Proposition 8 Forces Focus On The Family Into Massive Layoffs
By Nicole Belle Thursday Nov 20, 2008 12:30pmThose darn gays and their desire to treated like any other American couple...they've forced James Dobson's Focus on the Family to announce layoffs of approximately 20% of their work force, or 202 employees, due in no small part to the more than $500,000 spent on the Yes on 8 campaign. Colorado Independent:
Focus on the Family announced yesterday afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.
Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.
Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.
“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”
In all, Focus pumped $539,000 in cash and another $83,000 worth of non-monetary support into the measure to overturn a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed gays and lesbians to marry in that state. The group was the seventh-largest donor to the effort in the country. The cash contributions are equal to the salaries of 19 Coloradans earning the 2008 per capita income of $29,133.
In addition Elsa Prince, the auto parts heiress and longtime funder of conservative social causes who sits on the Focus on the Family board, contributed another $450,000 to Prop. 8.[..]
Lewis, the Colorado Springs activist, wonders whether the families who donate to the nonprofit ministry, realize where their funds really end up.
“Seriously, I would imagine their supporters have got to be asking the question about whether their church is really practicing their theology.”
Frankly, I've been questioning that long before they started laying off employees. More importantly, the California Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal on Prop. 8, and it appears it is on the question of legality of revising the state Constitution as opposed to amending it.
And if you really want to get conspiracy-minded (meaning an area that the Supreme Court would never actually touch), Mark Crispin Miller wants to know why the exit polls show that Prop. 8 was defeated, by the same ratio it was eventually passed. Remember, discrepancy in results like that were exactly the justification we gave for overturning and demanding a new election in the Ukraine.
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Always hate to see anybody laid off but, on the upside, they'll now have more time to focus on their families.
Couldna happen to a nicer bunch of goyim.
How Christian of them, laying off people so close to the Christmas season.
I'd like to see Focus on the Family's employee ranks diminished to zero, quite frankly. What a fucktard organization of evangelicalidiots!
Word!
If they are not trying to actively spread hate (as in Prop H8), they are trying to send women back a hundred years to being beholden to their man and barefoot and preggers.
I have a hard time feeling anything for these people for each of them contributes to hate and a regressive USA.
I truly hope that these former Focus on the family assholes new bosses and co-workers at their next jobs are all gay!
is what they will spurt out as they accept the fate Dobson relegated to them. Then they will lovingly wave to him as he drives by in his Bentley.
Yup, they're saved from their own proclivities so that Dobson can heap his upon them.
They all deserve each other.
But totally flamboyantly gay bosses and co-workers...
So gay that regular gay folks are like...Damn!
Hey, providing health care is hurting employment, the government needs to take it on (see If we had health care, the autoworkers wouldn't be in the hole they're in. Civilization would help a lot of employers.
(see http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com/ ) But if it would help Focus on the Family, I might reconsider.
So much for the people who are all about "personal responsibility."
If they were larger, they could look for a tax-funded bail-out, like other destructive, non-competitive enterprises.
I think Nelson Muntz said it best...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo&NR=1
Will all the laid off people now participate in socialism by collecting unemployment and welfare?
for the folks who lost their jobs but the spent so much time and money on destroying the lives of many they do not know simply because they think that God wants them to discriminate against others. I hope it was worth it to them...somewhere God is laughing his ass off at them because as the song says, God has a sick sense of humor.
I hear that they are in such dire financial shape, they are going to have to outsource first-stone-throwing douchebaggery to Bangladesh, where people are willing to be mean-spirited and judgmental for less than a dollar a day. So if the next guy who screams racial invective at you out of a car has a thick accent, and you are suspicious that his name is actually "Bob", demand to be escalated to Level 2 customer support and ask to be demeaned by a real American.
or the guy's just a Chicago cab driver....
