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Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006 - 2:38 p.m.

Utter disbelief

(Comment here is added after this whole entry was made.This may be my last political comment for a while. I have to stop and get the bad taste out of my mouth. There is a reason why You are our Shield and Defender)

Why can someone of a liberal viewpoint say any fool thing, but those of a conservative point of view are forbidden to?

James Dobson's article for Time Magazine on Mary Cheney's pregnancy, "Two Mommies is One Too Many". ACTUAL ARTICLE FROM TIME same article as viewed from other side REPRINT OF ARTICLE FROM FOCUS SITE

If you would like to email Time Magazine ABOUT choosing Dobson as one of their guest editors, send an email to:

Time Magazine
[email protected]


Two of the researchers Dobson quoted in his article were Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale Medical School and educational psychologist Carol Gilligan.

These folk have rebuked Dobson for distorting(?) their research and have demanded that he not use their work in the future.
Dobson wrote:
The unique value of fathers has been explained by Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale Medical School in his book Fatherneed: Why Father Care Is as Essential as Mother Care for Your Child. Pruett says dads are critically important simply because "fathers do not mother." Psychology Today explained in 1996 that "fatherhood turns out to be a complex and unique phenomenon with huge consequences for the emotional and intellectual growth of children." A father, as a male parent, makes unique contributions to the task of parenting that a mother cannot emulate, and vice versa.

Pruett "Dr. Dobson,
I was startled and disappointed to see my work referenced in the current Time Magazine piece in which you opined that social science, such as mine, supports your convictions opposing lesbian and gay parenthood. I write now to insist that you not quote from my research in your media campaigns, personal or corporate, without previously securing my permission. You cherry-picked a phrase to shore up highly (in my view) discriminatory purposes. This practice is condemned in real science, common though it may be in pseudo-science circles. There is nothing in my longitudinal research or any of my writings to support such conclusions. On page 134 of the book you cite in your piece, I wrote, �What we do know is that there is no reason for concern about the development or psychological competence of children living with gay fathers. It is love that binds relationships, not sex.�

Kyle Pruett, M.D.
Yale School of Medicine

James Dobson wrote,

According to educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, mothers tend to stress sympathy, grace and care to their children, while fathers accent justice, fairness and duty. Moms give a child a sense of hopefulness; dads provide a sense of right and wrong and its consequences. Other researchers have determined that boys are not born with an understanding of "maleness." They have to learn it, ideally from their fathers.

Gilligan "Dear Dr. Dobson:

I am writing to ask that you cease and desist from quoting my research in the future. I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work this week in a guest column you wrote in Time Magazine. Not only did you take my research out of context, you did so without my knowledge to support discriminatory goals that I do not agree with. What you wrote was not truthful and I ask that you refrain from ever quoting me again and that you apologize for twisting my work.

From what I understand, this is not the first time you have manipulated research in pursuit of your goals. This practice is not in the best interest of scientific inquiry, nor does bearing false witness serve your purpose of furthering morality and strengthening the family.

Finally, there is nothing in my research that would lead you to draw the stated conclusions you did in the Time article. My work in no way suggests same-gender families are harmful to children or can�t raise these children to be as healthy and well adjusted as those brought up in traditional households.

I trust that this will be the last time my work is cited by Focus on the Family.

Sincerely,

Carol Gilligan, PhD
New York University, Professor

The executive director of Truth Wins Out, Wayne Besen, added:


�No reputable media outlet should continue using Focus on the Family as a resource because they are chronically dishonest and lack credibility,� said Besen. �James Dobson should start to wonder if there is something inherently wrong with his stance on gay issues if the only way he can support his positions is outright lying.�

KDIP-------This is my response to Time Magazine;

"Thank you for including Dr. James Dobson as a guest editor on a touchy subject. I can't believe the furor raised by his use of quotes from Pruett and Gilligan. As a recent college student, I have been taught that quoting and giving the citation is the correct way to substantiate my train of thought. Apparently, many scientists today think only those in complete agreement politically may quote from them (or at least that seems to be the opinion of Pruett and Gilligan). I found Dobson's remarks about daughter Cheney to be unoffensive. While he evidently did not agree with choices and the results of such choices, he did not stoop to unkind statements. Since when is it obligatory for conservatives to agree with everything liberals agree yet, yet the reverse is not true? Is this still America?"
-------------------------------LATER Just out of curiousity, I went to Focus on the Family's website to see if they had any thing to say about the response to Time's OpEd piece, since the only sources I had looked at were from the extreme of one side. Sure enough, there were several pages when I typed in the appropriate search words and the pages were most interesting. Complete citations from the researchers quoted (all of them) an interesting refutation of the article written by female, which refutation gave citations comparing her figures to actual US Census figures. Yes, figures lie, and liars figure. You pays yer money, and yer takes yer choice.-------------------------------------------------My view for many years is that we who claim to be born again, not just religious, have brought alot of trouble upon ourselves by abandoning our unique position as those set apart to try to get just as much like the world as possible, and to try to make the world a place where we can be comfortable with our Biblical principles. That cannot happen. This world is not our place. We are ambassadors of a different Kingdom and we have forgotten that, even the most conservative of us. It reminds me of the old cartoon of the boat in the raging sea, rescuing drowning sinners in the first frame. The second frame shows the same boat overturned in the waves but proudly declaring all to be in the boat now. How blind we can be sometimes.

I can't solve this newest problem, anymore than any of the social problems can be solved by political warfare. But I do have a voice. There is coming a choice to be made. It may well determine our physical life status, it for sure will determine our eternal life status. Cultural things are not going to get better for those who know Christ, they will get worse and worse. Then we will go Home, one way or another.

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