Standing Strong for Values
A transcript of Dr. James Dobson's speech at the recent Washington Briefing Values Voters Summit.
At a gala dinner banquet in the Washington Hilton on Saturday October 20th, 2007, Dr. James Dobson was presented with the Family Research Council's "Vision and Leadership" award. Standing before over 1,000 friends and supporters, the Chairman and Founder of Focus on the Family delivered an impassioned and moving address to conclude this year's Washington Briefing. Dr. Dobson offered his most personal perspective to date regarding the current state of the American political landscape. Speaking only for himself — and not for Focus on the Family — the popular author and family psychologist attempted to articulate the ideal priorities of an informed Christian voter. The following transcript of his remarks has been edited for clarity. You can also listen to Dr. Dobson's speech here.
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My goodness! It's overwhelming! I … I … I'm not trying to be falsely humble, but I do want to tell you, the Lord knows another side to this story. He knows that I have a neat little relationship with Him. You know, I steal His ideas and I get the credit. And so, I thank you all for being here and for your part in it.
And Shirley, my goodness, 47 years and uh … I think it's gonna work. We have a wonderful marriage. It's not a perfect marriage, because Shirley's not perfect, but she is very close to it. Shirley, I have to say something to you tonight. I've waited nearly 50 years to say it. It's time that I admit somethin' to you. I cheated with the nickel. So, integrity only goes so far. She was the catch of the campus and I couldn't leave anything to chance.
On the way over here tonight, she turned to me and I knew she was gonna tell that story and she turned to me and said, "How did you do that?" I said, "Don't ask."
Shirley was such a[n] incredible college student. I just uh … can't tell you what she was like. She was so much fun. And when she was a senior, she ran for Homecoming Queen. She didn't want to, but she was nominated and so, she decided to let her name come up. And she appointed me her campaign manager. And so, I figured I had to give some thought to this. And I made a poster and I wrote a poem. And I put the poster where students had to walk.
Now Shirley's maiden name is Deere — D-double E-R-E — Shirley Deere. So, I wrote:
"A hundred years ago today a wilderness was here.
A man with powder in his gun went forth to hunt a deer.
But now that things have changed somewhat; a school has been erected.
And a girl with powder on her nose, goes forth to get elected."
Shirley won! And I get the credit for it. You saw a video of my grandson, who three nights ago turned one year of age. And I'm telling you, he is somethin' else! Now I would like to introduce you to the mother of the Crown Prince, Laura Dobson, sitting right here.
Now Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to tell you what you know that I know and that is, that it's been exciting, has it not? The media's been tellin' everybody for months and months and months that the pro-family movement and the pro-life movement are dying. Well, to the media who's here, may I say, "Welcome to the morgue."
It ain't dead yet! And I think you're gonna be heard from this year, because it's so important that we get involved. And that may be a bottom line right from the top of what I want to say.
Now let me tell you somethin'. I am gonna be speaking just very briefly from my heart, but also for myself. I am not speaking for Focus on the Family. I'm not speaking for Focus on the Family Action. I'm not speaking for the Family Research Council. I'm not speaking for the Family Research Council Action. I'm speaking for myself, just for me. And if you don't like what I say, go on supporting those other organizations, because it's important to do so. But I'm telling you what I think.
I want to say first of all, there is an ominous feeling in the air among the pro-family movement and community at this time. There are gathering storm clouds on the horizon. There is, you know, at least the possibility that the far, far Left is going to capture the Triple Crown in '08. That means the White House. That means the House of Representatives. That means the Senate. It means all of the offices of government. It means the Cabinet.
And of course, if that were to happen and many people are predicting it at this time, then of course, it would mean the Supreme Court will quickly change. And that could set the direction of the dominant branch of government for the next 30 years. And that's scary! That is ominous and yet, it is out there. And it is something that we need to be aware of. And we need to go back and we need to work and we need to pray and we need to get involved, because we can't let that happen!