I dont think that prop8 was the real reason for the layoffs, focus and the rest of the ilk have been running on empty for the last 4 years and with the last 2 elections the writing was on the wall. The bad economy along with less true belivers has led to less controbutions which when compiled with the amount of money that they have spent on the last 2 elections has led to the shortfall. Hey a couple of good class action lawsuits and we just might see the end of a lot of these groups on the national stage and then watch as the repugs ask the rest of congress to give a bailout to right wing religous groups to shore jobs for their base.
I pretty much feel sorry for anyone having to go through unemployment . . . except these people. The love war, forcing women to term in birth regardless of the circumstances, are bigots, and if they could would stone you to death in a second. To hell with em.
Yay! They HURT! I hope they cry.
I agree, Scy. There are few people I would be happy to see go through the troubles of unemployment, but Dobson's bigoted foot soldiers are among them.
I mean, the rapture's gonna take care of everything, innit?
Or is it the raptor???
I get so confused...
That'll teach em to "Blow their wad on the Gays". NOT!
I just couldn't help it the spin took over. Hmmm could make a great contest. If only Saint Carlin was still here to help us along.
I for one am glad they did what they did along with the Mormons. They revealed who they really are and what lengths they'll go to to control the politics and suppression of freedoms for people that they dislike. The real thing is that gay marriage takes nothing from anyone and only gives people who love each other the same rights to be happy together without hiding. The focus on the family and Mormons show how ignorant and hateful they have become.
they started out hateful and bigoted. Oh, and in case you were wondering how you can tell if a Mormon is lying, it's easy: that's all they do. You don't even have to watch their lips move.
BububuBut they're so clean and shiny.
A quick google turns up that Dobson has an estimated worth of one hundred million dollars. I wonder if Jesus had that much money would he lay off 200 people or would he give up a small portion to keep them employed ??
Dobson didn't get to be worth that much by acting like a good Christian. I'm an atheist, but I'd love to see Jesus rise again to punch Dobson in the nose.
he'd choose this time to show up and nail all of the grifters like Dobson et al.
"A quick google turns up that Dobson has an estimated worth of one hundred million dollars."
which is probably too stiff with which to wipe your ass, which is all it's worth these days...
The Bible never tells religious leaders to give up their earthly possessions and follow the Lord...
oh, wait...
are they going to ask for a bailout?
They're too self-righteous to fail.
this is a great example of what is
WRONG with America right now.....
Stupid, Incompetent CRIMINALS are
running America.
AMERICA is COMPLETELY DUMBED DOWN
One thing the Reagan worshipers always rant on is that ol'Ronnie is responsible for the collapse of the USSR due to his over the top military spending and their being bankrupted in trying to keep pace.
Sounds like a good plan for dealing with these death cultists: keep 'em all tied up in their underwear so they eventually spend themselves into oblivion.
Focus On The GAYS In The Family, more like it...
That is but one of their focuses. Don't forget abortion and any right for women to control their own lives.
Dobson has said on numerous occasions that women should listen to their husbands and not hold jobs outside of the home. (Damn that old hypocrisy thing...he loved Sarah Palin, dontchano.)
Their focus is on anything that is not dogma related....as they see it. Four key words there.
When is Dobson due to appear in Washington to plead for billions because his ministry is too big to fail?
Maybe Dobson will pull an Oral Roberts and extort money from his flock so that his god won't kill him. Look for an aggressive push of the "War on Christmas" this December as FOTF tries to refill its coffers on the backs of those who still support his organization.
At least we can be thankful that Dobson and his crowd no longer have an ally in the White House.
I hear the Devil's hiring.
You mean Walmart?
Ja wohl!
LOL
This organization is proof that no lie stands forever. Their form of spirituality is a malignant mutation of the genuine article and arrogance and pride have been the downfall of many, so it should be with this pack of phonies.
That sounds like Sophocles, "No lie ever reaches old age." (Something Batman quoted in a 1943 Sunday comic strip.)
Sophocles also said, "Do not grieve yourself too much for those you hate, nor yet forget them utterly."
