Dobson Clarifies Pro-Gay SpongeBob Video Controversy
The media jumped on the story by claiming that I had accused SpongeBob of being "gay." Some suggested that I had confused the organization that had created the video with a similarly named gay-rights group. In both cases, the press was dead wrong
After having been called “intolerant,” “cruel” and “arrogant” by hundreds of secular media outlets nationwide, Dr. James Dobson clarified his controversial statements regarding infamous “We are Family” music video featuring Spongebob Squarepants and other cartoon friends.
Dr. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the nation’s most influential Christian figures, was portrayed as attacking a “pro-tolerance” cartoon music video for featuring the asexual talking sponge who holds hands with his merman friend Patrick.
"SpongeBob holds hands with his starfish pal Patrick, and likes to watch the imaginary television show ‘The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.’ Evidence enough, to Dobson at any rate, that the guy’s a menace,” a Los Angeles Times article stated.
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However, according to Dr. Dobson, the issue has “very little to do with SpongeBob himself, and everything to do with the media’s ability to obscure the facts.”
“The media jumped on the story by claiming that I had accused SpongeBob of being "gay." Some suggested that I had confused the organization that had created the video with a similarly named gay-rights group. In both cases, the press was dead wrong,” said Dobson.
In the February edition of his monthly newsletter, Dr. Dobson explained the facts of the report:
“It all began on an evening in late January, during Inaugural Week in Washington, D.C. At that time, I spoke briefly to 350 guests attending a banquet hosted by Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and Gary Bauer’s American Values. I concluded by sharing a word of concern about a video that will be distributed to 61,000 public and private elementary schools across the nation, for use on the proposed "We Are Family Day," March 11,” he said.
The video in question features nearly 100 cartoon characters, stretching from the Muppets to Winnie the Pooh to Jimmy Neutron, that sing to a rendition of the disco classic “We are Family” song.
While the video itself does not have any sexual innuendos, the We Are Family Foundation, which sponsored the video, has plenty.
“I want to be clear: the We Are Family Foundation — the organization that sponsored the video featuring SpongeBob and the other characters was, until this flap occurred, making available a variety of explicitly pro-homosexual materials on its Web site. It has since endeavored to hide that fact, but my concerns are as legitimate today as they were when I first expressed them in January,” wrote Dobson.
The Focus on the Family chairman explained that on the Foundation’s website are links to five of the nation’s largest homosexual organizations: the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, and Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
Dobson also listed a panoply of pro-gay resources on the website that ultimately introduced the lifestyle of homosexuality to unsuspecting children.
However, Dobson explained, the website: www.wearefamilyfoundation.org, already took down the majority of the overtly pro-homosexual contents since the story broke.
“The founder of the organization, Nile Rodgers, appeared on the "Today Show" and said that we had the wrong site and that they had nothing to do with homosexuality. That was Jan. 21. Two days later, most of the homosexual content disappeared or became inaccessible,” said Dobson. “I will leave it for you to determine the motive behind the mysterious vanishing of such material by the We Are Family Foundation.”
After listing more evidence, Dr. Dobson clarified in biblical terms why children should not be made to view the video, which is set to be distributed to 61,000 classrooms nationwide by March 11th – “We are family day”.
“Every individual is entitled to respect and human dignity, including those with whom we disagree strongly,” said Dobson. “The problem is not with acceptance or kindness, certainly. But kids should not be taught that homosexuality is just another "lifestyle," or that it is morally equivalent to heterosexuality. Scripture teaches that all overt sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage is sinful and harmful. Children should not be taught otherwise by their teachers, and certainly not if their parents are unaware of the instruction.
“Imagine a classroom full of wide-eyed five-year olds, sitting in a circle in front of the teacher. These kindergarteners will believe anything they are told, from the notion that reindeer can fly on Christmas Eve to the idea that bunnies lay candy eggs during "Spring Break." They are vulnerable to whatever adults tell them.
“In this instance, the kids are not learning about the alphabet or about exciting fairy tales; they are potentially hearing incomprehensible references to adult perverse sexuality. And the rationale for this instruction is "tolerance and diversity." Generations past would have been shocked and outraged by the very thought of such nonsense. Yet many parents either don’t know of the teaching or are passively willing to go along with it,” he wrote.
Parents, I urge you to keep a close eye on your sons and daughters. Watch carefully everything that goes into their little minds. Monitor their textbooks and the words of their teachers. Do not turn them over to harmful television programs.”
