SpongeBob In Crosshairs (Dobson Alert)

Kansas City Star ^ | January 20, 2005

[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.”

[E Rocc]

At least Bush's father kept the loonies a good arm's length away.

Reagan did an even better job of that. He put libertarians in charge of the FCC.

-Eric

[SJSAMPLE]

Now, Squidward.
That dude has the gay.

[AppyPappy]

I'm glad someone is standing against this nonsense.

[LegionofDorkness]

Who does Dobson have in his sights next? Ernie and Bert?

[weegee]

SpongeBob, Barney promote 'gay tolerance (FedEx to Sponsor in Gov't Schools)


POST #460:

I have been doing some research on my own on this video and came across this thread via Google so thought I would chime in.

Well. after reading these two articles (#1: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/42005c.asp; #2: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/102005a.asp), The skeptic in me said that it could not be THAT bad, so I did some checking. I went to the website that the video will be advertising -- http://wearefamilyfoundation.org -- and looked for myself. All I found was a lot of generic language on tolerance and lots of information about the March 2005 video and the media/educational campaign that follows . . . UNTIL I dug a little deeper. There is a convenient "Search" bar on the site so I helped myself to see if anyterms like "sexual" or "sex" might be found on the list (even in terms such as Sexism). I found it peculiar that no listings were found. I tried several other terms that would appy and got no "hits." I decided to peruse the site myself only to find the term "sexual" listed in a few places, therefore telling me that the search engine was obviously not indexing the entire site and was apparently only providing pre-screened content. Thank heavens for Google!! I ran the following Advanced Search on Google (you can copy and past this and do the search yourself!): [ sexual site:wearefamilyfoundation.org ]. (Also you can simply click here: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-49,RNWE:en&q=sexual+site%3Awearefamilyfoundation%2Eorg )

I got SEVEN hits which I have viewed and I will comment on each of them below. {Keep in mind that, as the prviously posted articles say, the basic goal of the kids video (and the media frenzy that will most assuredly accompany it) is to not only promote so- called "tolerance" but to re-direct the viewers (children, teachers, parents) back to the "We Are Family" website for more information and resources.}

1. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/TEACHERS/wfc_s1.asp (Worksheet -- part of item 3, below, asking questions to prompt writing on sexual orientation of fellow students and the feelings the knowledge of their orientation generates)

2. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/tolerance_pledge.asp (Tolerance Pledge that includes "...I pledge to have respect for people whose ... sexual identity [among other items listed]... [is] different from my own."

3. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/TEACHERS/wfc_use.asp ("Using This Guide" part of "Writing for Tolerance", includes the hope that this guide will "...reach people in a broad range of ages, classes, sexual orientations, [list continues] ...)

4. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/TEACHERS/wfc_resources.asp (list of resources including: American Psychological Association. "Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality." Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1998. By the Way, this is the FIRST resource listed!!; Also listed: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. "Faith in Our Families: Parents, Families and Friends Talk About Religion and Homosexuality." Washington, DC: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, 1999. Of course, NO listings by PFOX or any other pro-gay-change/ex-gay resource)

5. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/ADL_101Ways_YourComm.htm (101 Ways to Combat Prejudice #93: Meet with school and community librarians and local bookstores to discuss ways to highlight literature that is representative of all cultures and sexual orientations. #40: Organize a No-Ethnic/Homophobic Humor Open-Mike Nite featuring stand-up comedy by students. #14: Initiate classroom discussions of terms such as anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, homophobia and bias. Then compose a list of definitions and post it in a prominent place; ALSO, under Subtitle: "Developing A Common Language" is this: Heterosexism -- Heterosexism is prejudice and/or discrimination against people who are or who are perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. Homophobia is the irrational fear of people who are believed to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

6. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/PrinterFriendyPages/Article_MissAmerica.htm ("Miss America 2004 -- Tolerance Out, Understanding In" By Lauren Parker {Interviewing the Current Miss America, who is African-American}: "Dunlap also explains that 'acceptance' needs to spread far beyond black-white race issues, and far beyond race in general. 'America isn't just black and white, so I don't approach my platform from just a racial standpoint,' she says. 'It's about uplifting everyone--people of all varied religious beliefs, sexual orientations, class differences, cultural diversities, and the like.' "

