One of America’s leading social conservative figures, called “the nation’s most influential evangelical leader” by The New York Times in 2005, has passed away.
Focus on the Family founder Dr. James C. Dobson died peacefully today at his home in Colorado Springs following a brief illness, according to a statement from the Focus on the Family Institute. He was 89.
Across five decades, Dobson’s writing and public ministry shaped Christians who looked to the psychologist for advice on how to parent, beginning with his widely read 1970 book Dare to Discipline. The son, grandson, and great-grandson of Church of the Nazarene ministers (Dobson’s parents were traveling evangelists) he was shaped by a Holiness tradition that prohibited film viewing or social dancing and strongly advocated for traditional gender roles in the household.
“‘Dare to Discipline’ was published in 1970 in the midst of the Vietnam War and a culture of rebellion. The book was written in that context, but the principles of child rearing have not changed,” Dobson told Christianity Today in a 2010 interview.
While Dobson’s ministry was chiefly focused on parenting, he also became a widely known voice in the political arena, publicly speaking out in favor of traditional marriage and upholding the sanctity of human life. He was among the most influential public voices backing largely successful efforts to pass state constitutional amendments (later nullified in Obergefell v. Hodges) defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Focus on the Family, which relocated from California to Colorado in 1991, was a draw in my own family’s move to the “Evangelical Vatican” of Colorado Springs in the 1990s. We had no affiliation with the organization, but its fingerprints were everywhere, directly and indirectly, even for an Episcopalian like me.
Children my age subscribed to the burgeoning media empire’s many publications and listened to Focus on the Family-produced radio shows, while books like Preparing for Adolescence and The Strong Willed Child were staples for Christian parents.
I was not the aforementioned strong willed child, and had zero interest in youth publications like Clubhouse or Brio (for teen girls), but I voraciously consumed every issue of Citizen, the group’s public policy offering.
When Focus on the Family completed its expansive campus, it held a huge, public open house with carnival rides that I recall attending. Longtime Colorado Springs Mayor and onetime U.S. Conference of Mayors President Bob Isaac spoke. The organization made an effort to be a good neighbor, making its facility available to my nearby school for large events and across a decade hosting ballfields on its property that it leased to a local youth league for $1 a year.
By the time I graduated high school, more than 50 Christian organizations were headquartered in the city, and fellow students’ parents worked for Focus on the Family, YoungLife, Navigators, Compassion International, International Bible Society (now known as Biblica) and many other related institutions.
Dobson was undeniably a big part of that, and he drew significant opposition. Stickers admonishing “Focus on your own damn family” adorned the car bumpers of vocal cultural liberals in Colorado Springs, which I found to be a source of amusement.
The psychologist wasn’t always the easiest personality to get along with. A former IRD colleague of mine who had also worked at the Family Research Council, which Dobson co-founded in 1981, noted the irony that one of Dobson’s contemporaries, Moral Majority Founder Jerry Falwell, Sr., publicly characterized as a bomb-throwing culture warrior, was actually winsome, highly personable, and genuinely liked even by his opponents. In contrast, Dobson – who had established the public image of a warm, parental figure – could be prickly, direct, and even difficult behind closed doors.
The political space was an increasing draw for Dobson, even as he never ran for office or headed a primarily political organization. His emphasis on political advocacy potentially threatened the tax-exempt status of Focus on the Family, which was a charitable nonprofit focused on families.
A very public feud between Dobson and then-Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) went nuclear in 2005 after Focus on the Family targeted the Colorado Democrat with ads, protests and phone calls for “breaking his promise” to support all of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees.
“Jim Dobson is not our president and he’s not our Senator,” Salazar told CBS affiliate KKTV about the ministry leader who had by that point become something of a political kingmaker in the GOP. The U.S. senator alleged groups such as Focus on the Family “tried to hijack the American government.”
“From my point of view they are the anti-Christ of the world,” Salazar fumed, later saying in a statement that he regretted using the term “anti-Christ” to refer to Dobson’s group.
“I meant to say this approach was un-Christian, meaning self-serving and selfish,” Salazar wrote. But after being attacked by Dobson “all across Colorado, having my faith questioned, and having my wife’s business picketed as part of these attacks,” Salazar said he lost it.
In 2009, Dobson stepped down as chairman and departed the organization early the following year. Evangelist Jim Daly, who served as president and chief executive officer since 2005, has since led the organization, still upholding traditional Christian morality but steered it towards a less adversarial tone and emphasizing collaborative efforts like the cultivation of healthy fatherhood.
Dobson will likely be most remembered by the broader culture for his political engagement, but for a generation of Christian parents, he’ll be remembered for his central role advising them on their calling to raise children.
