Free Republic

An armed robber with a proclivity for the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants struck his sixth bank Wednesday, working at what authorities call a "dramatic" pace and showing dangerous aggression. The suspect robbed the Hastings TCF Bank branch at Cub Foods, 1729 Marquette Blvd., about 7:10 p.m. He displayed a long-barreled handgun, demanded money and threatened to kill the teller, according to the FBI. He stashed an undisclosed amount of money in a SpongeBob gift bag and fled on foot. Authorities believe he is responsible for a string of robberies in the past three months at Cub Foods TCF banks in...

Should the public school system be used to encourage sexual attitudes in children, especially attitudes to which their parents might object? SpongeBob SquarePants is gay! Or is he? And why is there so little information on a matter everyone is discussing? The scandal surrounding the sexual orientation of the cartoon character SpongeBob looks like a media creation. The snickers directed at the ultra-conservative James Dobson of Focus on the Family -- the man 'credited' with questioning how square SpongeBob's pants actually are -- seem intended to obscure the issue and vilify the man. The issue is: should the public school...

The media has made quite a bit of sport of Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson in the past few weeks, savaging him for supposedly saying that SpongeBob SquarePants, the popular children's cartoon character, is gay. We at Focus on the Family have spent the past several days trying to set the record straight on this distortion of the facts—and over the weekend, finally, The New York Times affirmed what we've known to be true all along. In a correction published on Saturday, the Times noted that Dr. Dobson, in a speech in Washington, D.C., during inauguration week, "did...

By now you may have heard about the controversy surrounding a new music video aimed at kids. I haven't seen it yet, but since it apparently involves children's characters SpongeBob SquarePants, Bob the Builder, and others getting down to that that classic disco tune "We Are Family," I think I'd prefer to stay uninformed. And other people are vocally backing up my decision, if for entirely different and, if I may be so bold, pretty odd reasons. Some groups, including Focus on the Family, are criticizing the new video, not for being an insufferable assault on the senses (which would...

If somebody hijacked a bunch of cute cartoon characters and put them in a video that urged little kids to try drugs and alcohol, and if this video were to be shown at school, parents would be banging down the Board of Education's doors--right? And if the perpetrators of this outrage got found on, but acted swiftly to clean up their website, but not fast enough to keep the information from going public--that wouldn't put all those angry parents back to sleep, would it? Listen up, parents. That controversial Sponge Bob video you've heard about, and maybe decided to...

Buster the talking rabbit has brought his video camera to film an Orthodox Jewish family in New York, a Muslim family in Chicago and Pentecostal Christians in North Carolina. But it was the character's interactions with two lesbian families in Vermont that brought the ire of George Bush's new appointment for education secretary, along with a PBS decision to pull the "Sugartime" episode of the "Postcards From Buster" children's television show from nationwide distribution. San Francisco public television station KQED received the episode directly from the producers at WGBH in Boston, and it will premiere at 4:30 p. m. Wednesday...

James Dobson has a problem with SpongeBob SquarePants. At least that's what the media would have you believe. Since last week, the Focus on the Family chairman has been crucified by the press for supposedly disparaging the beloved cartoon character in a speech he gave in Washington. Several major newspapers have even implied that Dobson believes SpongeBob is gay. Well I know Dobson and my 2-year-old son knows SpongeBob, and nothing could be further from the truth. I was in the audience at the pre-inaugural dinner during which Dobson allegedly made his anti-SpongeBob remarks. Contrary to the media spin, Dobson...

Dobson on Scarborough re

If you had told me a month ago that I’d be devoting my February letter to SpongeBob SquarePants, I’d have said you were crazy. Nevertheless, by now you probably know that I have been linked to that famous talking sponge by hundreds of media outlets, from the New York Times to "MSNBC" to "Saturday Night Live." 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. The video, which millions of...

STONY POINT — About a half-dozen James A. Farley Middle School students sported SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas or pants yesterday in support of the cartoon character's right to be himself. SpongeBob Support Day was the idea of seventh-grade class president Jordan Uffer, who wanted to protest opinions expressed about the character's link to homosexuality. "He's a cartoon," the 12-year-old Uffer, attired in SpongeBob pajamas, said. "I felt there was no reason for them to say that he was homosexual, and there isn't a real difference between gay people and not-gay people. We're all human beings." The SpongeBob issue made the news...

