# Think your child is gay. James Dobson can help. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571 "2005-08-11T11:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/41 "2005-08-11T19:10:55Z")
Dobson is also one of the richest (in terms of his organization) and most powerful political forces among Fundamentalists in the nation. I’ve known many people who only know him from his folksy sermonettes during morning talk-shows discussing family values (the type nobody can argue with) and good parenting and caring about others and the like and thus they really like him, having _no idea_ how vitriolic is hatred of gays and promotion of “reparative” concentration camps and the like are. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/42 "2005-08-11T20:25:06Z")
He also put a fair amount of money towards the anti-same-sex-marriage forces in Canada. Oh well… _les chiens aboient, le caravane passe._ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/43 "2005-08-11T20:47:28Z")
For those who don’t speak French, Matt just said “If a Chinaman pulls up behind you in a [Caravan](http://www.dodge.com/caravan/), let him pass”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/44 "2005-08-11T20:51:27Z")
For the less linguisticly sophisticated: “The Chinese have no sense for ambience, and caravans are no longer in style.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/45 "2005-08-11T21:42:28Z")
“…also, Dude, ‘chinaman’ is not the perferred nomenclature…” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/46 "2005-08-11T22:01:34Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > “…also, Dude, ‘chinaman’ is not the perferred nomenclature…” Sorry… “Chinaman American” ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/47 "2005-08-11T22:39:25Z")
Hey, if we can say Dutchman, Irishman, or Scotsman, then we can say Chinaman. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/48 "2005-08-11T22:53:07Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > …Who, btw is James Dobson? Though he doesn’t look much like [Bob Tilton in this video](http://www.big-boys.com/articles/fartp4.html) - his message usually causes quite a similar stink ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/49 "2005-08-11T23:39:44Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > _les chiens aboient, le caravane passe._ Funny. I read it as “The Chinese are \*boyant \* but their Caravans are out of style.” ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/50 "2005-08-11T23:43:37Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > An idiot. > > Head of something called “Focus on the Family” or some such. He can be summed up as a homophobic right-wing religious extremist who deserves to have his scrotum eaten slowly by thousands of needle-pincered beetles. > > He’s not quite as bad as Jerry Falwell though. _cough_ not just any idiot. And much worse than Falwell IMHO. Dobson is the most powerful evangelical in the country right now. Here’s from [Harper’s](http://www.harpers.org/FeelingTheHate.html) on him > [@](#): > > Dobson is perhaps the most powerful figure in the Dominionist movement. He was instrumental three years ago in purging the moderate chairman of the NRB from his post and speaks frequently with the White House. He was a crucial player in getting out the Christian vote for George W. Bush. … He employs 1,300 people, sends out 4 million pieces of mail each month, and is heard on radio broadcasts in ninety-nine countries. His estimated listening audience is more than 200 million worldwide; in the United States alone, he appears on 100 television stations each day. He calls for a constitutional amendment to permit prayer in the public schools. He sponsors a group called “Love Won Out,” which holds monthly conferences around the country for those “suffering” from same-sex attraction. He likens the proponents of gay marriage to the Nazis, has backed political candidates who called for the execution of abortion providers, defines embryonic stem-cell research as “state-funded cannibalism,” and urges Christian parents to pull their children out of public-school systems. and a [nice Slate article](http://slate.msn.com/id/2109621/) It’s good to educate yourself about the religious right. Some very scary and very powerful people who are very likely to make a serious dent in your freedom. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/51 "2005-08-12T03:15:42Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > Hey, if we can say Dutchman, Irishman, or Scotsman, then we can say Chinaman. Well, you would be able to say Chinaman if you could say Hollandman, Irelandman, or Scotlandman. [/picky] ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/52 "2005-08-12T03:29:41Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Well, you would be able to say Chinaman if you could say Hollandman, Irelandman, or Scotlandman. [/picky] So if a Chinaman, an Irelandman, a Scotlandman and a Hollandman all go into a bar, and the Chinaman feels that he’s different from the others, does that mean he’s gay or is it only if he’s a boy? What if they roughhouse and he doesn’t like it? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/53 "2005-08-12T06:22:13Z")
Can I “roughhouse” with all of them and get back to you? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/54 "2005-08-12T10:37:27Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > having _no idea_ how vitriolic is hatred of gays and promotion of “reparative” concentration camps and the like are. I knew Dobson was a wacko, but _reparative camps_? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/55 "2005-08-12T11:39:57Z")
Ok **Miller** …was that a _Big Lebowski_ reference you were sneaking in? Am I the only one who got it? I find it really interesting that Dobson et al still continually mix up: homosexuality with gender dysphoria gender roles with sexual preferences homosexuality with paedophilia same sex marriage with the fall of civilisation as we know it Plus, all that “masculinity is an achievment” crap and “men must be men” bullshit is also sort of anti-woman…after all if there was nothing wrong with being a girl, you wouldn’t have a problem accepting your son acting like one. Matt said “the dogs have barked, the caravan has passed on” which roughly translates as “tough luck Dobson, that ship has sailed”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/56 "2005-08-12T11:57:30Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Matt said “the dogs have barked, the caravan has passed on” which roughly translates as “tough luck Dobson, that ship has sailed”. Close. It’s present tense. “Oh well… the dogs bark, the caravan rolls by.” But you got the idea right. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/57 "2005-08-12T15:03:20Z")
Dan Savage is guest-hosting Andrew Sullivan’s blog this week, and he’s had some great posts ripping into this issue, particularly the idea that showering with Dad will help a boy turn out straight. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/58 "2005-08-12T16:10:04Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I knew Dobson was a wacko, but _reparative camps_? :eek: A bit hyperbolic, perhaps, but he supports such facilities as those of [Love in Action](http://loveinaction.org/), the reparative group home that was recently in the news due to the blog entries of one of its confinees. (They treat teenagers with same-sex-attraction at the same facility where- LITERALLY- adults receive treatment [if you can call it that] for bestiality and pedophilia related fantasies.) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/59 "2005-08-12T17:33:55Z")
Sorry, every time I hear about these camps designed to reeducate gay kids, I do not think of Chinese-style reeducation camps. I think of Band-Camp style lights-out parties. If we would get it on pay-per-view we would be millionaires. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571/60 "2005-08-12T20:33:00Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Sorry, every time I hear about these camps designed to reeducate gay kids, I do not think of Chinese-style reeducation camps. I think of Band-Camp style lights-out parties. Actually (don’t remember how I know this, because I certainly never watch porn or anything- though sometimes I’ll be trying to log on to google News to find the latest about Uzbekistan and somehow I wind up on porn sites that even log me in- dumb computer) but there is a porn movie with that theme. Unfortunately the kids in these “retreats” are kept in little cell like rooms that are strictly monitored. They have to share their sexual fantasies and experiences in group sessions (one I know had to discuss them in detail in front of his parents and his grandmother) and then aren’t allowed to get ‘release’ as their non-private beds are monitored by 24 hour staff. They’re truly sick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-your-child-is-gay-james-dobson-can-help/316571.md?page=4)