I Hate James Dobson

Finding this podcast during my grieving period after I lost a parent helped to fill in so many gaps regarding what happened to me growing up, and why. Going through old boxes and pulling out yellowing paperback FotF parenting books while listening to careful analysis of their contents brought some unexpected clarity (and, surprisingly, levity) that I truly needed in that difficult time. I didn't rate this then, but I had to today, on account of having found my first "chick tract" in the wild. Don't know what that means? Listen to this absolute gem of a personal growth- catalyzing podcast, and you will. Boy howdy, do I hate James Dobson.

An anonymous, gender-diverse (they/them) marriage and family therapist commits hours of recording time to bash an influential Christian clinical psychologist. Mostly what you’d expect. The message? - All psychology research before this host got his anonymous, online degree has been completely debunked (it hasn’t), as an orthodox believing Christian, Dobson didn’t happily embrace the 10-minute old LGBTQIA ideology (stunning) and the host’s parents followed Dobson’s teachings instead of fully supporting this guy’s narcissistic life goals (traumatic). I’m not even a big fan of Dr. Dobson but his teachings were never harmful. Look up the reams of outcome studies on authoritative parenting. Attachment-focused parenting hasn’t had enough time to measure long-term outcomes but early evidence isn’t good. Been in public where kids are around lately? Then look into the tremendous research design problems in trying to differentiate spanking vs. hitting. Hitting kids - bad, calm, authoritative spanking when needed - good. Just skip to the Jan. 5th episode and listen to this host’s poor parents doing the now ubiquitous mea culpa as they cower before the wise critique of their parenting by their childless offspring. These people always force their own parents into a kind of Stockholm Syndrome just so their kid won’t go “no contact.” No stars if I could, but to be fair, five-star rating if you’re stuck in middle school like this guy.

As a counselor, you need more therapy. I’m not sure why I decided to listen…mainly bc I like a different POV. I’m not a staunch Dobson fan and was just curious abt this pod. But your hatred is so petty and after abt 30 min, I’m not wasting my time listening. Sad bc I really wanted to listen abt your ideas and thoughts but the vitriol is too much. Instead of your hatred, maybe you should thank God that you were prob spared from a lot of harmful things that you otherwise would have been exposed to. The fact that you can hate on Adventures of Odyssey bc it talked abt respecting your parents is wild. But then again you did tell us you hate JD. Just wasn’t truly expecting the nastiness.

I’ve enjoyed all of the episodes, but this one moved me the most. Keep up the good work. And by the way I HATE James Dobson!