Dr. Dobson Takes on Media over 'SpongeBob' Controversy by Gary Schneeberger, editor Focus on the Family founder did not criticize a cartoon character, as has been widely reported, but was warning parents that the group behind a "diversity" video may put material in teachers' hands that could prompt them to teach kids that homosexuality is equivalent to heterosexuality. Dr. James Dobson set the record straight today about the onslaught of media reports mocking him for comments he is alleged to have made about the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. "I've been in the public eye for thirty-something years and I have...

The mainstream media is twisting the truth about the controversy over a tolerance video to be distributed to elementary school children that features a who's who of cartoon characters, including SpongeBob and Barney the dinosaur, claims a pro-family advocacy group. The content of the video itself -- tolerance and diversity -- and whether or not SpongeBob is "gay" are not the issues, insists Stephen Bennett of the American Family Association. "No, Sponge Bob or none of the other cartoon characters featured in the video are 'gay,'" said Bennett. "The video itself does not promote homosexuality, but no doubt will open...

The United Church of Christ (UCC) stooped to a new low by poting this picture on their homepage - with a woman grabbing SpongeBob by the crotch!

PRESS RELEASE January 24, 2005 American Family Association P.O. Drawer 2440 Tupelo, MS 38803 URL: www.afa.net Contact: Kathryn Hooks (khooks@afa.net) 662-844-5036 x227 AFA threatened with lawsuit for warning parents about video Tupelo, MS – American Family Association (AFA) has been threatened with a lawsuit because it warned parents of elementary school children of a video that leads them to a web site that promotes the acceptance of homosexuality. We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) has threatened the lawsuit because of an article appearing in the AFA Journal regarding the video, scheduled to be shown simultaneously on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and...

To interested parties. Early Monday morning FR member BykrBayb and I were able to recreate the deleted portions of the WeAreFamilyFoundation.org website by pulling files form Google's cache and cross referencing deleted pdf files with files of the same exact name on Tolerance.org. (Thread here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1327041/posts) We discovered deleted portions of the site which contained resources for teachers to go along with the video. From my brief reading these resources seem to be heavy with gay-agenda material. This is the site which is behind the new "tolerance and diversity" video which uses over 100 well know childrens characters to push...

"Does anybody here know SpongeBob?" That's what Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, wanted to know this week. If they could have heard him, millions of kids would have shouted "Yes!" in glorious unison. None, however, could have guessed why he took the time to inquire. Dobson believes that the creators of "We Are Family," a music video intended to "promote tolerance and diversity to America's children," have enlisted the famous absorbent yellow square and cast him smack dab in the middle of a "pro-homosexual video." SpongeBob appeared alongside - and this is important - other...

Unless you have been living in a cave the last few days you are aware of those wacky Christian Right nutjobs taking inexplicable swipes at the beloved cartoon character SpongeBob and the notion that we should all simply love and respect each other. What could possibly be wrong with that? The answer, of course, is that the Mainstream Media has once again shown themselves to be completely inept in actually researching a story and attempting to behave as journalists. The reporting on this story has been little more than juvenile sneering and jeering from the sidelines while making no attempt...

Unless you have been living in a cave the last few days you are aware of those wacky Christian Right nutjobs taking inexplicable swipes at the beloved cartoon character SpongeBob and the notion that we should all simply love and respect each other. What could possibly be wrong with that? The answer, of course, is that the Mainstream Media has once again shown themselves to be completely inept in actually researching a story and attempting to behave as journalists. The reporting on this story has been little more than juvenile sneering and jeering from the sidelines while making no attempt...

I'm forlorn and heartbroken. I haven't felt this used since Charlie Hustle gambled on baseball and cheated on his wife. In a cruel and heartless world, we should be allowed to keep our heroes. But no, another paragon of truth and justice has swam off into the polluted waters of debauchery. At least according to the highly attuned rocket scientists over at American Family Association. The American Family Association claims Spongebob Squarepants undermines our morals. And here I thought he was fighting the good fight. I couldn't imagine anyone more square than SpongeBob Squarepants. But alas, he's been swimming with...