The total domination of the federal government, which may be matched by the domination of many of the statehouses of government, will, if it happens, be catastrophic and will have great implications for that little boy that you just saw and other members of his generation and generations to come.
Now there's another concern related to this and this is fairly recent and many people are not aware of it. But there are now radical, deeply committed billionaires out there, who are pledging hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to change this country. It happened in Colorado, which went from a red state to a blue state, because of the money put in local races. And one of them, Tim Gill — uh … I think he's a billionaire — has pledged his entire fortune to this cause. And then you have the Stryker family and you have the Soros people. And I mean, it can go on and on.
But you know what? There aren't comparable people on our side of the ledger. They may be out there, but they don't give! And it's like pulling teeth to get people to contribute to what they call "political causes," instead of referring to them as what they are, which are moral concerns that we need to be aware of.
Now that has created a great deal of anxiety. I believe that our brothers and sisters in Christ and members of the pro-family movement are in a state of anxiousness now over where we're going and what might happen. You're not … some of you are not gonna agree with me; but it has caused some people to say, "We need to set aside our moral beliefs and our principles and our values that we have been working on for 25 years, because the prospect of losing in '08 is so great." And that causes me great concern, because we must not give up now. We must stay the course.
Some … some people are talking. You hear this a lot now. They talk about the lesser of two evils; choose the lesser. Well, the only problem with that is, when you choose a lesser of two evils, you've still chosen evil. And uh, it leads to compromise. And I tell you, I can't do that.
If you think back, let's suppose that it were in the middle of the 1800s. And, uh … you have two American Presidents running against each other. And one of them is very conservative. One of them believes in smaller government, believes in fiscal responsibility, uh … believes in most of the things that conservatives today believe in.
And his opponent is uh … is a person who is decidedly liberal in all aspects. But they both believe in slavery. Would you vote for the lesser of two evils? I would not. I would never subject any human being to involuntary servitude under any circumstances. And I would not give my vote to put such a person in power. I would not do that.
I shared the other night when I spoke about being at USC in the late 60s when everything went crazy. And I was in child development, workin' on a Ph.D. and many of my professors already were supporting abortion. Even though it wasn't legal, they were hammerin' for it. And they were gettin' to me, because I hadn't thought that through and uh … I was beginning to buy into the notion.
And I would go home and I'd have dinner with my folks. And I would tell my dad, "You know, Dad, there are these kids. They're born in the inner city. Nobody wants them. They come into the world. There's nobody to take care of 'em. And they are often abused. They're on the street, blah, blah, blah."
And my dad would look at me and these big tears would flood up in his eyes and the tears would run down his face. And he would say to me, "I would never cast one vote for a politician that would kill even one of those innocent babies."
And he forced me to think about it and then, a little bit later, a little boy named Ryan came into our family. He was adopted and some precious woman — I'd never met her; I never had an opportunity to thank her; she may be out there somewhere today — but she carried that baby to term and allowed him to be put in our arms and gave us the privilege of raising him. Every child a wanted child, indeed!
And I began to understand and the Lord began to talk to me. And regardless of how I tried to control it, whenever I spoke on that subject, I couldn't fight the tears. And nobody was talkin' about it.
[In] '73, the Supreme Court said, "This is legal. This is okay. It's a woman's right to choose." And I was trying to express what I was feeling and what I believed and trying to do it in a way that people understood. Evangelicals were silent. Pastors were silent! There may have been a few that had the courage to stand up in the mid-70s and talk about it. But I tell you, very, very few of 'em and too few today, I might say.
And the … That's not entirely fair, 'cause there were many that are taking a stand. But the Catholic Church, of which I'm not a member, was out there long before we woke up. And they were fighting. But then it went from an awareness to a passion, to a deep, deep conviction. And that's what got me involved in the White House conferences on the family and then through the 80s and I was invited to the White House, as Attorney General Meese mentioned. And I was advising President Reagan when I had an opportunity.
