James Dobson has steppedaway from Focus on the Family, but he hasn’t retired entirely.
Dobson announced on his Facebook fan page that he will begin a nonprofit and radio show with his son called James Dobson on the Family, which will be based in Colorado Springs. Dobson wrote that the organization will deal with the following: marriage, child-rearing, family finances, medical and psychological concerns, national issues, the sanctity of human life, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Dobson asks for donations as he estimates operating costs to be at $2 million. “We are in a moral decline of shocking dimensions,” Dobson writes. “I have asked myself how I can sit and watch the world go by without trying to help if I can.”
The Gazettereports that Focus on the Family’ budget dropped from $160 million in 2008 to $139 million in 2009 while its workforce went from 1,400 in 2002 to 860 in 2009.
Reporter Mark Barna writes more about Dobson’s son, Ryan, who has not been on staff at Focus on the Family.
Since 2003, Ryan Dobson has written several edgy faith books, such as “Be Intolerant” and “2 Die 4,” and he has spoken regularly at Christian youth events.
But in interviews, he has never expressed interest in following in his father’s footsteps. In a 2005 biography of James Dobson, Dale Buss writes that Ryan “doesn’t feel called to succeed his father as head of Focus on the Family and doubts he ever will.”
Ryan Dobson leads KOR World Ministries, designed “to build passion and identity in Christ’s followers,” according to its Web site. On the site, he hosts a daily podcast similar to his father’s radio show in that both discuss current events and religion.
In November, Barna suggested that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would take over for Dobson as a leader for conservative Christians. Dobson responded, saying he has no intention of retiring.
I expect to be back on the radio in the near future, and I have just completed a new book, Bringing Up Girls, which will be released in April. We are also preparing a new film series on the family that will be coming this fall.
As long as God gives me breath, I will be working to defend and promote the things in which I believe.
