Ban Tolerance Promote Hate

Paramount Pictures

New York Times:
Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge

Recently the founder of Focus on the Family

Dr. James Dobson, spoke against a new video for children featuring SpongeBob SquarePants and other kiddy celebrities. The video, "We are Family" was made to teach children about multiculturalism and to promote tolerance. The film was to be distributed to elementary schools and shown to young children along with a tolerance pledge, which in part reads, "I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own." The film also includes a teacher aide pamphlet that advises teachers among many other things about how to handle situations arising from questions asked when children have same sex parents. Dr. Dobson opines that SpongeBob has been enlisted in a pro homosexual video and a spokesperson for his organization sees the film as "manipulating and brainwashing children."

In the long hard fight to end bigotry and promote a progressive society, Dr. Dobson's message seems quite chilling. If tolerance for homosexuals is not taught to our children then what does Dr. Dobson suggest? Even if one believes that gays and lesbians are morally hedonistic wouldn't teaching compassion be better than abhorrance? If hate and loathing are the suggested solutions, does Dr. Dobson think homosexuality will just go away? Is he inferring that teaching tolerance toward homosexuality increases the gay community?

Dr. Dobson has every right to his opinions about sexual orientation but to promote Christianity (as he does on his Website) and then want to ban tolerance is shameful and an embarrassment to our society.