A while back there was a flap over Jim Dobson and comments he made regarding a video involving SpongeBob SquarePants.
To hear some tell it, Dobson accused SpongeBob of being homosexual or of promoting homosexuality in the new video.
Since I have previously said that I find SpongeBob funny, a number of readers sent me links to stories and asked me for comment.
I didn’t comment at the time because of what I considered an absence of hard fact. The stories seemed shaky to me–long on conjecture and short on fact. Frankly, I didn’t trust them. I suspected that something was being blown out of proportion somewhere.
Sure enough, by coincidence I happened to catch an appearance of Dobson on the Hannity and Colmes program in which he vociferously denied having claimed that SpongeBob was gay or that the video–which only has a few seconds of SpongeBob in it and which features just about every major cartoon character currently on Nickelodeon and similar networks–promotes homosexuality.
What he had said was that certain teaching materials associated with the video (which features cartoon characters singing the song "We Are Family" and which is to be distrubuted to schools for showing to children) are in some way supportive of homosexuality. He said that SpongeBob and the video were fine in and of themselves, but they were being used as part of a bait-and-switch strategy on school kids.
There’s some merit to that charge.
While the teaching materials that Dobson (is alleged to have) quoted aren’t readily available, the website of the makers of the video is, and it contains the following "Tolerance Pledge":
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 [SOURCE].
The (probably deliberately) ambiguous phrase "sexual identity" can well be construed as referring to those who have "sexual identities" other than the straightforward biological categories "male" and "female." It likely is meant to cover people of one biological sex who have homosexual (or other) temptations. Certainly it’s ambiguous enough that it lends itself to this interpretation. The words are clunky and suggestive of an interpretation meant to cover more than what the simple word "sex" would have covered.
If I were a parent with a kid in school, I’d certainly be critical of any attempt to get my kid to say a pledge like that, including showing him a video of his favorite cartoon characters that is sponsored by an organization promoting this pledge.
Even apart from the "sexual identity" clause, there are better, more direct, and more effective ways of teaching kids to be tolerant of the legitimate differences of others besides encouraging them to say pretentious pledges. For that matter, there’s too much "tolerance" rhetoric in the schools (and in society) than is good for us, as it’s used as a codeword to stigmatize those who want to maintain traditional moral values.
"Tolerance" is not an abstract virtue any more than "intolerance" is an abstract vice. Some things ought not to be tolerated (murder, for example). Whether tolerance in any particular case is virtuous depends entirely on what one is proposing as the object of tolerance. Propose the wrong object and tolerance of it is a vice.
Now, why have I decided to comment on all this now when I didn’t at the time?
Basically, because I ran across
THIS WENDY McELROY EDITORIAL THAT CAME OUT LAST WEEK.
She says a number of things in it that I find valuable, including underscoring the basic point that people shouldn’t be dogpiling on Dobson or creating a media furor without first investigating the facts of the case, and the facts in this case are precious few.
I always like it when people in the media point out that we shouldn’t go off half-cocked before we have the facts (the latter being a chronic danger of their profession).
McElroy also points to contributing factors that led to the furor, including the fact that the media is simply hostile to Dobson.
I’d add an additional contributing factor that McElroy fails to mention: SpongeBob has been at the center of rumors of homosexuality for some time. I’ve encountered the "SpongeBob is gay" rumor a number of times from well-meaning Christians who have never watched the show but who have heard it from others.
Lemme set the record straight on that: So far as one can tell from the show, SpongeBob ain’t gay. He even has a (kind of) girlfriend. (I say "kind of" because shows meant to be enjoyed by young children tend not to get into romance very far these days.) It is very easy to explain what SpongeBob is:
He’s Jerry Lewis.
Like Jerry Lewis, SpongeBob is a comic character trapped perpetually between childhood and adulthood. He’s a perpetually awkward character who in some ways functions as an adult (he has a job, a house, he lives on his own) but has many of the mannerisms and limitations of a child (he’s socially inept, can’t drive a car, has a high-pitched voice, and is naive as all get out).
There are only two major differences between SpongeBob and Jerry Lewis: (1) He’s a sponge, and (2) he’s actually funny.
I’m given to understand (though I have not verified this) that some in the homosexual community have tried to adopt SpongeBob as a mascot, and it’s easy to understand why they might want to do so. Many in the homosexual community (like any community) enjoy the thought of popular figures being members of their community, and the fact that SpongeBob is a popular and perpetual awkward man-child unlikely to ever overtly contradict the idea that he’s gay (when was the last time you saw a cartoon character do that?) makes him a tempting target.
