Posted on 01/20/2005 7:25:31 AM PST by E Rocc
SpongeBob in crosshairs
The New York Times
WASHINGTON — On the heels of electoral victories to bar same-sex marriage, some influential conservative Christian groups are turning their attention to a new target: the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.
James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said that SpongeBob's creators have enlisted SpongeBob in a “pro-homosexual video,” in which he appeared with other children's television characters.
The makers of the video, Dobson said, plan to mail it to thousands of elementary schools this spring to promote a “tolerance pledge” that includes tolerance for differences of “sexual identity.”
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
It always disheartens me to see the — and I really hate to use the cliches, but — anti-God, anti-family, anti-morality forces in all their loudmouthed splendor among frequent FReepers. People who think Howard Stern is great, but who just want to keep more of their money.
FINO's?
Dan
homos,pop punkers,MTV
So you share our disapproval of public schools using a program of videos featuring these popular children's cartoons as advocacy propaganda for the homosexual lifestyle?
Dobson is not saying to boycott spongebob. Dobson is pointing out that this group is using spongebob and other popular characters in a program of videos to be presented in public schools as teaching materials for a "We are family" promotion which includes advocacay of the homosexual lifestyle.
Well, not quite. Quayle was quite right, and even the liberals are seeing the light - reluctantly, perhaps, but the argument is moving in the right direction.
But there are effective ways to put the message across and ineffective ones. Sounding like loonies isn't too effective.
Its the difference between Wildmon and Cosby.
Schools should educate and not provide entertainment. I will clarify that SOME educational videos can be produced in an animation form, but that is not Sponge Bob. Sponge Bob, Teletubbies, etc are entertainment, not educational videos.
So to answer your question - yes I do share your disapproval of using any entertainment program as a teaching tool in public schools.
The only appropriate use of an entertainment program in a educational environment would be in a film class or maybe a history or cultural class.
He's a lousy icon for that I think.
Sponge Bob as a cartoon is actually rather sweet and sentimental at heart, much more so than the old Warner Brothers stuff.
It is silly of course, but "Love Thy Neighbor" is definitely in there, as is a solid case for personal responsibility.
"I love watching Sponge Bob...King of the Hill..."
"Sponge Bob" and "King of the Hill" are the only 2 shows I watch that make me laugh out loud. The writing is brilliant. Favorite SB episode is when SB and Patrick "adopt" the baby scallop. Smartest SB character is Gary ("meow"). I live about 20 miles from Garland, Texas which is supposedly the city that Arlen was based on. I have known (and still know) people who are just like those on the show. The best KOTH moments are anytime that Hank tries to relate to Bobby. ("Bobby, I told you, NO PROPS!")
Hey, you forgot this one:
(from "What's Opera, Doc?")
Seriously (if that word can properly be used here), Bugs was doing nothing that would've given his contemporaries pause. Bob Hope and Milton Berle routinely did "drag" acts and nobody raised an eyebrow.
Well said.
I think we don't do enough policing of what OUR OWN children watch. And I won't let my kid watch SpongeBob. And I will continue to decide what she watches on a program-by-program basis, and I will feel free to voice those opinions at will. Thank you very much. / rant
"...want the government to enforce "decency". ;;;"
But the victory over Penthouse had nothing to do with the government. It was consumer lobbying of convience store chains.
The government gets involved when Larry Flynt's cartoonist who draws Chester the Molester actually molests children. He was arrested and rightly so.
I believe there is a Freeper side to the Culture War especially in respect to the National Endowment for the Arts.
Thanks. And you'll notice, he didn't answer.Of course I did. You tried to go ad hominem, and I pointed out how language can be misused by both cultural collectivists and sleazy Democrats.
-Eric
Eh, to each his or her own, but I think you are missing the boat.
My kids watch and like Sponge Bob. They also monster readers. This last summer my girl (8) and I did the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" (in a prose translation).
Which are excellent moral tales, btw., for all that they are pagan.
And an excellent advertisement for Texas.
Nobody in Bikini Bottom is tougher or more competent.
When she isn't hibernating of course.
Regardless, there are only so many TV hours in her day, and I just don't, at this time, choose to fill that space with SB.
As with "Tinky Winky", the "is Spongebob gay" rumors started among the secular crowd before being picked up by religious "leaders" (and they are about as representative as Jesse Jackson...).
That's free speech, can't stop someone from talking.
The NEXT video in classrooms, Contraceptive Spongebob, will make it abundantly clear to children that Ol' Squarepants has been intimate with womens' most private parts.
Oh. So...
Just to make the comparison fairer, could you list your accomplishments for the American family? So we can lay them up against your target, Dr. Dobson?
And since you single out Dobson and Wildmon, could you tell us who's doing a more tireless and effective job of opposing the forces that are morally degrading our culture? Who is hated more than Dobson by the ACLU and PAW and the Michael Newdows of the world?
Thanks.
Dan
My first post didn't take, so here goes again:
Dobson had nothing to do with either, and you should check your facts before believing the urban myths that he did.
Homosexuals have to have a pee-pee and a poo-poo. It's part of their schtick!
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