1- Dear fellow believers,
I am writing today about something that is heavy on my heart. As we celebrate the 244th anniversary of our founding, America is divided into opposing camps. On the one hand, it is noble and beautiful, generous to a fault, and remains a shining light set on a hill. I love her dearly and pray for her safety because she has many enemies whose passion is to destroy her.
The “other America” is driven by a popular culture that represents evil personified. It hates the spiritual foundation that made her the greatest nation on earth. Its proponents deny the existence of God and bristle at the name of Jesus. They have made this country the pornography capital of the world and built its financial empire on perversion, pedophilia, profanity, infidelity, sexual enslavement, illegal drugs, lawlessness, gambling, power mongering, dishonesty, greed, hatred, racism, and violence. This moral degeneracy has resulted in shattered families, public schools that are corrupting our young, and seething hostility to the institution of marriage. God’s holy name has been reduced to a sacrilege. A centerpiece of this evil world is the abortion industry which has murdered 60 million babies whom the Creator was knitting together in their mothers’ wombs. Their blood calls out to the Creator from the ground in which they lie.
There is one phrase I would choose to describe this “other America.” It is utter wickedness.
Evil is not a new phenomenon, of course. It is the history of fallen humanity. A graphic example is the Roman Empire, which was also awash with evil. It is described by the Apostle Paul in his letter to Christians in Rome. He wrote:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator---who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:18-32)
Does this tragic description of ancient Rome sound relevant to our day? I’ll respond with another question: How can we miss the similarity between then and now? What is alarming is that Paul referred three times in that passage to God giving the Romans over to their “sinful desires,” “sexual immorality,” and “shameful lusts.” These words also characterize our nation. Where do they lead? I have no idea where we are on the timetable of God’s judgment, but it is terrifying to think of Him abandoning us to our own degeneracy.
There are many examples in Scripture of peoples in world history who became so wicked that Jehovah “gave them over” to disaster, such as occurred in Noah’s day. Every human being died in a flood that covered the earth, except one righteous man and his family. Destruction also befell the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Only Lot and daughters survived. Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Babylonians who tore down their wall and then killed all but a few survivors taken into captivity and held there for 70 years. Jeremiah tried vainly to warn the Jewish people that judgment was coming upon Israel, but they were deaf to his cries. He is known to this day as “the weeping prophet.” I am not a prophet, but I also weep for my country.
Judge Robert Bork, the great appellate court judge, was rejected as a Supreme Court nominee by liberal Democrats. In 1996, he published a book that described America’s moral decay. He titled it Slouching Towards Gomorrah. He is deceased, but I wonder how he would describe our day.
Thankfully, the Lord offers a way out for us and for our progeny. It is genuine repentance for sin. He was willing to forgive and restore the evil city of Nineveh in Jonah’s day—because they repented. That avenue of escape is graciously extended to us, as written graphically in 2 Chronicles 7:14. It reads, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Repentance is not only A hope for America; it is the ONLY hope for restoration.
That brings me to the most encouraging news I have to share with you. There is a huge event scheduled to occur on September 26th of this year. It is being called “The Return.” That day happens to be the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower in 1620, when pilgrims came to America in search of religious freedom. Also, September 26th is 38 days before the next general election. It will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Capitol building as the backdrop. The purpose for this gathering is to pray for our beloved country, and to sing and hear from well-known speakers. It is being organized by messianic Jewish rabbi and author Jonathan Cahn along with several evangelical organizations. Cahn is the author of The Harbinger and other remarkably compelling books. For more information, go to thereturn.org. Lord willing, I will be one of many speakers on that historic day. It will be live-streamed all around the world, and the prayers will focus on five R’s: return, repentance, reconciliation, revival, and restoration.
To summarize, while it often appears that Western Civilization as we have known it is in its closing days, there are millions of Christians in this country who love Jesus and are praying fervently for a spiritual renewal. I am convinced that their plaintive pleas are being heard in heaven. Are you among them? We are His remnant, and we must be on our faces before the living Lord.
Will you stand firmly with us in these days of decision? Everything that made America great in these 244 years hangs in the balance. When I am tempted to despair, I remember that God is in control. Let’s continue to ask Him to bring a mighty spiritual reawakening that will restore our beloved nation to its spiritual roots and draw us to Himself.
God bless America.
2- Dear Friends,
As I write this newsletter, voters across this nation are only a few short months away from the next general election. What an ominous time this is for our 244-year-old republic. Its future hangs in the balance. The choices we make on November 3rd will send this nation down one of two dramatically different paths. The wrong decision will be catastrophic. I agree with former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, who said recently that the next election will be "the most important since 1860."1 He also warned that if we appease or ignore the violence and anarchy occurring in the streets, it might be the end of civilization as we have known it.2 Those are sobering words coming from a man who has stood at the pinnacle of national power.
