James Dobson and Ted Bundy

With such a spotless record for having sane positions on subjects such as legal pornography, you'd think that Dr. James Dobson, president of Colorado Springs based Focus on the Family, wouldn't need any help making a statement. That is part of what is weird about this video titled Fatal Addiction from FOTF. In it Dobson joins ranks and co-authors a video discussion with serial killer Ted Bundy.

Here:

In this video-Bundy's final and exclusive interview conducted by Focus on the Family President James Dobson-Bundy takes viewers back to his roots, explaining the developement of his compulsive behavior.He reveals his addiction to hard-core pornography and how it fueled the terrible crimes he commited. Bundy warns that within our society, are men like him, whose violent tendencies are being encouraged by pornography. A controversial presentation-recorded just hours before Bundy's execution-"Fatal Addiction" is the story of a tormented man, a man caught between the right and wrong he learned as a child and his plunge into the dark world of hard-core, violent pornography.

What is interesting in this video is not the spectre of pornography, but Ted Bundy. Watch him. He seems, to me at least, to be faking the whole thing for fun. He's so smooth, sincere, polished and intelligent that it is over the top. He has the audience and Dobson basically exonerating him and blaming porn by the time the film ends. No, really, Bundy is AMAZING on this video. No paid news anchor or actor I know of could hold a candle to how he tells his heart felt story. Insane.

You can get your own copy of Fatal Addiction from FOTF and as always if you don't want to pay, it's free! (and will probably sell on ebay after you're finished with it)

Comments

[Clint Walker]

I saw this as a teenager--it is that old.

I did not get the same impression as you did...although I have thought something was not right about it.

I guess the whole thing is a fallacy of logic is what bothered me. I think it is probably true that Bundy was influenced by all of this...and I would be willing to bet that most sexual predators and abusers fuel their behavior with pornography. But the opposite is not true. Not all people into porn get into abusive, psycho stuff and then become abusers.

And you get the impression that FOTF is pushing the slippery slope theory with this video. One day...playboy...the next day...humping corpses of dead grannies while working at the funeral home. While that is possible...it is a very rare group of people that actually go there. Even if that is the way it went with Bundy...that does not mean that porn is going to push everyone in that direction. And when you imply that, you lose credibility.

Anyway..that is what I think

[Non-Prophet]

I agree. For the predisposed porn and violence can certainly become a focus. Bundy grew up in a reasonable home and somehow turned out 'different'. To imply that the main cause was porn is to ignore much.

Bundy was a hardcore sociopath and con-man. It is said that he was incapable of being genuine or feeling remorse and that he was faking it right up to the end. He certainly is very convincing in this video, but he lays it on too thick. By the time it is over the gist of what is said is that he was a victim of "the terrible pornography". To believe Bundy is to feel sorry for a poor soul who was lead astray. Bundy had no conscience.

[Zen]

Anything can be a catalyst for good or for evil. The key lies in our intentions.

[Nate]

I can think of plenty other examples where the criminal blames everyone and everything but himself. How could anyone watch a video of an interview with a convicted serial killer with anything other than suspicion and scepticism for everything he says? By the way, was there a section where Bundy 'gets saved'? I mean, it doesn't matter how much of a monster he was, if he accepts Christ in the end it's all OK, right?

[Non-Prophet]

Bundy had already been saved, in fact I think that for a while he was Mormon. He chose Dobson out of all of the media because he wanted to talk about how pornography had led him down a path of evil.

I have no doubt in my mind that for sexual preditors porn plays a big part in their obsession. I don't know that it has a causal relationship though.

I still can't get over how smooth Bundy was. He wasn't a man about to die, he was more like a host for Good Morning America. Total con-man.

[Zen]

Nobody's defending the porn industry here. We've all seen it, we've all used it, we've all experienced it's visual titilation. Some of us might have subsciptions to "Playboy", "Penthouse" or in the case of NP to "Big Swinging Dicks Illustrated". Fine.

