Friday, December 24, 2004  

Printer-friendly Version E-mail Story

Dobson urges listeners to vote; much is 'on the line,' he says
November 02, 2004
By Michael Foust

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)--Without mentioning names or political parties, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson told his audience Monday that moral issues are "on the line" in Tuesday's election and that evangelicals must get out and vote.

"[I]f you identify with the pro-life and pro-family movement, if you believe there is a right and wrong, if you believe in absolute truth, it's all on the line tomorrow," Dobson told his nationwide radio audience.

Evangelicals are a significant part of President Bush's base, and the president's positions on abortion, embryonic stem cell research and a constitutional marriage amendment have kept most of them in the fold in the last four years.

An Oct. 31 poll by the Pew Research Center showed white evangelical Protestants supporting Bush by a margin of 75-20 percent.

The future makeup of the Supreme Court is at stake in Tuesday's election, Dobson asserted. Evangelicals have pushed for years to have the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion overturned and tempered. Now, they fear that a future Supreme Court will force same-sex "marriage" on the country.

Dobson noted that millions of evangelicals sat out the 2000 election, in which Bush won Florida -- and thus the election -- by 537 votes.

"It could easily be that close this year," Dobson said. "Your vote counts. Every vote counts. What's at stake ... is the Supreme Court. The next president could well appoint up to four Supreme Court justices, and they will set the tone for the judiciary -- which is already out of control -- for the next century.

"There is no way to overstate what's at stake here, and I’m not just talking about the presidency. I'm talking about the Senate and the House and the state offices of government and the local ordinances."

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, made a similar point during the Oct. 30 radio broadcast of "Richard Land Live!"

"This is a huge decision -- one which will have enormous consequences, for you, for your children and for your grandchildren," Land said of the presidential election.

Dobson urged his listeners to pray and fast for God's will to be done in the election.

"[P]lease spend 15 minutes to do your duty to your God and your family and to this nation [by voting]. There is a responsibility here -- 4 million evangelicals, people like many of those listening to us, were simply too busy four years ago to go to the polls. And as a result, the outcome hung in the balance 'til the last minute.

"... There is a spiritual battle going on.... And we simply must let our voices be heard," Dobson said.

 

© 2004, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - All Rights Reserved
Home | Contact Us | Reprint Permission