Mr. Gingrich referred to the significance of 1860 because that was the year Abraham Lincoln was elected president. I'm sure the Speaker would agree that the following election of 1864 was also critical to the future of the nation. Lincoln and his opponent, Maj. Gen. George McClellan, were in a hotly contested campaign for the White House that could have gone either way. The "war between the states," as it was called, had been raging for three ghastly years, and the entire nation was staggered by reports from the bloody battlefield.
Lincoln was running for a second term, and he campaigned on the promise of finishing the war and preserving the Union. These were momentous times for the young nation. During the first week of January 1863, the President signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves.
Democrats and their presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. McClellan, initially campaigned on a "peace platform," pledging to end the war and send soldiers home. As the election approached, he talked more about negotiating to let the South establish a separate government whose cornerstone would be slavery. If McClellan had been elected, there would have been no foreseeable end to the inherent evil of buying and selling human beings and treating them like cattle. Thus, the Civil War was a struggle for the soul of America.
The summer before the election, the war was going badly for the Union. Lincoln, in fact, was convinced he was going to lose the election.3 He wrote the following memorandum on August 23, 1864, asking his Cabinet to accept the grim prospects for his re-election. These are his words:
This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such grounds that I cannot possibly save it afterwards.4
No wonder Lincoln dealt at times with depression. Clearly, the Union was a hair's breadth away from losing the war. But then, the tide began to turn. One historian wrote, "The political landscape shifted dramatically when Gen. William T. Sherman took Atlanta in early September. This major military shift, coupled with the severe internal strife within the Democratic Party, solidified Lincoln's chance at victory."5
As you know, Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans won the election of 1864 in a landslide. McClellan was defeated by more than 500,000 popular votes and 191 electoral votes. An estimated 78 percent of Union soldiers cast their ballots in favor of Lincoln. McClellan took just three states: Kentucky, Delaware, and his home state of New Jersey.6 Less than two months after Lincoln's inauguration, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He is said to have been the "last casualty" of the Civil War.7
Why have I recounted our Civil War history and the election of 1864 at this time in our history? It is for two reasons. The first is to consider some striking similarities between then and now. Our nation is divided like no time since the Civil War. Lawlessness and anarchy stalk the cities as angry mobs riot, burn, loot, rob, and kill innocent bystanders. Cultural monuments are being destroyed. Scores of people have been shot. Our courageous police officers are being brutally attacked by the same people they have vowed to protect. A man and his son stopped to ask for directions, and he was gunned down on the spot. A one-year-old baby was shot in the stomach while he sat in his stroller. The child died at the hospital.
What began as a justified and lawful protest in response to George Floyd's senseless murder by a rogue police officer has morphed into violence for the sake of violence. Hatred flows in the streets, including vitriol directed at the President of the United States or anyone who dares to support him or his policies. Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and religious liberty are being trampled. There is also widespread belief that violence and anarchy are being organized and funded by powerful forces that are maneuvering America toward a socialist dictatorship. There is always a kingmaker behind such lawlessness. Most disturbing is open talk of another civil war. It is troubling to even utter those words. The last time Americans faced off against each other, 600,000 soldiers died. May God forbid it from happening again.
During the revolution of the 1960s, I recall a ubiquitous bumper sticker that read, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" It was a catchy phrase that made sense to those who opposed the Vietnam War. But my reaction to it then and now is "What if they gave a war and only one side came?" That question keeps me awake at night. There are multiple millions of passive Americans out there today, many of them Christians, who are clueless about what is happening to their homeland. They are losing something precious and irreplaceable. Do they not understand that their children and those who are yet to be born will live in tyranny if we fail them on our watch? Countless young men and women have laid down their lives on battlefields around the world to protect liberty and our way of life. Now, what they purchased for us with their blood is slipping away. Disengaged people won't lift a finger to preserve this great land. They won't take even a few minutes to go to their polling places to vote. There are also thousands of pastors who won't allow voting registration tables in the lobbies of their churches. Don't they know or care that America is on the ropes? Hordes of angry anarchists are salivating over the next election, hoping to push America over a cliff. If they succeed, as Newt Gingrich said, Western civilization will never recover. Is there anyone left who believes some things are worth dying for? Aren't there patriots out there such as Patrick Henry who said in defiance of British tyranny, "Give me liberty or give me death!"? That was the spirit during his day. The Declaration of Independence closed with these words endorsed by the signers, "We pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." They knew they would be hanged if they lost the war. Why did they do it? Because they loved their country enough to die for it.
How I pray for the emergence of silent, intimidated Americans who will come out of their hiding places to let their voices be heard on Election Day 2020. There must be tens of thousands of ministers in our midst who, like the Black Robed Regiment of the Revolutionary War, will strip off their clerical garb and fight valiantly for religious liberty. If these men and women of faith and conviction don't come to the rescue of their country, it is doomed.
During the Civil War, untold soldiers gave their lives to preserve the integrity of the United States of America and to end the tragedy of slavery. Here is the question of the hour: Are you and our brothers and sisters willing to carry the bloodstained banner around which our predecessors rallied? We will know the answer on November 3rd.