But none of us would probably want an adult bookstore to set up shop next door to our home either. Overall, it's a pretty filthy and quite greedy industry. On this I think we can all agree. And maybe for Bundy, his addiction to porn was the catalyst for his dysfunction. I don't know.

But I do know that banning pornography isn't going to rid the world of Ted Bundys. That porn is so prevalant might be a symptom of our disease. But porn is certainly not the disease itself. And I know no psychologists that would disagree.

[Non-Prophet]

I was once strolling down the street in conservative Geneva and noticed porn being sold on stands right on the sidewalk. There was full frontal nudity right in public view. I was reminded of our puritan ethic and how we've demonized sex in this country. Some porn is degrading and is sex crime fantasy, but the majority is just good clean wholesome fucking.

I don't mean to disagree with your point about having a porno store next door, but I think that we've made it seedy and it isn't inhenrent.

[Zen]

That is true to a degree. Magazines and video are, after all, simply magazines and videos. It is what we do with them (action) that tells the story. The American porn industry as it currently exists is seedy. Can it improve this image? No doubt.

Although it should be noted that the vast majority of "sidewalk pornography" in Western Europe is controlled by organized crime. I saw the same thing in Vienna. Hardcore porn featuring girls as young as 16 sold on the street. Most Europeans are appalled by its presence, but they recognize that prohibition oftentimes is more damaging than regulation, so most look the other way.

[Citizen]

Ted Bundy was a psychopath who thought he could feel remorse and love and empathy but it was impossible for him to realise that he was experiencing proto emotions created by his own imagination...He was extremely psychopathic and was not to blame for his actions. A lot of men and women look at hardcore porn and even become addicted to it but have more intensity and length in their brain mechanism to influence a negative feeling. Psychopaths feel this negative feeling initially but overcome it quicker than others because that part of their brain is faulty.
Long story short, bundy was a PSYCHOPATH!!! simple as that.

[Mike]

If you would read the interview, Ted mentioned explicitly that he doesn't blame porn for his actions, but he is just underlining the porn's contribution.

The reason why not all porn users are sex-predators etc. is because most people still have a little bit of conscience left and of course are afraid of being prosecuted.
However, porn is a catalyst for sexual crimes. Consider the fact that since the sexual revolution started, the number of rapes (that is reported rapes) has increased dramatically. Also, more and more pedophiles point out to porn as the start of their sexual deviant behaviour. Then we have porn in marriages - no wonder why there are so many divorces. Or think of how much it degrades women, reducing them to mere objects.

Sexual freedom also implies the freedom to sexually damage yourself. Or did our parents think that it means only the excitment part?

[Nate]

Oh, these arguments are so pathetic. It reminds me of several of idiotic refrains now debunked: 'that (1950s) Rock and Roll music is evil! Now 50's music is considered 'wholesome' by the same crowd. 'Dungeons and Dragons' leads to satanism. By now there should be Satanists running every school and library, yet it seems decidedly the opposite, and we're not much better off for it, IMHO. 'Pot will turn your kids into drug fiends', 'Porn turns you into a sex predator', it's all bunk. The sick people in the world are just that, they're going to fixate on something. It's just too damn easy to point at something and say "that's the problem, get rid of that and we'll have no more sick folks". Unfortunately, I think the human psyche is far more complex than that. Perhaps neuroscience will allow us to understand (and treat) some of these deviant behaviors someday, but until then it seems we, as a society are doomed to continue in the tradition of the ancients, assigning simple, easy to understand reasons for and solutions to what remain to be the great unsolved puzzle of the human brain.

