William Grigg from Pro Libertate has an uncanny knack for calling out people of power and influence. He's especially good at pegging phonies. In this article, he takes on the "palace prophets" of our age.
The object of sharing this rather emancipated paraphrase of I Kings 22 is to underscore the moral and practical futility of seeking wisdom from religious leaders who are on the state's payroll, or who covet the power that comes from proximity to the politically powerful.Chief among those who serve on Caesar's payroll, and the main target of Mr. Grigg's article, is faux-Evangelical "Doctor"* James Dobson.
I do not intend to interpolate my own views into the Scripture, but from what I know of human nature it seems likely that many of the payola prophets who took part in Ahab's “Faith-Based Initiative” probably believed that their compromises were necessary in order to advance some worthwhile objective or another. After all, working in partnership with the government is the key to getting things done, isn't it?
Here's a critically important principle: In any “public/private partnership,” the state is always the senior partner. When Christian leaders are on Caesar's payroll, they have to render to him things to which he is not entitled. And when Caesar's tactical priorities change, those religious leaders who thought they could co-opt the power of the state to do good will discover, to their dismay, that the state has co-opted them, leaving it stronger and more hostile toward the values those leaders supposedly served.
"Doctor" Dobson has walked down the same unholy path as his predecessors, Jerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson. To say I have nothing but the highest contempt for those two asshats is to understate the loathing I have and have ALWAYS had for them. They were Christianity's worst enemies, the fifth-column undermining us from within with their trust in the arm of Government over the arm of God.
"Doctor" Dobson has now supplanted the dead Fallwell and doddering (and utterly sold-out) Robertson (remember: he endorsed Rudy f'ing Guiliani earlier this year). He stands alone as the "palace prophet" in the ignoble tradition of Zedekiah and the other 399 sell-outs of Ahab's court. His allegiance is no longer to the things of God. No, he wants to be on the side of power.
Earlier this year, the "Doctor" boldly proclaimed that he would not under ANY circumstance EVER vote for John McCommie. Yeah, sure. Now he's hedging and saying that he might "reconsider" and actually endorse McCommie since Obama is so antithetical to his beliefs. And what beliefs might THOSE be, "Doctor"? Your belief in remaining close to the levers of power?
By their fruits you shall know them. If "Doctor" Dobson really cared about the things of God, he would decry BOTH candidates and BOTH major political parties and work his ass off to throw Evangelical support behind either Dr. Ron Paul or Libertarian Bob Barr. But he'd never do that, because, given the libertarian beliefs of both of those good men, there wouldn't be any perks or goodies to be garnered from their presidency.
"Doctor" Dobson, you're a phony and a false prophet. Those of you who call yourselves Christians need to distance yourselves from this charlatan posthaste, or you'll sink with him when Caesar decides he's done with him.
* Bias alert. I have a default posture of negativity towards anyone who insists on being called "Doctor" who isn't a practicing clinician or professor. My pastor has a Doctorate: he insists on being called "Richard". My kinda guy!
