To the Editor:

Well, Praise the Lord, Bro./Sis. Simpkins (sorry, but the name Casey does create genderplex) is one of &uot;us!&uot; And s/he is so concerned about the reputations of Christians that s/he writes to complain of the recent activities of Dr. James Dobson and the Religious Right. And being one of &uot;us,&uot; s/he is most certainly concerned about God’s reputation, as well. Again, praise the Lord.

Only, there’s one little problem. Bro./Sis. Simpkins wrote, &uot;Take five seconds out of your day and actually watch the video in question before you decide. I promise it will not brain-wash you into participating in an alternative life-style. Don’t listen to what the media drones or the talking heads tell you. Look for yourself, and make up your own mind.&uot; It’s just too darn bad that s/he didn’t bother to follow his/her own advise.

Bro./Sis. Simpkins rails on about how Dobson and others must be sitting around and pondering &uot;the sexual exploits of fictional characters.&uot; About how they ignorantly slander a perfectly harmless cartoon that innocuously promotes tolerance.

However, Bro./Sis. Simpkins doesn’t know what s/he is talking about. If Bro./Sis. Simpkins had bothered to follow his/her own advice (after all, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander), to do his/her own research, s/he would have found that the media hasn’t bothered to tell us the truth about the incident. (I wonder why it is wrong for us to listen to the media, but it is alright for Bro./Sis. Simpkins to do so?)

Being among the most notoriously lazy professionals in the known world, journalists haven’t bothered to check their facts. Instead, rejoicing in creating fictions that reinforce their prejudices, that Christians are a lot of &uot;intolerant inbred hicks&uot; (to borrow Bro./Sis. Simpkins words), journalists have created their own version of what happened, that Dr. Dobson and others have gotten their knickers in a twist about some harmless cartoon character being homosexual. While it makes for good copy, and is rather titillating, it isn’t the truth; it is just another media lie.

Bro./Sis. Simpkins, if you had actually followed the advice that you give others, you would find out that Dr. Dobson did not have anything against the cartoon character, nor the video. Instead, you would find what he said, in his own words:

&uot;My comments were not about SpongeBob at all, regardless of what you’ve heard from James Carville and Keith Olbermann and everybody else. It was not about SpongeBob. It was about the purpose, the agenda of this video.&uot;

&uot;They’re making it. It’s going to be distributed to 61,000 elementary schools, along with a teacher’s guide that talks the teachers through homosexual changes of attitude. And if you get the materials from the Web site and you see what it is they’re trying to do, at the very least,…&uot; (Dr. Dobson being interviewed by Alan Colmes)

The truth, Bro./Sis. Simpkins, is that the makers of this video have co-opted the cartoon characters that so many children like, and are using them to promote their agenda, which does include the acceptance of homosexuality. The following quote, from their Tolerance Pledge is taken from the web page of the &uot;We Are Family Foundation,&uot; who created the video: &uot;I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, SEXUAL IDENTITY (my caps) or other characteristics are different from my own.&uot;

Dr. Dobson is correct, and Bro./Sis. Simpkins is wrong; the makers of the video, the ones whom Dr. Dobson is calling attention to, and not the cartoon characters (much less their sexual exploits, Bro./Sis. Simpkins), DO have an agenda that anyone who is willing to take five seconds out their day and do the research can find. Bro./Sis. Simpkins, you tell us to not listen to the media drones or the talking heads. You also tell us, incorrectly, as it turns out, that Dr. Dobson &uot;proclaimed that beloved cartoon character SpongeBob Square Pants is gay….&uot; Did you hear Dr. Dobson say that, or did you just get that from a media drone?

Chuck Fisher

Suffolk