James Dobson Links Newtown Shooting to Abortion, Gay Marriage

Focus on the Family Founder James Dobson appeared to at least partly blame last week's school shooting in Newtown, Conn., on the nation's embrace of gay marriage and tolerance for abortion.

During his Monday radio program, "Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk," while reacting to the tragedy that left 20 children and seven others dead, he mentioned the country's shift away from traditional values as having "allowed (God's) judgment to fall upon us."

"Our country really does seem in complete disarray. I'm not talking politically, I'm not talking about the result of the Nov. 6 election. I am saying that something has gone wrong in America and that we have turned our back on God," said Dobson. "I mean millions of people have decided that God doesn't exist, or he's irrelevant to me, and we have killed 54 million babies, and the institution of marriage is right on the verge of a complete redefinition. Believe me, that is going to have consequences, too."

"And a lot of these things are happening around us, and somebody is going to get mad at me for saying what I am about to say right now, but I am going to give you my honest opinion: I think we have turned our back on the Scripture and on God Almighty and I think he has allowed judgment to fall upon us. I think that's what's going on," said Dobson.

Dobson, an American evangelical Christian author and psychologist, is heard on 300 stations nationwide through his radio show and for decades has been considered one of the nation's leading conservatives on social issues.

In addition to founding FOTF in 1977, which he headed until 2003, Dobson also founded The Family Research Council in 1981, which lobbies on behalf of traditional Christian values in Washington, D.C.

A somewhat similar sentiment on God's absence caused an uproar among progressives earlier this week.

Fox News host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, reacting to the Newtown shooting, said on Friday: "We ask why there's violence in our schools, but we've systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools become a place of carnage . . . We're not just going to have to be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one day we stand before a holy God and judgment."

Huckabee clarified his position on Monday saying, "I’m not suggesting by any stretch that if we had prayer in schools regularly as we once did that this wouldn’t have happened, because you can't have that kind of cause and effect. But we’ve created an atmosphere in this country where the only time you want to invoke God’s name is after the tragedy."

Dobson hasn't issue a follow-up statement on his remarks.