Indeed, there is even an impulse in the homosexual community to take wholesome images of adolescence and turn them into a kind of homosexual parody. That’s why homosexual men dress up as Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz at gay pride parades. Judy Garland’s character Dorothy is such a wholesome image of a person trapped between childhood (where the character was) and adulthood (where the actress clearly was) that homosexual activists have delighted in corrupting that image.
Well, that’s their lookout. I’m not about to let the fact that some of them have tried to subvert Dorothy into some kind of gay icon stop me from enjoying The Wizard of Oz, and if some are trying to do the same for SpongeBob, I’m not going to let that stop me from laughing at his humor.
All this does go to the question of why the Dobson vs. SpongeBob thing took off as fast as it did, though.
Though I appreciate much of McElroy’s editorial, I’m not persuaded by all of it. In particular, I’d cut Dobson more slack than she does. I’d also challenge her on one particular point. She writes:
[O]ne of the first questions I would ask is whether he would object to cartoon characters being used to inculcate sexual values with which he agrees. Frankly, I doubt he would protest Winnie the Pooh being used to advance the traditional family or the choice of women to become mothers and housewives.
Yet those choices, no less than homosexuality, are politically charged and offensive to some.
After beating up on others for conjecturing rather than checking the facts, it’s a little surprising that McElroy would feel to free to conjecture what Dobson would say about a situation without checking with him.
That aside, I’ll speak directly to the merits of the question she raises: What schools should do is reinforce the traditional moral values that society needs to keep running and that promote human dignity. Heterosexuality, the traditional family, and the choice of women to become mothers and housewives are high on that list. Those are the things that keep society running and they should be encouraged for all too obvious reasons.
If American social fabric has disintegrated to the point that this idea is now taboo in schools, all I can say is, "Well, that’s one more reason my children (should I be so fortunate as to have any) will never be placed in public schools."
Can I give a loud “Amen” without sounding like a protestant ?.
My children have attended state schools (prior to their conversion) and Catholic schools ( since their conversion to Catholicism)…and I can not speak too highly of the Catholic ethos that pervades all aspects of the Catholic Education system and schooling.
As for Spongebob, I haven’t really taken to him…but have you ever watched Yvon of the Yukon ?…now there’s a perverse little character.
God Bless.
p.s. I hope that if it is the will of God, that you will be fortunate enough to have children 🙂
I don’t think there’s enough tolerance. Because no matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to stand James Dobson.
At any rate, as I understand it, there is NO reference to homosexuality in the video and the accompanying literature guides teachers in how to respond if a STUDENT raises a question about various “non-traditional” family situations (these include single-parent and grandparent-headed households, by the way).
And Dobson knew exactly what he was doing. He thought he was in an echo chamber, and when word of his ridiculousness got out and backfired, he had to back off and start blaming the good old bogeyman, the media.
If we’ve gotten to the point in society (as opposed to religion or theology) when being tolerant of someone who’s different is objectionable, we’re in sorry shape.
It’s the job of religion to tell us what type of behavior is right of wrong. But unless we want a Taliban theocracy, it’s the job of society to make sure we know that we have to put up with people who choose wrong (short of those wrongs that society chooses to criminize, of course).
(And this is from someone who doesn’t just hope to have children someday, but who does and is just as concerned as any other parent with their moral and physical well-being.)
Thanks for the post, Jimmy. There has been precious little on what Dobson actually said & tons on the assumptions folks assume he meant.
And Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz isn’t the only fictional character homosexual activists have latched onto, as I’m sure you know. Batman & Robin have been corrupted in the same way, based on a sick & twisted *psychological* paper that was written on them sometime in the last 30 years, I believe. A friend of mine had to read it for a college psych class &, knowing I’m a lifelong Batman fan, he had me check it out. Big strong adult man who has as his *ward* a young boy in pixie boots, no woman around . . . how can they not be gay icons, right? Please. If the piece had been written about a living person, it would be nothing short of character assissination! And whoever wrote it has obviously not ever read any Batman comics! There are numerous precedents of this, totally ignoring the intent of the creators of the characters. Not to mention how activists revise the sexuality of historical figures for their own ends. Abraham Lincoln is the latest. Sad.
BTW, SpongeBob’s creator issued a statement the other week that it was never his intent the any character on his show should be homosexual. Sorry, can’t find the link now.
I like Sponge Bob a lot, but I can’t let my kids watch him anymore because they were influenced by the way the characters made fun of each other and laughed at each other in a kind of rude way. I would tell my children that it’s not nice to make fun of someone else, but for the next hour or so they would tend to act out in negative ways after watching S.B.S.P. Not all of the episodes are like that, but the majority are (like when Sponge Bob does the stand-up comic routine making fun of Sandy Cheeks). My husband and I secretly watch it when the kids are in bed!