And in '88, I came to this city for a rally. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't some people here who were there on that day, because there were 400,000 people there at the Washington Monument. And I stood there on that occasion and there were videotapes rolling and we still have the videotape. And guess what I said. "I will never for the rest of my life, cast a single vote for anyone who would kill an innocent baby." I was quoting my dad!
Well, that has been a commitment of my life. It is why now when we are so terrified by the prospect of losing, that we for not … not forget who we are and what we came to do. And we will not turn our backs on 45 million unborn children whose blood calls out to us!
Thank you all. I apologize for the emotion. It has been an emotional night already and I apologize to you and didn't have any intention of losing it like that. But it is still true. It was true when I first started speaking about it and it's true now. And why? Because it's a movement? No! Because I feel the … the intensity of the Lord and what He feels about these little babies that He is developing in the mother's womb. And I believe this is His value system that we are represented and not just our own.
Well, that's … that's the sanctity of human life, dealing with the elderly and dealing with infanticide and all through the spectrum from conception to the grave. I will support that as long as I have breath within my body.
There's another issue that … that you know about, having to do with the institution of marriage. You may not know that it is on the ropes today. Everybody's kind of forgotten it. You know, in '04 and a little bit in '06, uh … people got a little excited about it. Well, marriage is under attack and we'd better do somethin' about it. But it seems like as the media bored with that subject, that it kind of went away.
Our families are in greater danger now than they've ever been. In the Northeast particularly and specifically in New Jersey, the legislature now has the votes for the first time, to create same-sex marriage — not because a court did it, as in Massachusetts and other places, but because they have the votes to create it.
If that occurs and if the people who vote for same-sex marriage are not punished at the polls, if they get away with it, I guarantee you that Rhode Island and Delaware and Connecticut and New York and Washington, Oregon and California will follow suit.
You get about eight states out there that create same-sex marriage — not by court decree where it has occurred in other places, but because of the elected representatives doing it — then you're going to have same-sex marriages spread all across the country and establish families. Marriage as we have known it, will be gone.
And that's why it's so important to understand why the Marriage Protection Amendment was so important and still is. You can't have 50 different definitions of marriage! And this great institution that has been with us for 5,000 years, as long as there's been recorded history, all the far-flung regions of the earth, marriage has been defined as a man and a woman. Now there have been times when homosexual relationships flourished, almost an epidemic in Rome and in Greece and Sodom and Gomorrah and other places. But marriage, even in those places, was defined as a marriage between a man and a woman.
And now what are we gonna do? Are we gonna throw it on the ash heap of history? I say no! Do you agree?
Those are just two concerns. I don't have time to talk about the others, but there are many other moral principles. What do you do if the Republican party decides to nominate somebody that contradicts those basic principles? What do you do? Do you go for the lesser of two evils?
Well, we got in our car — Shirley and I did — three weeks ago and we drove to Salt Lake, where there was a meeting called by Bob Fisher, who is here tonight. I did not convene the meeting. I didn't chair the meeting, but I was there and so was Shirley. And there were about, I think 50, 52 people there. We discussed for well over an hour, nearly two hours, what will we do?
And then it was personalized. What will I do if it is a choice between unacceptable alternatives? And at one point near the end, Bob asked the group, "I'm gonna put out a proposal, a proposition to you. And then I would like to take a straw poll as to how you feel about it." And this is my recollection of the proposition.
"If either of the two major parties nominate an individual who does not pledge himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, I — we — will join others in voting for minor party candidates. And if you agree with that, please stand." And there were 44 people who stood. I think there were either five or six who did not. But it was almost unanimous.
And of course, it went right to the media and as usual, they got it wrong. They said that we had voted to create a third party. And that was never the intent.
In fact, I stood and argued against that, because I agree with Gary Bauer and what he said last night, that that's a direct route to political suicide. Third parties have only worked one time, so there's only been one third party and that was in 1860. All the rest of 'em have failed. It will not pass; it will not be successful this time. What it'll do is just damage the possibilities for winning within one of the two parties. And I think most of you would agree that, that would probably be the Republican Party, although the Republican Party has frustrated me a lot in the last few years.