I'm sure the people fired will be happy to know that while they lost their jobs...teh gays will not be marrying in California.
<.<
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!
And, at least this time he picketh the right bunch to taketh from.
I don't feel sorry for any of the morons losing their jobs over this. Merry Christmas arseholes. Enjoy the fruits of your bigotry.
Sow the wind. Reap the whirlwind.
But it still smells like sulphur.
Well, the truth is that they are NOT practicing the teachings of Jesus. Since they call themselves "Christians" you'd think that they would try harder to actually DO what Jesus TAUGHT that we should do.
Jesus put priorities in loving God, loving each other, helping those in need, etc. JESUS NEVER ASKED ANYONE TO DONATE MONEY IN A CAMPAIGN TO TAKE AWAY THE CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF OTHERS. Also, all three of the Abrahamic faiths supposedly agree that "bearing false witness" is a sin, right? And we all know just how much "false witnessing" went on in the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, don't we?
So, maybe the Man Upstairs is telling FOTF to actually focus on those things that Jesus taught. I do sincerely feel for the employees who are losing their jobs, as I do for anyone in that situation, but I can't help but smile to hear that FOTF has taken a hit and has to scale back its workforce.
Add to that that FOTF colluded with Mormons (a cult by the definition of most evangelical and fundamentalist groups) and so validated the claims of the followers of the 19th century master of fraud, Joseph Smith. Heck, maybe everyone at FOTF is wearing magic underwear now.
The fruits of bigotry are pretty bitter, aren't they, James Dobson?
Also, all three of the Abrahamic faiths supposedly agree that "bearing false witness" is a sin, right?
True, but unfortunately there are those who think "lying for Jesus" is a positive virtue.
They're gonna lose a lot more after their alliance with the Mormons. Many of the people who attend my church still have family members who are Dobson followers (even though we think he's kin of Satan) and these people were telling me how angry their families were over this. Most won't consider sending donations ever again out of fear their money will end up in Mormon hands.
I do think this is just the beginning of the end for Dobson's minions. The wicked man shall fall....
lighten the skin and take off the turbin and you got James Dobson. Only difference is he's not living in cave somewhere,
Well yes, but those distinctions make a world of difference in the minds of the American Talibangelicals.
That when they say "Gay marriage would threaten traditional marriage between a man and a woman", they mean that if gays can get married, and their sexual activities no longer carry the stigma of the sin of premarital sex, closeted homosexuals in heterosexual marriages will leave those marriages in droves, hence the so-called threat?
Just a thought...
The problem is opening up marriage, which is a sacrament, to 'sinners' like gays. They feel it will "cheapen" the institution of marriage.
I think jerks like Limbaugh (third marriage) and McCain (left a disabled wife for his 2nd, younger one) are the ones who do the cheapening. Funny how you don't see that mentioned anywhere.
LMAO. Classic. It'll be a bigger thumb to their eye if Prop H8 gets overturned.
Guess all the prayer of the FOTF staff DIDN'T TAKE. Hmmm... mebbe "god" is not on your side after all or - rational as it seems - maybe it's all a bunch of HOKUM.
Maybe Jimmy said, as they took their boxes to the elevators, "god has a plan for you," and all the other nonsense.
Maybe, for those given the axe, the illusion/delusion was shattered a bit - a good thing if it turns against the SOB's.
Dobson and his ilk should, in a decent and just country, be stripped of his special tax-free privileges. No more hiding under a pulpit. PAY UP OR SHUT UP.
Being quiet, "respectful", and civil doesn't seem to work. Ignoring them was clearly not productive. Maybe it's time to openly call them and their beliefs out for the FRAUDULENT NONSENSE that it is.
I don't expect any changes in the Obama administration, but it's worth the postage stamp to try. Anyone care to join me in a letter to Obama requesting the Justice Department investigate FOOF and others?
