be in the marriage bed.
When the tide goes out on your marriage, the ugly things loom large. But don’t despair. Don’t look at the rubbish. Look to the Lord. There is a divine law I want to remind you about. The tide ALWAYS COMES IN AGAIN!
Since Ryan is a surfer, I'm sure this advice will be especially relevant to Laura. I hope that she and Ryan have a long and happy marriage -- at least, longer than his marriage to Cezanne. I also hope that Ryan's new book Be Hateful and Judgmental: Because You Know You Want To does as well as his last one did, and that the new bride doesn't plan on having children or pets -- because her father-in-law shouldn't be allowed around them.
3:55:28 AM 
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