My friend, Richard Viguerie said the other day something that really struck me. He said, "The pro-family and pro-life community is very much like a mistress for the Republican Party." Pardon; this is a little graphic, but he said, "They really like us to come in the afternoon for a little conversation at election time. And then, they leave. And uh … they want us if we meet 'em on the street, to not act like we know 'em. And by all means, they don't want us to come to the club." And it has been that way for a long time.
They need us to get elected. I spoke on this in '88 … '98 and my goodness, people are still mad at me about that one, but I was irritated because the Republicans ran on a platform that they couldn't deliver on. And uh … ever since George Bush has been in … we had the Triple Crown! We had the White House, the House and the Senate. And the Republicans sat there for six years and did almost nothing.
So, the media told everybody and yesterday they said it again. I mean, I've gone out of my way. I've said it to everybody who's asked. We're not starting a third party. Yesterday New York Times said that I'm starting a third party. And uh … so, what did I do? I thought, "Well, I'll … I will put it into words for 'em." So, I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times. It was published at the top of the page and it said, "Values Test." That was the headline up here. And in it, I described what happened in Salt Lake and said, "We're not starting a third party."
Do you know what they did? They put a box in the middle of my op-ed and it said and I quote, "Evangelicals will look to third party if major candidates back abortion." It says that in the box. And right there in my op-ed it said it wasn't. You get the feeling maybe that, that's what they want us to do? They're enticing us. They are goading us to start a third party. I hope you all do not participate in it.
But I do hope that if you're faced with the lesser of two evils, you will vote for somebody else. I'm not tryin' to tell everybody else how to vote. I am telling you we're not in the general election yet. We're in a primary!
Do you know that two days after my op-ed, the New York Times ran a poll that said, "Sixty percent of white Evangelical Christians said they will not vote for someone who believes in abortion." So, I got a lot of company!
But for three weeks, I have been skewered. Never in 30 years have I been criticized like I have for this position. And some of you have been angry at me and you may be tonight. And I understand that. There are strong passions about all this. And uh … you know, there is the possibility that we'll have somebody in the White House that we just absolutely cannot tolerate, but we'll have to.
I'll close with this. There are so many reasons for optimism. We are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the people. I was on the treadmill yesterday morning and CNN announced a poll and the question was, "Is abortion wrong?" Not of evangelicals, but of the American people as by a representative sample and 60 percent said, "Yes."
The Pew Organization did a poll last fall that asked the same question, only they said, "Is abortion morally wrong?" And 73 percent said, "Yes." That other poll that I told you about earlier, uh … that said 60 percent of the people would not vote for a pro-abortion candidate, 86 percent said presidential candidates jud … should be judged on both their political record and their personal life. So, we got a lot of support out there.
And so, I came here just to say that. Stay the course! Keep your confidence! It's a long way. It's a full year … a little more to the next general election. Many things can happen. You know, we could even have a brokered convention. You don't know where it's going. And we've seen the range of opinion here. Who knows how that's gonna play out? But the Democrats are not a shoe-in. No matter what you're hearing in the media, it is not …
Shirley is Chairman of the National Day of Prayer and her organization had 50,000 prayer events last year. And they're gonna mobilize. I ask you to mobilize. Prayer makes a difference! And that's what the polling people don't take into consideration, because we've seen it happen before. Miracles do occur and there are times when God simply intervenes in the lives of man and especially, if we're on our knees asking for His blessing, not to help us win! Don't pray like that. Ask that the Lord would help us assure that His will is done. And that's what I came here …
Now I've kind of fumbled around with this tonight. I … this is a very unusual evening for me and a very emotional one. And I don't know if I've gotten across my point or not. Sometimes I'm more eloquent than others. But I can tell you, this comes deeply from within my heart. And let's put an arm around each other. Let's don't criticize each other.
