Keep your kids from being gay

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Entertainment
Christians issue gay warning on SpongeBob video
Conservative groups criticize maker\'s \'tolerance pledge\'

Thursday, January 20, 2005 Posted: 8:19 PM EST (0119 GMT)
   
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian groups accuse the makers of a video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon characters of promoting homosexuality to children.

The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.

But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.

"A short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality," wrote Ed Vitagliano in an article for the American Family Association.

The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family" using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and other TV cartoon characters. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in an effort to promote healing.

Christian groups however have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation\'s Web site, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race.

"Their inclusion of the reference to \'sexual identity" within their \'tolerance pledge\' is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line," James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said in a statement released Thursday.

Rodgers said he was astounded by the attack.

"That is so myopic and harsh," he told Reuters. "You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters."

Dobson was quoted by the New York Times on Thursday as having singled out the wildly popular SpongeBob during remarks about the video at dinner this week in Washington, D.C.

SpongeBob, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, was "outed" by the U.S. media in 2002 after reports that the TV show and its merchandise are popular with gays. His creator, Stephen Hillenburg, said at the time that though SpongeBob was an oddball, he thought of all the characters in the show as asexual.

It is not the first time that children\'s TV favorites have come under the critical spotlight of the Christian right. In 1999, the Rev. Jerry Falwell described Tinky Winky, the purse-toting purple Teletubbie, as a gay role model.

[Evi]

Conservative Christian groups accuse the makers of a video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon characters of promoting homosexuality to children.

F^cking morons...

But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.

F^cking morons...

"You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters."

True dat. Barney is pretty teh ghey, though

SpongeBob, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, was "outed" by the U.S. media in 2002 after reports that the TV show and its merchandise are popular with gays.

This is stupid. You could also say, reports shot that the show and it\'s merchandise appeals to straights. The damn show appeals to EVERYONE!! There\'s no need to isolate a certain group because of their preference :rolleyes:

Is this the only thing these bible douches can do? How bout actually helping people.

[Evi]

Helping people is good, attacking people is not. F^ck ignorance and all the stupid sh^t that comes with it.

Whats next?The holy testament of the medieval times?

[Evi]

Burn the witches at the stake!!

Wait... so is everyones issue with this that the group is \'bigoted\' against gays, or that they are reading too much into the video? It seems to me that they are reading too much into the video, but if it was openly preaching tolerance of gays, the group would have every right to be pissed. If my kids were forced to watch that in school, I\'d be pretty pissed myself.

[Evi]

You\'d be pretty pissed that your kids would be tolerant of gays?

SpongeBob, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, was "outed" by the U.S. media in 2002 after reports that the TV show and its merchandise are popular with gays.

What in the world does that mean?  These Conservative Christian groups are to Christians as Michael Moore is to democrats.

Originally posted by EviscerationX
You\'d be pretty pissed that your kids would be tolerant of gays?

Regardless of my feelings on that particular form of tolerance, it\'s not a schools place to decide. This isn\'t about tolerating a race or the opposite sex (the latter of which should be taught but to my knowledge, never has. That\'s a much bigger problem than gays IMO), this is about a lifestyle that is completely optional to act on, and violates many peoples beliefs. The school should not be shills for the gay rights groups, brainwashing kids to think only the way ultra liberals deem fit on the subject. If there was a parent/student workshop of some sort that was optional, I would have no problem with that, for parents who want their kids to be tolerant of certain lifestyles, but to go behind the parents backs and teach one set of values to impressionable children through an educational cartoon with well-known kid friendly characters is messed up.

That is of course assuming this video is openly doing that, which the article suggests it isn\'t.

Originally posted by THX
What in the world does that mean?  These Conservative Christian groups are to Christians as Michael Moore is to democrats.

It was outed by an article in the media, how can you blame Christian groups for that? If I remember correctly, the article was in fact positive towards the \'revelation\', not putting it down even.

[Evi]

If there was a parent/student workshop of some sort that was optional, I would have no problem with that

I agree with you on that. I understand that if it was force-fed, than it would be a bad thing.

Originally posted by EThuggV3
this is about a lifestyle that is completely optional to act on

Um... so you\'re saying being gay is optional?? Tell that to the gay sons of ultra conservative people.

*decides to be gay for a week because it\'s such a great lifestyle, everybody loves da gay man*

[Evi]

this is about a lifestyle that is completely optional to act on

And that is also completely an opinion.

*decides to be gay for a week because it\'s suck a great lifestyle, everybody loves da gay man*

I certainly wouldn\'t go that far, but more power to ya

WTF? an educational video that tells kids to respect everybody\'s life choice is bad?!?! :eek:

you guys are seriously screwed in the head! I guess sexual education should be banned to since it promotes heterosexuality!