[queenierobinee]

To this day I remember the Ted Bundy interview with James Dobson and am riveted by it. I totally agree with comments made that 'something was amiss' with the whole thing, most likely with Ted's con-job. HOWEVER, I am also deeply affected re: the forgiveness issue, and how deeply people are able or inable to forgive greivous offenses. Also, how incapable people are with empathy to a God of Justice who can also Forgive a serial murderer. I remember my own mother saying that she could not love or serve a God who was able to forgive a Ted Bundy. I reminded her of St. Paul, who was responsible for the deaths of many Christians who were persecuted under his watch, yet he repented, was forgiven, and responsible for large portions of the Bible which she read. To that, she seethed and repeated that she would not serve a God who could forgive Ted Bundy. I told her, Mom, you will be bunk-mates for eternity with such people as Ted Bundy, if you truly believe in the truths in the Bible that say that God can forgive the vilest of sinners. I think it was at that point that my dear mom jumped off the God bandwagon and decided that she wasnt going to be a participant. However, I still fully believe myself that "whoever is forgiven much, loves much". I will never be in judgement with a repentant Ted Bundy or people or his ilk, I will leave that to God. But we should all be discerning of wolves in sheeps clothing, beg for divine judgement, and let God be God.

[Poo Man Sanchez]

Leave bundy alone all he wanted to do was kill a few stuck up bitches and enjoy himself with the sluts...Look at how much sex he missed out on due to "reality" of social structure----He was given the gift of consciencelessness.

[Ted Bundy]

Ted Bundy is the coolest serial killer ever.

[lookitup]

This entire interview is a scam. Ted Bundy claims he grew up in a normal home, but all you have to do is look at his biography to realize that his childhood was a little screwed up. The woman he thought was his older sister was actually his mom. he didn't discover this until right before he started killing. he also chose victims who were similar to a woman who had broken his heart. while I agree that pornography is psychologically unhealthy, there's no way you can blame it for bundy's psychosis. He had a whole lot more screwed up with him than a porno addiction. apparently, he was lying through his teeth all the way to the end.

[Karen Becker Martinez]

I was working at the College of Law at the University of Utah during the '70s. Ted transferred down from Seattle when he was a second-year law student. As the U of U law school was very small (300), I got to know most of the students. My boyfriend at the time was a law student as well and upon Ted's arrival my friend invited him to be part of his study group.

Ted definitely was the 'deliberate stranger'. I spoke to him on a daily basis for the most part. My boyfriend would get concerned/annoyed when Ted would just take off for a day or two (or longer.) Ted was (for the lack of better words (a very intelligent person) and the rest of his study group depended on his input.

When he was arrested for the attempted kidnapping of Carol DeRounch -- no one could believe it. Or for sure he came off as the perfect little student. Referring back to one of his 'little vacations', I cornered him (sort of) and was relentless in quizzing him about his whereabouts.

In retrospect I can see how these poor young woumen fell for his act. I was walking down the hall about ten paces behind Ted when he suddenly stopped and looked back at me. He said that I looked beautiful that day. Rest assured I had no attraction to him -- but his deep, blue eyes were like a homing beacon and my heart began to race.

Down the road, Ted was released on bail and came back to the law school to do research on his case. Okay this is the part that still haunts me. I worked late one evening. As I approached the exit door, he was coming down the stairs and our eyes met. He said hi to me and I asked what the heck was he doing there so late -- well Duh. . . . We were both walking back to the main building and I thought 's_ _ t' do I run out the door screaming or do I act casual. I sped up a bit as I didn't want a conversation. I can still 'hear' his footsteps behind me.

[sean lovell]

ted bundy rules!

[in8sworld]

@Karen - Thanks for sharing your story! I think we all know somebody in our life a little like Ted Bundy: distant, remorseless, manipulative, controlling, conniving, secretive, creepy. When those traits are combined with a strong personality, good looks, and a compulsion or two - look out. I don't see the world as black and white (I'm only willing to concede it's greyscale ;) and the boundary between "sociopath" and "eccentric" seems to have a lot of wiggle room in it.

[Ann]

Does anyone know how long Ted Bundy was out on bail when released in 1975?

[writing up dissertation]

Blogs are good for every one where we get lots of information for any topics nice job keep it up !!!

[Dissertation Examples]

Blogs are so interactive where we get lots of informative on any topics nice job keep it up !!