I ask you to pray, not only for the nation and for this great institution of the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family and the others. I ask you to pray for me, because I am an ordinary man. You heard all of these nice things tonight. I'm honored that the nice things were said, but I am asking for wisdom. I'm in a position of influence. I didn't ask for it. I'm here. I just ask you to pray that the Lord will guide my steps, Shirley's steps and others, who are simply tryin' to do His will. I love you all. Thank you for listening to me.
*****
After giving this speech, Dr. Dobson expressed his sentiment in a single sentence: "It is never right to do what is wrong, and it is never wrong to do what is right."
*****
My goodness! It's overwhelming! I … I … I'm not trying to be falsely humble, but I do want to tell you, the Lord knows another side to this story. He knows that I have a neat little relationship with Him. You know, I steal His ideas and I get the credit. And so, I thank you all for being here and for your part in it.
And Shirley, my goodness, 47 years and uh … I think it's gonna work. We have a wonderful marriage. It's not a perfect marriage, because Shirley's not perfect, but she is very close to it. Shirley, I have to say something to you tonight. I've waited nearly 50 years to say it. It's time that I admit somethin' to you. I cheated with the nickel. So, integrity only goes so far. She was the catch of the campus and I couldn't leave anything to chance.
On the way over here tonight, she turned to me and I knew she was gonna tell that story and she turned to me and said, "How did you do that?" I said, "Don't ask."
Shirley was such a[n] incredible college student. I just uh … can't tell you what she was like. She was so much fun. And when she was a senior, she ran for Homecoming Queen. She didn't want to, but she was nominated and so, she decided to let her name come up. And she appointed me her campaign manager. And so, I figured I had to give some thought to this. And I made a poster and I wrote a poem. And I put the poster where students had to walk.
Now Shirley's maiden name is Deere — D-double E-R-E — Shirley Deere. So, I wrote:
"A hundred years ago today a wilderness was here.
A man with powder in his gun went forth to hunt a deer.
But now that things have changed somewhat; a school has been erected.
And a girl with powder on her nose, goes forth to get elected."
Shirley won! And I get the credit for it. You saw a video of my grandson, who three nights ago turned one year of age. And I'm telling you, he is somethin' else! Now I would like to introduce you to the mother of the Crown Prince, Laura Dobson, sitting right here.
Now Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to tell you what you know that I know and that is, that it's been exciting, has it not? The media's been tellin' everybody for months and months and months that the pro-family movement and the pro-life movement are dying. Well, to the media who's here, may I say, "Welcome to the morgue."
It ain't dead yet! And I think you're gonna be heard from this year, because it's so important that we get involved. And that may be a bottom line right from the top of what I want to say.
Now let me tell you somethin'. I am gonna be speaking just very briefly from my heart, but also for myself. I am not speaking for Focus on the Family. I'm not speaking for Focus on the Family Action. I'm not speaking for the Family Research Council. I'm not speaking for the Family Research Council Action. I'm speaking for myself, just for me. And if you don't like what I say, go on supporting those other organizations, because it's important to do so. But I'm telling you what I think.
I want to say first of all, there is an ominous feeling in the air among the pro-family movement and community at this time. There are gathering storm clouds on the horizon. There is, you know, at least the possibility that the far, far Left is going to capture the Triple Crown in '08. That means the White House. That means the House of Representatives. That means the Senate. It means all of the offices of government. It means the Cabinet.
And of course, if that were to happen and many people are predicting it at this time, then of course, it would mean the Supreme Court will quickly change. And that could set the direction of the dominant branch of government for the next 30 years. And that's scary! That is ominous and yet, it is out there. And it is something that we need to be aware of. And we need to go back and we need to work and we need to pray and we need to get involved, because we can't let that happen!
The total domination of the federal government, which may be matched by the domination of many of the statehouses of government, will, if it happens, be catastrophic and will have great implications for that little boy that you just saw and other members of his generation and generations to come.
Now there's another concern related to this and this is fairly recent and many people are not aware of it. But there are now radical, deeply committed billionaires out there, who are pledging hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to change this country. It happened in Colorado, which went from a red state to a blue state, because of the money put in local races. And one of them, Tim Gill — uh … I think he's a billionaire — has pledged his entire fortune to this cause. And then you have the Stryker family and you have the Soros people. And I mean, it can go on and on.
