Dr. James Dobson was a great man. This is a fact, not because he was an advisor to five U.S. Presidents (and a special friend and ally of former President Ronald Reagan), the author of seventy (70) books on marriage and family translated into twenty-seven (27) languages, a weekly commentator on four thousand (4,000) radio stations across the U.S., and a member of countless government commissions and investigations. These included The National Advisory Commission for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, the Commission on Child and Family Welfare, and The National Gambling Impact Study Commission. His greatness was due to his compassion and love for humanity and his knowledge and understanding of the critical role marriage and family played in society.
Dr. Dobson was a warrior for life and family, founding the outstanding Focus on the Family organization in 1977, and in 1983 the Family Research Council in Washington D.C., both lasting memorials to his life’s work. Dr. Dobson’s life always reflected his commitment to strengthening and defending the family, and his concern about the breakdown of the traditional family and its negative effects on culture. He took on the major cultural issues of the day, such as abortion, pornography, the LGBTQ+ movement, and the threat to religious liberty. He cast the seeds that led to the foundation of the pro-life/family movement, which became a vital and flourishing alternative to a secular, progressive, woke society. He summarized his concerns for the family in the following statement:
The institution of marriage represents the very foundation of human social order. Everything of value sits on that base … When it is weakened or undermined, the entire superstructure begins to wobble.
(Marriage Under Fire, Multnomah Books, June 9, 2004)
His best-selling 1990 book entitled Children at Risk predicted the fallout we are experiencing today from sex education programs bereft of values, and other mistaken notions about human nature. Dr. Dobson was everything that was honourable, decent and good. His compassion, intelligence and concern for the family were infinite.
REAL Women’s Association with Dr. Dobson
REAL Women of Canada owes a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Dobson. Although our organization is non-denominational, and his position was evangelical and Biblically based, it did not matter to him as he understood and appreciated our values. He did everything he could do to assist REAL Women in our tumultuous early struggles. He put us in contact with individuals who could assist us both financially and politically. He interviewed us many times on his programs heard on four thousand (4000) radio stations across the U.S., some of it reaching Canadian ears. He assisted us in raising money with his contacts across Canada. He never failed to help REAL Women at a time when the feminist ideology was regarded as the great breakthrough for women from their presumed oppression throughout the centuries.
Our then small grassroots organization was regarded by the media (especially The Toronto Star), and some politicians as a barrier to the great breakthrough for the liberation of women. REAL Women had the audacity to raise objections to the extremism of some of the feminist tenets, and continued to insist that the extraordinarily important role of mothers in providing stability to the family must not be undermined. REAL Women believed that regardless of whether the mother worked inside or outside the home, her first priority remained the welfare of her family.
Due to REAL Women’s insolence in refusing to conform to feminist edicts, the media and many politicians believed we should be punished, ridiculed and purged from society. Dr. Dobson’s constant support and encouragement for our work was gratefully received by REAL Women.
Dr. Dobson was a magnificent gift to REAL Women for which we are forever grateful. He is one of the reasons why REAL Women is still standing firm forty-two years later.