March 11, 2010 06:46 PM UTC

Toxic "Spongedob" Pushed Out?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Springs Gazette reporter Mark Barna writes for The Pulpit blog:

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson was pushed off the Focus radio show by the organization’s board of directors. The board told Dobson that his last “Focus on the Family” radio broadcast would air Feb. 26. Dobson was disappointed. He didn’t want to leave his radio show. That’s when he decided to start “Family Talk with James Dobson,” set to air on radio stations May 3.

Or so goes the account by Rev. Ken Hutcherson, a high-profile conservative evangelical who leads the Antioch Bible megachurch in Kirkland, Wash. Hutcherson has made a name for himself for his flamboyant manner and opposition to abortion and gay marriage (and as a former NFL linebacker).

On Tuesday, Hutcherson’s editorial called “I Lost My Focus on the Family” was published  online at World Net Daily. In it Hutcherson says he knows that Dobson was pushed out of Focus, claiming to have talked to Dobson and Focus president and CEO Jim Daly about it.

Focus on Wednesday denied Hutcherson’s assertions, but Hutcherson didn’t back down.

“I am not speculating. I know what the truth is,” Hutcherson said in an interview today with World Net Daily…

In the editorial, Hutcherson expresses his disapproval of Focus’ new kinder, gentler approach on hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage.

The politicization of Focus on the Family under James Dobson, which ultimately led to large sums of money poured into political battles while the organization’s “core mission” of family counseling shed its workforce, is a well-known story we’ve discussed in this forum many times.

What’s really going to be different remains to be seen, but this public spat is an indicator that at least some on the religious right are afraid that Focus is giving up its hard political (spelled GOP) edge–while others, possibly including the board of Focus on the Family, welcome the change.