But you know what? There aren't comparable people on our side of the ledger. They may be out there, but they don't give! And it's like pulling teeth to get people to contribute to what they call "political causes," instead of referring to them as what they are, which are moral concerns that we need to be aware of.
Now that has created a great deal of anxiety. I believe that our brothers and sisters in Christ and members of the pro-family movement are in a state of anxiousness now over where we're going and what might happen. You're not … some of you are not gonna agree with me; but it has caused some people to say, "We need to set aside our moral beliefs and our principles and our values that we have been working on for 25 years, because the prospect of losing in '08 is so great." And that causes me great concern, because we must not give up now. We must stay the course.
Some … some people are talking. You hear this a lot now. They talk about the lesser of two evils; choose the lesser. Well, the only problem with that is, when you choose a lesser of two evils, you've still chosen evil. And uh, it leads to compromise. And I tell you, I can't do that.
If you think back, let's suppose that it were in the middle of the 1800s. And, uh … you have two American Presidents running against each other. And one of them is very conservative. One of them believes in smaller government, believes in fiscal responsibility, uh … believes in most of the things that conservatives today believe in.
And his opponent is uh … is a person who is decidedly liberal in all aspects. But they both believe in slavery. Would you vote for the lesser of two evils? I would not. I would never subject any human being to involuntary servitude under any circumstances. And I would not give my vote to put such a person in power. I would not do that.
I shared the other night when I spoke about being at USC in the late 60s when everything went crazy. And I was in child development, workin' on a Ph.D. and many of my professors already were supporting abortion. Even though it wasn't legal, they were hammerin' for it. And they were gettin' to me, because I hadn't thought that through and uh … I was beginning to buy into the notion.
And I would go home and I'd have dinner with my folks. And I would tell my dad, "You know, Dad, there are these kids. They're born in the inner city. Nobody wants them. They come into the world. There's nobody to take care of 'em. And they are often abused. They're on the street, blah, blah, blah."
And my dad would look at me and these big tears would flood up in his eyes and the tears would run down his face. And he would say to me, "I would never cast one vote for a politician that would kill even one of those innocent babies."
And he forced me to think about it and then, a little bit later, a little boy named Ryan came into our family. He was adopted and some precious woman — I'd never met her; I never had an opportunity to thank her; she may be out there somewhere today — but she carried that baby to term and allowed him to be put in our arms and gave us the privilege of raising him. Every child a wanted child, indeed!
And I began to understand and the Lord began to talk to me. And regardless of how I tried to control it, whenever I spoke on that subject, I couldn't fight the tears. And nobody was talkin' about it.
[In] '73, the Supreme Court said, "This is legal. This is okay. It's a woman's right to choose." And I was trying to express what I was feeling and what I believed and trying to do it in a way that people understood. Evangelicals were silent. Pastors were silent! There may have been a few that had the courage to stand up in the mid-70s and talk about it. But I tell you, very, very few of 'em and too few today, I might say.
And the … That's not entirely fair, 'cause there were many that are taking a stand. But the Catholic Church, of which I'm not a member, was out there long before we woke up. And they were fighting. But then it went from an awareness to a passion, to a deep, deep conviction. And that's what got me involved in the White House conferences on the family and then through the 80s and I was invited to the White House, as Attorney General Meese mentioned. And I was advising President Reagan when I had an opportunity.
And in '88, I came to this city for a rally. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't some people here who were there on that day, because there were 400,000 people there at the Washington Monument. And I stood there on that occasion and there were videotapes rolling and we still have the videotape. And guess what I said. "I will never for the rest of my life, cast a single vote for anyone who would kill an innocent baby." I was quoting my dad!
Well, that has been a commitment of my life. It is why now when we are so terrified by the prospect of losing, that we for not … not forget who we are and what we came to do. And we will not turn our backs on 45 million unborn children whose blood calls out to us!