“Children are not casual guests in our home,” Dobson wrote in 1991’s How to Raise Children That Love the Lord. “They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built.”
More from IRD:
James Dobson & Christian Pessimism
National Day of Prayer & Israel Solidarity
How Should Clergy Engage Politics?
Comment by Pam Kelly on August 21, 2025 at 3:49 pm
I just trad that Dr. James Dobson passed away today 08/31_2025. I loved his program Focus on the Family and Research Council. Getting ready for work many years ago, I listened to his daily program while getting ready for work in the morning. He was such an inspiration to me and sadly he has passed away….will miss him terribly! Rest in Peace with the Lord Jesus my dear friend…
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on August 22, 2025 at 12:33 am
The only thing I remember about Dobson is that he was an advocate of severe child spankings. He held seminars at which he demonstrated, on stage, blazing paddlings of early-teen boys.
He also advocated using switches on the arms of 8-month old babies.
Comment by Jeffrey Walton on August 22, 2025 at 12:05 pm
Glenn, that’s a significant allegation without citation. If true at one time, it wasn’t reflected in his later writings. Dobson did say that there was room for corporal punishment, but always in the context of loving discipline intended to warn the child of real danger out in the world. He would not advocate severe spankings, and advised that corporal discipline always be administered after parental anger had subsided. Here’s what he wrote in The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide (2000):
“When a parent administers a reasonable spanking in response to willful disobedience, a similar nonverbal message is being given to the child. He must understand that there are not only dangers in the physical world to be avoided. He should also be wary of dangers in his social world, such as defiance, sassiness, selfishness, temper tantrums, behavior that puts his life in danger, that which hurts others, etc. The minor pain associated with this deliberate misbehavior tends to inhibit it, just as discomfort works to shape behavior in the physical world. Neither conveys hatred. Neither results in rejection. Neither makes the child more violent.”
Glenn, I think there is a basis for conversation about the effectiveness of corporal punishment within the Christian home, and a significant number of good Christian parents opt for other forms of discipline. As a child I found a revocation of privileges to be more costly than a spanking. But we do ourselves a disservice if we caricature Dobson’s teaching on the matter. He understood proportionality of response and also the danger of an adult using corporal punishment as an outlet for their own anger at a disobedient child. From Wikipedia (citing Dare to Discipline):
“In Dobson’s opinion, parents must uphold their authority and do so consistently. Dobson said corporal punishment should end with the child asking for forgiveness and receiving a hug. After the spanking, he believed in having a “heart to heart” talk with a child, which provided an opportunity to re-bond and express love to the child.”
Comment by Thomas on August 23, 2025 at 11:47 pm
Gleen Wheeler can you show a source for your claims? I disapprove of corporal punishment on children, but I still admire James Dobson for his strong moral beliefs.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on August 25, 2025 at 12:01 am
I personally attended. I heard the yelling and the begging for Dobson to stop. It was sickening.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on August 25, 2025 at 12:57 am
And by the way, Dobson seemed to have a very “satisfied” demeanor afterwards…
Comment by Wilson R. on August 25, 2025 at 12:49 pm
I haven’t read Dobson’s books on parenting, nor heard him speak, so I can’t assess what he may have meant to convey. But what does seem clear is what many Christian parents BELIEVED he was telling them to do, which was to beat their children regularly and strenuously. Here are some anecdotal comments I read from people reacting to his death:
• “My mom was 17 when I was born. She was taken in by the church when my sister and I were little. She had no clue what she was doing as a single mother. People in the church
gave her books by James Dobson. She used this horse crop to beat us.” (The post includes a photo of an actual riding crop.)
• Another one: “As a two-year-old, my parents would spank me until I made myself pass out from breath holding, wait until I woke up, and then continue spanking me until I stopped passing out demonstrating that I was contrite and they had effectively crushed my will and spirit because Dobson (and others like him) convinced my parents that at two-years-old I was desperately wicked and manipulative.”
• And this one: “My feelings about the news of James Dobson’s death are almost too deep to put into words, but I’m going to try. Dobson was revered in my household growing up. I heard him on the radio daily, my parents read his books; sometimes they made me read passages of his books so that I would understand why I was being punished. Dobson’s message to parents was that children are inherently sinful and parents need to “break children’s will” to make sure they become godly, and he explicitly advocated for physically abusing children to achieve this. Another piece of his legacy: a generation of adult children who are estranged or low-contact with their parents.