I stopped my kids from watching Spongebob ever since the episode where he spells, poop. My 4 year old was running around the house for weeks repeating the episode.
I agree. Personally, I don’t think it’s very funny to begin with. Beyond that, it’s clearly innappropriate for young kids (unless you trying to raise kids who are indistinguishable from mainstream society). Far too much poop, gas, booger humor for kids. It might seem like an overaction, but unless you want your kids running around saying poop…butt….booger…fart… in a nonstop cycle, best to find something a little more pleasant and innocent (i.e. Kipper, Pooh, Franklin,etc.). Not as bad as something totally obnoxious like rugrats, but still, a little too much potty humor.
Jimmy,
I also think that many homosexuals are attracted to images of “trapped” or suspended adolescence because many of them remain in this state themselves. I think that this is not intrinsic or limited to homosexual persons by any means, but I do see a disordered immaturity as being present alongside disordered sexuality in many cases — I think there is a high correspondence. Adolescents in our culture are groomed by marketing and the class structures of High School to feel like oppressed and misunderstood outsiders. This gives them the motivation to act out and rebel against authority figures and structures with at times great and demonstrative hostility. Many heterosexual people refuse to grow up as well, of course. Nevertheless, I think the parallels between the actions of rebellious adolescents and some types of homosexual activists strongly suggest that they are warped by a reluctance to fully mature as people.
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
Support school vouchers.
It’s the job of religion to tell us what type of behavior is right of wrong. But unless we want a Taliban theocracy, it’s the job of society to make sure we know that we have to put up with people who choose wrong (short of those wrongs that society chooses to criminize, of course).
In other words, its religion’s job to tell us what’s wrong, but society’s job to tell us what’s really wrong by criminalizing it.
Hi c matt!
Perhaps a better way of saying it is that society has an obligation to articulate some minimum moral standard so that it can continue to operate.
Actually, rumors about Batman and Robin date back to the anti-comics crusade of the 1950s.
Given the number of love interests both (or all four) characters had in any number of media, it doesn’t fly once you take anything resembling a serious look at it.
Esquire-
“And Dobson knew exactly what he was doing. ”
What was that, exactly? I’ve heard alot about what people think he meant (or would like to think he meant), but little discussion of what he has, in fact, said. Ordinarily people should get a chance to explain themselves, shouldn’t they? That’s just one of those traditional values Mom taught me.
The whole tolerance thing is a gigantic red herring. There is far too little tolerance in some areas, and way too much tolerance in others.
I will not tolerate intolerance! Intolerance is something up with which I will not put!
>There are only two major differences between >SpongeBob and Jerry Lewis: (1) He’s a sponge, >and (2) he’s actually funny.
Jerry Lewis is not funny?!?!? Two of his movies almost killed me from laughing (when I was a pre-teen). Post-pubescence has impaired my sense of humor.
-Don’t Give up the Ship
-The Sad Sack
OK, Jimmy, I *do* find Spongebob hilarious. But what about that episode where he and Patrick adopt the clam (or was it a scallop) and then “played” house? Pat was the “dad” who went to “work” every day (which was, as we learn, watching TV under his rock) and Spongebob was the “mom” who worked frantically all day without so much as a bathroom break. I laughed at the mounds of diapers that their adopted baby clam accumulated over a number of days. What kind of message was that sending out to kids?
About the same message as Bugs Bunny dressed like Carmen Miranda. The whole point is the *absurdity* of the situation. That’s how humor works.
Now, if SpongeBob and Patrick were doing this on a regular basis and not playing it for laughs, I’d be outraged. Same thing if Bugs Bunny seriously became a transvestite. Kids don’t need cartoon icons of that nature.
That, again, is how humor works: Do something frivilously and it’s funny. Do it seriously and it’s unacceptable.
I have to go with the blogmeister on this one… Jerry Lewis is just plain disturbing… makes me squirm in my seat.
I have to give the Sponge his props, but I love Patrick. He pushes the envelope of stupidity.
There is one aspect of the show that I wonder about. Jimmy, is it right to make fun of elderly sea creatures?
If they’re Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!
To the invisible boat-mobile!
i dont think he is gay
Jimmy —
Seriously, what’s more gay than Spongebob???
I dont think spongebob is gay ethier. He is my favorite caritor. Please write me back. P.S.
can you send me a picture of him.
Thank You!