I am sorry for the dependents of anyone losing his or her job, but I just can't bring myself to feel much sympathy for anyone working voluntarily for an evil organization like FOTF. I don't much care if they sincerely believe the garbage the organization preaches or if they are basically in it for a relatively easy buck. Either way they are facilitating an outfit which has done untold damage to the country and even the world.
"HA HA"!
I feel bad for folks that lost their job. but karma's a bitch.
See the video of the Prop H8 rally in Fucus' home town, Colorado Springs here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwGrg9k9i7c
part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osRSCXwx2X0
Pity. They want to wreck gay people's lives and end up wrecking their own worker's lives. What a pity.
I remember before the election when everyone thought Prop. 8 would lose, I knew it would win. I dubbed it the Rosie Effect. No one wants to be considered a bigot so they'd vote FOR Prop. 8 but not tell their gay friends or any gay pollsters. Well, I was right.
Now numbskulls think Prop. 8 is going to lose in court but guess what? They are wrong again. Prop. 8 will win in court and become law in California. And hell will freeze over before it's repealed. People are counting on the youth vote in the future but people get more conservative when they get older so while they vote pro-gay in their 20's, they won't in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.
Gays should give up this fight, come up with a new name for their "partnerships" and move on. All their stupid protests are counter productive. No one likes a sore loser.
Oh, and Dobson is a heretic. If he goes out of business it will be a great day for Christendom.
I've been hearing this tired rhetoric from WASP males all my life. during the last supermarket strike my boss even lectured us about how stupid the strikers were and used the exact same "people are liberal in their teens and then turn conservative in their adult life"excuse as you so tiredly employ above.
the only numbskull is you. not giving up the fight.
care to meet my partner and I in a dark alley?
you arent clairvoyant. your omniscient writing style is beyond expiration.
I'm not saying the become Conservatives but they tend to become more conservative when they "settle down". It's just how things are.
And being conservative or liberal on social issues is different than being so on economic ones. I know gays who have no problem crossing a picket line. Years in management will rob you of your soul.
And regarding my clairvoyance, that post ended up lower for some reason.
I'm off to work to help a gay friend with his computer.
They forced Dobson's FOTF to pink slip half a thousand Christian faithful. I guess this means the terrorists win.
... they didn't have to close up shop entirely.
I've had a bumper sticker for a long time that's just been sitting in a drawer. Perhaps it's time to slap it on my car. It says, "FOCUS ON YOUR OWN DAMN FAMILY."
I'm going to go on record saying that if you work to suppress someone's rights, you deserve to loose your job. You probably also deserve to be ridiculed. When I hear these people complain that their churches are being spray painted I find myself wondering: Paint? Human rights aren't worth the cost of church paint?
Dan Savage had the best line of this whole fiasco in that argument with Tony Perkins: "SAVAGE: When you strip me of my rights when I interrupt you, who is really suffering here?"
I hope this is a sign of their LAST DAYS and the end of James Dobson and his Focus On The Family. James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Pat Robinson, Tim LaHay and the leadership of the Southern Baptist Denomination are guilty of instilling HATE into the lives of their members and followers. It appears that GOD didn't hear their prayers to keep a Republican in the White House, or their theology of "God is in control of the universe" is wrong...just like they are wrong with their hate-mongering, lies, deceit and dishonesty.
The Christian Right hypocrisy is the main reason we left the GOP after 50 years as loyal supporter. Former President Gerald Ford was correct when he said, "The Republican Party take over of the Chrsitan right with its social agenda's WILL BE THE DOWNFALL of the party." I hope, and pray, this is the beginning of the end of Dobson, FOF and many more hyporcites using God's name to esteem themselves and turn our democracy into a THEOCRACY of THEIR theological beliefs!
But If you read my comment from October 31, you will see I nailed this one. Prop 8's win did not surprise everyone.
And if I meet you and your partner in a dark alley, do I get to bring my wife? At a buck twenty, she's probably in your weight division.
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