Yesterday the news was abuzz with Dr. James Dobson’s comments, broadcast on his daily radio show Focus on the Family, concerning Barack Obama. Dobson was commenting on a 2006 speech Obama made regarding his own faith and the role of faith in politics. Last night I went back and listened to the entire Dobson program ( listen here) and read the transcript of Obama’s speech in its entirety ( read here).

Dobson’s associate, Tom Minnery, does most of the criticism of Obama, but James Dobson chimes in in the critique. They focus on a handful of Obama’s comments accusing him of having a “distorted theology” and a “fruitcake” interpretation of the Constitution.

There are many things that James Dobson has said and done over the course of his ministry that I have found helpful and meaningful. And though my more progressive friends dismiss him as simply part of the “religious right”, seeing gray includes finding the truth on both sides of the theological and political spectrum and recognizing that there is much good that people like James Dobson have done.

Having said that, I found Dobson and Minnery’s comments that Obama has a “distorted theology” a bit distorted themselves. They took a handful of excerpts from the speech and, I believe, missed the point.

I would encourage you, if you heard the program, to read Barack Obama’s speech in it’s entirety. I don’t agree with Obama about everything, and there are several issues with which I strongly disagree with him, but I felt this particular speech accurately captured how many younger evangelically minded Christians understand the role of church and state. I also found it disarmingly honest and helpful in understanding his own faith and how he brings it to bear on his own politics.