Everything about life in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom is unusual.Ĭlearly, most people will know about SpongeBob, but do you think you should give a bit of basic info for the odd reader who has, say, been living in a pineapple under the sea for the past 21 years? Excellent idea. Habitat: Lives in a pineapple under the sea. I'm mostly arguing hypothetically.Appearance: Absorbent, yellow and porous. It's possible it's totally innocuous wrt sexual orientation, and is a feel-good video of the best kind. Since it claims to be about 'multilculturalism', it's accepted with wide open hands.Ĭaveat: I have not seen the video. I would hope they got the copyright holders permission, i would assume that was done.Ī video, sent to schools, using characters kids are familiar with, to discuss and 'indoctrinate' kids with concepts that arguably should not be within the demesnes of the school-if it were a, say, pro-military video, it would be called propaganda. And obviously it's not even working, because I constantly hear about GREATER intolerance in schools, and we see the massive ignorance and intolerance of high-school-age youth politically That's why we have virtual morons graduating, who 'feel good about themselves'. Schools shouldn't indoctrinate ANYTHING, they should TEACH. Yes, because indoctinration of toleration would be horrible.Īnd if your argument is that it degrades the characters somehow, I'm sure they had to get the copyright holders' permission to use the cartoons.From a school? Yes. "We see the video as an insidious means by which the organization is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids," he said. Dobson at Focus on the Family, said the group stood by its accusation. On Wednesday however, Paul Batura, assistant to Mr. Mark Barondess, the foundation's lawyer, said the critics "need medication." "The fact that some people may be upset with each other peoples' lifestyles, that is O.K.," Mr. Dobson and the American Family Association, the conservative Christian group that first sounded the alarm, might have been confused because of an unrelated Web site belonging to another group called "We Are Family," which supports gay youth. The pledge, borrowed from the Southern Poverty Law Center, is not mentioned on the video and is available only on the group's Web site. The video has appeared on television networks, and nothing in it or its accompanying materials refers to sexual identity. 11 attacks to create a music video to teach children about multiculturalism.
Rodgers said he founded the We Are Family Foundation after the Sept.
Dobson's objection stemmed from a misunderstanding. The video's creator, Nile Rodgers, who wrote the disco hit "We Are Family," said Mr. The makers of the video, he said, planned to mail it to thousands of elementary schools to promote a "tolerance pledge" that includes tolerance for differences of "sexual identity." Dobson said, SpongeBob's creators had enlisted him in a "pro-homosexual video," in which he appeared alongside children's television colleagues like Barney and Jimmy Neutron, among many others. In addition to his popularity among children, who watch his cartoon show, he has become a well-known camp figure among adult gay men, perhaps because he holds hands with his animated sidekick Patrick and likes to watch the imaginary television show "The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy." Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, asked the guests Tuesday night at a black-tie dinner for members of Congress and political allies to celebrate the election results. 20) - On the heels of electoral victories barring same-sex marriage, some influential conservative Christian groups are turning their attention to a new target: the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge