James Dobson: The Religious Right's 800-POUND GORILLA

Church & State, Feb 2005 by Leaming, Jeremy

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in an interview with U.S. News, called Dobson a leading spokesman for evangelicals and noted his increased power in Washington.

"He may not be an insider, but he can shut down the phone lines in Congress," Land said.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, says Dobson's increasing influence is cause for concern.

As Lynn told The Baltimore Sun in late November, Dobson "clearly wants" to use a religion-based political machine to advance his agenda.

"We should worry about people who have genuinely messianic instincts," said Lynn, "and I think he has."