James Dobson, the child psychologist and radio personality who advocated for conservative social values and wielded immense political power, has died at 89. Dobson, who first gained prominence with his 1970 book Dare to Discipline, which advocated for teaching children “self-control” with corporal punishment, leveraged his resulting notoriety into founding the evangelical organization Focus on the Family. As a key architect of the religious right, he also co-founded the Family Research Council, an organization designated as an anti-LBGTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for propagating propaganda linking homosexuality to pedophilia and claiming the Democratic Party is run by “Jews.” Dobson later became ingrained in the upper echelons of the Republican Party and advised five different presidents, culminating in a role on President Donald Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board, where he helped solidify the fusion of white evangelicalism and far-right politics. “Dobson has become the primary source of misinformation about gay and lesbian people in the world,” said gay pastor Mel White in 2005. “He is single-handedly doing more damage to the truth than anyone else, in our opinion.” Dobson is survived by his wife, Shirley, and his children, Danae and Ryan. In a statement, the family said his impact endures through “the many lives he touched, the families he strengthened, and the unshakable faith he proclaimed.”
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