Thank you all. I apologize for the emotion. It has been an emotional night already and I apologize to you and didn't have any intention of losing it like that. But it is still true. It was true when I first started speaking about it and it's true now. And why? Because it's a movement? No! Because I feel the … the intensity of the Lord and what He feels about these little babies that He is developing in the mother's womb. And I believe this is His value system that we are represented and not just our own.
Well, that's … that's the sanctity of human life, dealing with the elderly and dealing with infanticide and all through the spectrum from conception to the grave. I will support that as long as I have breath within my body.
There's another issue that … that you know about, having to do with the institution of marriage. You may not know that it is on the ropes today. Everybody's kind of forgotten it. You know, in '04 and a little bit in '06, uh … people got a little excited about it. Well, marriage is under attack and we'd better do somethin' about it. But it seems like as the media bored with that subject, that it kind of went away.
Our families are in greater danger now than they've ever been. In the Northeast particularly and specifically in New Jersey, the legislature now has the votes for the first time, to create same-sex marriage — not because a court did it, as in Massachusetts and other places, but because they have the votes to create it.
If that occurs and if the people who vote for same-sex marriage are not punished at the polls, if they get away with it, I guarantee you that Rhode Island and Delaware and Connecticut and New York and Washington, Oregon and California will follow suit.
You get about eight states out there that create same-sex marriage — not by court decree where it has occurred in other places, but because of the elected representatives doing it — then you're going to have same-sex marriages spread all across the country and establish families. Marriage as we have known it, will be gone.
And that's why it's so important to understand why the Marriage Protection Amendment was so important and still is. You can't have 50 different definitions of marriage! And this great institution that has been with us for 5,000 years, as long as there's been recorded history, all the far-flung regions of the earth, marriage has been defined as a man and a woman. Now there have been times when homosexual relationships flourished, almost an epidemic in Rome and in Greece and Sodom and Gomorrah and other places. But marriage, even in those places, was defined as a marriage between a man and a woman.
And now what are we gonna do? Are we gonna throw it on the ash heap of history? I say no! Do you agree?
Those are just two concerns. I don't have time to talk about the others, but there are many other moral principles. What do you do if the Republican party decides to nominate somebody that contradicts those basic principles? What do you do? Do you go for the lesser of two evils?
Well, we got in our car — Shirley and I did — three weeks ago and we drove to Salt Lake, where there was a meeting called by Bob Fisher, who is here tonight. I did not convene the meeting. I didn't chair the meeting, but I was there and so was Shirley. And there were about, I think 50, 52 people there. We discussed for well over an hour, nearly two hours, what will we do?
And then it was personalized. What will I do if it is a choice between unacceptable alternatives? And at one point near the end, Bob asked the group, "I'm gonna put out a proposal, a proposition to you. And then I would like to take a straw poll as to how you feel about it." And this is my recollection of the proposition.
"If either of the two major parties nominate an individual who does not pledge himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, I — we — will join others in voting for minor party candidates. And if you agree with that, please stand." And there were 44 people who stood. I think there were either five or six who did not. But it was almost unanimous.
And of course, it went right to the media and as usual, they got it wrong. They said that we had voted to create a third party. And that was never the intent.
In fact, I stood and argued against that, because I agree with Gary Bauer and what he said last night, that that's a direct route to political suicide. Third parties have only worked one time, so there's only been one third party and that was in 1860. All the rest of 'em have failed. It will not pass; it will not be successful this time. What it'll do is just damage the possibilities for winning within one of the two parties. And I think most of you would agree that, that would probably be the Republican Party, although the Republican Party has frustrated me a lot in the last few years.
My friend, Richard Viguerie said the other day something that really struck me. He said, "The pro-family and pro-life community is very much like a mistress for the Republican Party." Pardon; this is a little graphic, but he said, "They really like us to come in the afternoon for a little conversation at election time. And then, they leave. And uh … they want us if we meet 'em on the street, to not act like we know 'em. And by all means, they don't want us to come to the club." And it has been that way for a long time.
