The Bark of Peter & The Barking of Dr. Laura

The August issue of the Citizen (the magazine of Dr. Dobson’s Focus on the Family) has a long and wholly approving story on Laura Schlessinger, the radio personality with the call-in talk show, who sees herself (so the writer says) as “a radio moralist, a Jeremiah of sorts, tasked with proclaiming the existence of God and the need for His creation to start behaving….” The writer says admiringly that “in a world of namby-pamby self-help gurus” Dr. Laura “speaks of right and wrong, black and white, truth and lies and a Holy God…and she does it from the highest-power AM station in town.” “They love her, Christians do,” the writer declares. But Dr. Laura warns: “When Christians come on and they are not living up to what they perceive that Jesus has ordained for them, I let them have it.”

How good is Dr. Laura at what she does? Just let her tell you: “Very few people are practicing anything. I believe my show has brought more people back to the Catholic Church than anything the Pope has ever said.” Now that’s a curious sort of calculation, and it is not clear how its accuracy could be tested. Good morning, and welcome to the 9:30 Mass at St. Ethelbert. If you are a returning Catholic, please listen carefully. Those brought back by the Pope, please sit to the left of the center aisle. Those brought back by Dr. Laura, please sit on the right. All others please go to the balcony. Please, no shoving, no crowding there on the right; if the pews are full, find room to stand as best you can.…