That brings us to the second reason I have addressed the Civil War and the election of 1864. It is to remind us that voting matters. Each presidential campaign has been important, but some have had jaw-dropping and nation-shaping consequences. I believe we are at such a pivotal moment now. You can be certain that America will be forever changed by the political party that gets its supporters to the polls. They will win the day—and the future.
Unfortunately, the majority of Christians have a record of not showing up on Election Day. It is unbelievably sad. As many as 75 percent of them sit on their hands, apparently assuming that their votes don't matter. They are wrong. Voting ALWAYS matters. George W. Bush won the presidency in 2000 by 537 votes in a nation of 130 million registered voters. Many down-ballot contests have been won or lost by a single vote.
I plead with you to register and vote in this presidential election. I won't try to tell you who to vote for because you can figure it out for yourselves. But I will suggest how you might evaluate the situation we face. I'll close with seven critical issues that have stunning significance for the nation. Please think hard about them, and then go to the polls.
The Next Generation
There is a fierce battle being waged now in the nation's classrooms for the hearts and souls of our children and grandchildren. Those of us who are passionately committed to the Judeo-Christian system of beliefs are losing our kids right before our eyes. They are being force-fed a radical curriculum that is godless, anti-American, and sexually perverse. Make no mistake, the left and secular culture are manipulating the minds of your sons and daughters every day of the year. I urge you to be extremely careful about those whom you set in power over your children. Protect them with your very lives.
The Sanctity of Human Life
All life is sacred and is a gift from Almighty God. But as you know, America has the blood of innocents on its hands. Since 1973, more than 60 million babies have been murdered through abortion and countless lives have ended by euthanasia. This is the most tragic holocaust in the history of the world! Some states have even passed laws allowing wounded and suffering infants to lie alone on porcelain trays after somehow surviving unsuccessful abortions. They will die without the comfort of their mothers' breasts. If that doesn't touch your heart, you are without compassion. I hope you will not cast a single vote for any politician who supports such wickedness.
Marriage and Family
The family is God's original building block for society. Marriage continues to serve as the foundation for every dimension of human life. Everything of value rests on it, including procreation and the care and training of children. If that ground floor is weakened or undermined, the entire superstructure of civil society will come crashing down. But listen carefully: powerful and highly funded forces, including LGBTQ and other leftist entities, are determined to destroy the family as an institution. It is already on its knees, and its future is grim. Before you vote, find out what position the candidates have taken on this issue. Then vote accordingly.
Religious Liberty
The first item listed in the Bill of Rights addresses the issue of religious liberty. All the other enumerated rights flow from that fundamental freedom. That is why it is alarming to recognize that this right to worship and honor God as we choose is under vicious attack today. The courts have done the greatest damage, but now an entire sub-culture is trying to bring down the Christian faith. Whether it has invaded your private world or not, it is at your front door. It was this primary concern that led to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War in 1776. We can't compromise one jot or tittle within that fundamental right. Fight for it with every ounce of your strength and determination. Don't let the government close the doors of your church or tell you when you can sing praises to the Lord Almighty. They have a devious agenda, and it is dangerous. Be ready to go to the mat in defense of what you believe. And let this passion influence how you cast your ballot in November. Here I stand. Will you join me?
Capitalism v. Socialism
It is difficult to believe that for the first time in American history, our nation appears to be thinking about trading our democratic way of life for the tyranny of socialism. I can hardly catch my breath. Could we really consider abandoning the beloved system of government that was designed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people? Is it true that up to 40 percent of millennials and others are prepared to surrender their liberties in exchange for the absolute authority of the state? Democracy and capitalism have made ours the most powerful and successful nation in the history of the world. Are we really considering scuttling the system that has served us for 244 years in exchange for what some people call "free stuff?" I pray not! But that option awaits you in the polling booth.
The Judicial System
Given recent rulings, we know that judicial overreach has almost ruined this great nation. Justices and judges are constitutionally charged to interpret the law, not make law. But again, and again, they have overstepped their authority and brought us atrocities such as abortion on demand, same-sex marriage, and the so-called "separation of church and state," which doesn't appear in the Constitution. Most recently, the Supreme Court handed down one of its most egregious rulings since Roe v. Wade. It is the case of Bostock v. Clayton County. This decision was not based on constitutional law but on the whims of six justices. It created a new legal definition of sex out of thin air. Lawyers tell us that this ruling will affect every dimension of culture and haunt the nation as long as it endures. Please don't vote for politicians who will expand, rather than limit, the power of the judiciary.
The Nation of Israel
Scripture tells that those who bless Israel will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Our prayer is that the next Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. will continue to promote and cultivate a vibrant bond of friendship with the nation of Israel, which is our only ally in the Middle East. Anti-Semitism and all forms of racial discrimination are inherently evil, and we condemn them categorically. We are a nation that is dedicated to "freedom and justice for all" (The U.S. Pledge of Allegiance).
I could list dozens of other issues that should be considered as we vote on November 3rd. I will end with this final statement from Abraham Lincoln. He said:
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have.”
Let us come boldly before the throne of grace and ask God for His mercy on America.
Sincerely,
Dr. James Dobson