I know that when I post about stuff like this it makes some people really uncomfortable or downright angry because I’m explicitly criticizing my parents. I’m going to reiterate what I’ve said before because I think it’s vitally important to anyone who wants to maintain healthy contact with their children: You get one shot to treat your children with autonomy and dignity, and to model for them the kindness and love the world needs. No one is going to be a perfect parent, but treating your children like little soldiers you can train to fight in your culture war comes at a high price. That price might be that they decide not to have contact with you as an adult. That price might be that they decide to take their own life, because they can’t live with the rigidity and shame. Everybody processes this stuff differently, so yeah, some of them may dutifully follow in your footsteps. But a lot of them won’t, and I know this not just because of my own experience but because so many of my friends who were raised similarly have told me the same.”
Comment by Diane on August 25, 2025 at 1:16 pm
James Dobsen paraded John Paulk as an “ex-gay” man, lying to parents that their children could change their identity with so-called “conversion therapy”. Countless families who believed this fabricated narrative were broken, I personally attended funerals of gay young people whose parents bought in to Dobson’s anti-lgbtq cruelty. Paulk and others eventually confessed it was all a lie, apologizing for the harm they caused. On Dobson’s death, Paulk wrote of Dobson’s weaponizing of Christianity against the lgbtq community. Google “John Paulk addresses James Dobson’s death” to read Paulk’s scathing take on Dobson’s hatred of lgbtq people.
Comment by Mark E Roberts, PhD on August 25, 2025 at 10:28 pm
Dr Dobson is every bit a hero to me, and, as a supporter who don’t know all presented in executive sessions, I still believe Focus was flatly wrong to dump him for his expression of faith on matters of great consequence for our life together. Time has caught up with Focus, and I believe it is as involved in socio-political issues as Dobson wanted it to be, although now it can ally wisely with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and dilute any perception it is too political. Dr Dobson’s pioneering & faithful service have benefited my family beyond my ability to say. I do not doubt he was st times difficult to work with: that’s par for the course in this fallen world for leaders who change the world significantly.
Comment by Roy Jacobsen on August 26, 2025 at 7:32 am
Focus helped thousands of parents and pastors. The programs and tapes aimed at pastors were immensely helpful. As a father of three boys I had three separate personalities. One only needed a look from Dad or Mom to realize he needed correction. My other two boys were spanked rarely and then only with one slap to the derrière. I did once “lose it” with my oldest when a young teen which I quickly regretted and asked for forgiveness. I do regret Dobson’s political involvement especially backing candidates for office. But he was not perfect and he knew it.
Comment by David Gingrich on August 26, 2025 at 7:53 am
James Dobson was such a good man that the Left was forced to lie about him.
Comment by Ken MacAlister on August 26, 2025 at 9:52 am
I never like to talk ill of the dead, but I did have one problem with James Dobson that really drove me up the walls. He was right when he described the Godlessness in this country & its negative effects on the culture. Where he lost me more often than not is when he would place elections & electing politicians first over turning first back to God then talking about elections & electing the best politicians to do this. Far too often his talks seemed more like rallies for his preferred politicians than calls for the nation to return to God first & foremost. Politicians more often than not are a contributor to the problem than a cure, but he would just keep hammering away at how important it was to elect certain politicians he favored over the importance of calling for the nation to return to God first & foremost. The politicians he pushed over the years more often than not were just more of the same & were only interested in getting re-elected in the end. I do thank him though for unknowingly teaching me the important lesson that politicians cannot do what only God can do & to not put my faith in them as he seemed to do far too often. God is the answer, politicians are not regardless of the party they come from & represent.
Comment by John on August 26, 2025 at 2:46 pm
David Gingrich,
How so? The liberals I knew who opposed Dobson always cited his own words and actions.
Comment by Thomas on August 26, 2025 at 6:55 pm
James Dobson did good and bad things in his ministry. We should be thankful for all the good he did, despite his failures. Only God can judge him now. May he rest in peace.
Comment by Thomas on August 30, 2025 at 4:17 pm
History certainly would have been different if Jimmy Carter, who despite being personally pro-life, was pro-choice, had supported overruling Roe vs. Wade, believing it should be an individual right of the states, like George McGovern in 1972. By refusing to take that stance he basically sent all the Evangelical right to the Republican Party. Many people miss the time when there were still many social conservative Democrats. They certainly brought lot of sense to the party.
Comment by Reverend Dae Yun Kim on February 11, 2026 at 12:39 am
Written by Reverend Dae Yun Kim(Doctor Of Philosophy In Theology, Ordained Minister, TaeKwonDo Master): Dr. James Dobson was great patriot who was U.S.Presidential advisor! Dr.James Dobson helped U.S.presidents to make better decision for country! And he was also faithful radio evagelist! Through so many years of his “focus on family” radio programs, many families are inspired! Through his teaching of family value, families were saved, and Heaven was further populated for The God’s Glory! Dr.James Dobson is in God’s Arms! And many people will miss him always! God May Bless Dr.James Dobson!