They need us to get elected. I spoke on this in '88 … '98 and my goodness, people are still mad at me about that one, but I was irritated because the Republicans ran on a platform that they couldn't deliver on. And uh … ever since George Bush has been in … we had the Triple Crown! We had the White House, the House and the Senate. And the Republicans sat there for six years and did almost nothing.
So, the media told everybody and yesterday they said it again. I mean, I've gone out of my way. I've said it to everybody who's asked. We're not starting a third party. Yesterday New York Times said that I'm starting a third party. And uh … so, what did I do? I thought, "Well, I'll … I will put it into words for 'em." So, I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times. It was published at the top of the page and it said, "Values Test." That was the headline up here. And in it, I described what happened in Salt Lake and said, "We're not starting a third party."
Do you know what they did? They put a box in the middle of my op-ed and it said and I quote, "Evangelicals will look to third party if major candidates back abortion." It says that in the box. And right there in my op-ed it said it wasn't. You get the feeling maybe that, that's what they want us to do? They're enticing us. They are goading us to start a third party. I hope you all do not participate in it.
But I do hope that if you're faced with the lesser of two evils, you will vote for somebody else. I'm not tryin' to tell everybody else how to vote. I am telling you we're not in the general election yet. We're in a primary!
Do you know that two days after my op-ed, the New York Times ran a poll that said, "Sixty percent of white Evangelical Christians said they will not vote for someone who believes in abortion." So, I got a lot of company!
But for three weeks, I have been skewered. Never in 30 years have I been criticized like I have for this position. And some of you have been angry at me and you may be tonight. And I understand that. There are strong passions about all this. And uh … you know, there is the possibility that we'll have somebody in the White House that we just absolutely cannot tolerate, but we'll have to.
I'll close with this. There are so many reasons for optimism. We are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the people. I was on the treadmill yesterday morning and CNN announced a poll and the question was, "Is abortion wrong?" Not of evangelicals, but of the American people as by a representative sample and 60 percent said, "Yes."
The Pew Organization did a poll last fall that asked the same question, only they said, "Is abortion morally wrong?" And 73 percent said, "Yes." That other poll that I told you about earlier, uh … that said 60 percent of the people would not vote for a pro-abortion candidate, 86 percent said presidential candidates jud … should be judged on both their political record and their personal life. So, we got a lot of support out there.
And so, I came here just to say that. Stay the course! Keep your confidence! It's a long way. It's a full year … a little more to the next general election. Many things can happen. You know, we could even have a brokered convention. You don't know where it's going. And we've seen the range of opinion here. Who knows how that's gonna play out? But the Democrats are not a shoe-in. No matter what you're hearing in the media, it is not …
Shirley is Chairman of the National Day of Prayer and her organization had 50,000 prayer events last year. And they're gonna mobilize. I ask you to mobilize. Prayer makes a difference! And that's what the polling people don't take into consideration, because we've seen it happen before. Miracles do occur and there are times when God simply intervenes in the lives of man and especially, if we're on our knees asking for His blessing, not to help us win! Don't pray like that. Ask that the Lord would help us assure that His will is done. And that's what I came here …
Now I've kind of fumbled around with this tonight. I … this is a very unusual evening for me and a very emotional one. And I don't know if I've gotten across my point or not. Sometimes I'm more eloquent than others. But I can tell you, this comes deeply from within my heart. And let's put an arm around each other. Let's don't criticize each other.
I ask you to pray, not only for the nation and for this great institution of the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family and the others. I ask you to pray for me, because I am an ordinary man. You heard all of these nice things tonight. I'm honored that the nice things were said, but I am asking for wisdom. I'm in a position of influence. I didn't ask for it. I'm here. I just ask you to pray that the Lord will guide my steps, Shirley's steps and others, who are simply tryin' to do His will. I love you all. Thank you for listening to me.
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After giving this speech, Dr. Dobson expressed his sentiment in a single sentence: "It is never right to do what is wrong, and it is never wrong to do what is right."