Emily Hoffman

    If you were watching or reading the news last week, you might have read that James Dobson, founder of the popular conservative Christian empire, Focus on the Family, labeled SpongeBob Square Pants as gay. He holds hands with Patrick-who is pink, and doesn't appear to have any girlfriends. I'm talking about SpongeBob, not Dobson.
     I'd like to use my small amount of media influence to set the record straight. Dobson did not call Sponge Bob gay. He didn't use his considerable influence with parents around North America to slam a cartoon character. He wasn't commenting on SpongeBob at all, but on a video that will be headed to schools around the U.S., put out by the We Are Family Foundation, which was formed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to foster respect for other humans on the planet.
     The comments were blown out of the water by the media, according to Dobson's words in his February newsletter to supporters. He states, "In truth, this tale has very little to do with SpongeBob himself, and everything to do with the media's ability to obscure the facts and to direct lies and scorn toward those of us who care about defending children."
     Dobson was addressing a group of 350 guests attending a banquet hosted by Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and Gary Bauer's American Values. Dobson's point, according to the newsletter, was that behind the harmless video with a cast of cartoon characters, is a dark agenda.
     "But while the video is harmless on its own, I believe the agenda behind it is sinister," comments Dobson in his newsletter. "My brief comments at the FRC gathering were intended to express concern not about SpongeBob or Big Bird or any of their other cartoon friends, but about the way in which those childhood symbols are apparently being hijacked to promote an agenda that involves teaching homosexual propaganda to children. Nevertheless, the media jumped on the story by claiming that I had accused SpongeBob of being 'gay.'"
     In an interview on Fox News, Dobson expressed concerns that the We Are Family Foundation (not associated with the gay-rights group We Are Family) was going to have schoolchildren sign a diversity pledge in schools. The founder, Nile Rodgers, also on the show, denied the rumor that children had to sign anything.
     The pledge in question, taken from the We Are Family Foundation's Web site, reads as follows: Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination. To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.
     As a Christian myself, I can't see the harm in this pledge. This seems to be teaching the biblical truth, "Love your neighbor." To aid our children in respecting all different types of people can't ever be wrong, even if those differences include a person's sexual identity. I will never be Muslim, but I certainly can respect their beliefs and allow them the freedom to worship. I will never be gay either, but I can respect those that are. God, thankfully, left judging others out of his to-do list in the Ten Commandments, and Jesus didn't admonish us to "judge our neighbors" on the Sermon on the Mount.
     If the teaching materials do have a question or two about understanding sexual diversity, and about accepting someone who is an atheist, how will that damage our children? Homosexuals have been with us since Bible times, and will be with us in 100 years. Whether I agree with the homosexual lifestyle, or praying to Allah, or not praying at all, should not change the fact that I should, and my children should, try and gain a measure of understanding, and yes, tolerance, for those different from us.
     This brouhaha has troubled me over the past week, like a splinter in my brain. This is why.
     I wonder. If Dobson feels this strongly about a video teaching diversity and its effect on our children, how does he feel about the president disregarding the First Amendment and little by little eroding the freedoms of those same children? Will Dobson, due to his concern for our children, publicly disapprove of Bush's legacy of debt that will burden the next generation?
     Since Dobson is so concerned about pledges and oaths, I would like to hear him comment about what it meant that his president asked people to sign "loyalty oaths" in order to hear him speak during last year's campaign. What is that teaching our children?
     I do not doubt Dobson's sincere desire to be a strong moral guide to the country. I do question how he picks and chooses his pet moral issues. Freedom of choice, responsibility, honesty and truth were moral qualities that mattered to our founding fathers. Those on the Mayflower were in search of a world where diversity, freedom of religion and freedom of choice were upheld.
     Maybe we can all do our part in continuing that dream, even if it includes teaching children in our schools to be kind to others, and not to tease someone who is a homosexual or an atheist.