SpongeBob SquarePants Angers Christian Conservatives

[randal7]

Originally Posted by Chubby

comparing the so-called persecution against christianity in this country to say the ethnic cleansing going on in other countries past or present IS laughable. Then again, we are in the "everyone is a victim" phase in this country it seems.

They must have not gone over the Crusades with you in history class.

Go back and read what I said. I pointed out that some people who would be angered at the use of a derogatory term towards some groups feel no compunction about using derogatory terms towards others, Christians in this case. Your name-calling remark popped up right after I posted. I pointed it out as an example and asked how you justified your remark. I don't think I said "persecution" or "ethnic cleansing" anywhere.

And you still haven't answered my question. I'm beginning to think you are deliberately avoiding it.

[Yossarian]

Jesus H Spongebob!

Don't start this off again....

[Neon_Chaos]

SPONGEBOB RULEZ THE WORLD!

besides, he's george dubya's best friend.

[chinaski]

Looks like MediaMatters.org caught the lies Dr. James Dobson told on Hannity and Colmes as well... hxxp://mediamatters.org/items/200501250004

Its really creepy someone who is supposed to be leading this "fight" against tolerance would sit up there in front of 3 million viewers and make bold face lies like that. Is it common for preachers to tell lies for the sake of "good"?

[KWhit]

Yes.

[Neon_Chaos]

Yes.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by chinaski

Looks like MediaMatters.org caught the lies Dr. James Dobson told on Hannity and Colmes as well... hxxp://mediamatters.org/items/200501250004

Its really creepy someone who is supposed to be leading this "fight" against tolerance would sit up there in front of 3 million viewers and make bold face lies like that. Is it common for preachers to tell lies for the sake of "good"?

I don't honestly think so. Well at least not reputable honest "preachers". That list is seemingly diminishing though. I typically think Dobson is one of the guys that normally gets these types of things right. In any case, he certainly misrepresented or at very least greatly exaggerated the content of the materials he was discussing.

In fact at lunch today someone asked which, if any, of the nationally recognized preachers were wholly on the up and up. Only one name came to mind, and that was Billy Graham.

[flere-imsaho]

SpongeBob receives 'unequivocal welcome' from United Church of Christ

CLEVELAND -- Joining the animated fray, the United Church of Christ today (Jan. 24) said that Jesus' message of extravagant welcome extends to all, including SpongeBob Squarepants - the cartoon character that has come under fire for allegedly holding hands with a starfish.

"Absolutely, the UCC extends an unequivocal welcome to SpongeBob," the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, said, only partly in jest. "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we."

For that matter, Thomas explained, the 1.3-million-member church, if given the opportunity, would warmly receive Barney, Big Bird, Tinky-Winky, Clifford the Big Red Dog or, for that matter, any who have experienced the Christian message as a harsh word of judgment rather than Jesus' offering of grace.

The UCC's welcome comes in the wake of laughable accusations by James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, that the popular SpongeBob and other well-known cartoon characters are crossing "a moral line" by stressing tolerance in a national We Are Family Foundation-sponsored video that will be distributed to U.S. schools on March 11, 2005.

Later, an assistant to Dobson called SpongeBob's participation in the video "insidious."

Thomas said, on the contrary, it is Dobson who is crossing the moral line for sending the mistaken message that Christians do not value tolerance and diversity as important religious values.

"While Dobson's silly accusation makes headlines, it's also one more concrete example of how religion is misused over and over to promote intolerance over inclusion," Thomas said. "This is why we believe it is so important that the UCC speak the Gospel in an accent not often heard in our culture, because far too many experience the cross only as judgment, never as embrace."

Dobson, despite his often-outrageous viewpoints, is arguably one of the most oft-heard religious voices in popular culture today. Through his Focus on the Family media empire, Dobson produces daily commentaries that appear widely on television and radio stations across the United States, often times as "public service announcements."

Meanwhile, the UCC's recently released 30-second paid television commercial - produced to underscore the denomination's belief that Jesus didn't turn anyone away - has been rejected by two major television networks for being "too controversial."

"Resistance to our message is formidable," Thomas says, "because we're cutting against the prevailing grain of a society that is afraid of the stranger, suspicious of difference and easily seduced by narrowly defined theological boundaries."

The 1.3-million-member United Church of Christ, with national offices in Cleveland, has almost 6,000 local churches in the United States and Puerto Rico. It was formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

For more information on the "We Are Family" children's video, visit www.wearefamilyfoundation.org.