7. http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/PDFs/WeAreFamily-guide.pdf ("We Are Family" Guide Activities geared to grades Pre-K through Grade 12, including: {from high school activity -- "Pyramid of Hate"} "...Ask the students if they can think of examples of genocide that occured due to race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, etc...."; {also from "Pyramid of Hate"} Student Handout including these questions: Have you Ever... Overheard a joke that made fun of a person of a different ethnic background, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation? Have You Ever... Been the target of name calling because of your ethnic group, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation? Have You Ever... Engaged in stereotyping (lumping together all people of a particular race, religion, or sexual orientation?)

---

So the second article was EXACTLY on target by saying this is a "Stealth" campaign to promote acceptance and tolerance of homosexulaity to grade school and pre-school aged children across North America and beyond!!

Please pray that God would show you how you can respond in your own community. Also, please forward ALL THREE of these articles to as many people as you can so we can inform the public as to the true meaning behind this campaign!!

Blessings

--Alan Levering; Founder, NCXDS Ex-Gay Internet Christian Ministries

[avg_freeper]

Is Kid Rock going to appear in a SpongeBob cartoon?

[Richard Kimball]

Dobson is Dobson. I agree with him sometimes, disagree sometimes. He's got a pretty good bead on the culture wars, though. One of the things that makes honesty so difficult in today's culture is that many people have no interest in truth. Their only calculation is "can it be used as a political tool?" Dobson doesn't think that way.

Also, with Dobson, Wildmon, Falwell, etc, there will never be a positive media story on them. Dobson does a half hour daily show. The press will select half a phrase every six months to construct a hit piece on him.

[BibChr]

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?

Dan

[mamalujo]

I'll pay more attention, give me another chance

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I'll complete the sentence appropriately:

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, is a nit-picking nabob of Biblical proportions who happens to be the man in the most dire need of a Lewinsky on the planet.

That last part is a paraphrase from Good Morning, Vietnam.

[ovrtaxt]

I guess we won't be watching SpongeBob anymore. Too bad- those guys have talent, they don't need to resort to this lib stupidity.

[atomicpossum]

You think he would have learned from Falwell and the Teletubbies.

When that came out I SWEAR that Limbaugh had talked about it months before, the story being that a gay activist was claiming Tinky Winky as a gay icon. Then later Falwell comes out on it and the media grabs that and runs with it, even though I had heard the story weeks before as a bit of gay activism. Media bias?

Same thing with Dan Quayle and Murphy Brown. You can be right on the issue, but the media will do what it wants to frame the issue the way they want it.

[Antoninus]

Some joke. Now you know why we don't have cable in our house and never will. I don't want my kids to have homo-promo pumped into their brains by cartoon characters. Sorry.

[senorita]

Oh not Sponge Bob! I love watching Sponge Bob, the Simpsons and King of the Hill whenever I get the chance. They just crack me up!

[E Rocc]

My objection to the video is that schools will likely show it to kids without prior permission from their parents, violating the Hatch Amendment rules. But Dobson is going further than that, applying his imagination to the show itself.

-Eric

[mamalujo]

regarding post 33

We have the public schools for that!

[peyton randolph]

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, is a nit-picking nabob of Biblical proportions who happens to be the man in the most dire need of a Lewinsky on the planet.

A Lewinsky from who? Sponge Bob? ;-)

[Ignatz]

Rats. I thought the Spongebob cartoons were clever and cute.
On the other hand, since my chilluns are home schooled they will never see the "tolerance" video (I hope) and can thus enjoy Spongebob without being recruited into the homsexual lifestyle.

Btw, whatever happened to that "Angry Beavers" cartoon? It was one of my favorites!

[agrace]

It's not a stretch of Dobson's imagination - this story has been discussed several times on FR in recent weeks.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1281440/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315261/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1316670/posts


Apparently there's a kids' "tolerance" program being distributed in the public schools that includes a dozen or so popular cartoon characters in a video of the song "We Are Family." The video is the basis for public schools to teach kids about gay families.