The SpongeBob vs. Dobson smackdown continues with VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer weighing in, as well as the executive producers of Doug and (drum roll) Focus on the Family finally responds. (read the response or listen to the Jan. 25 & 26 shows)
In a nutshell, James Dobson accuses the media of misrepresenting him. He claims he has no problem with SpongeBob (or the 100+ other characters that appeared in the video) and insists that his main concern was the pro-homosexual bias of the We Are Family Foundation. Which as Vischer points out, really comes down to a question of whether or not “respecting sexual identity” is a problem. We’re supposed to love people, homosexuals and hypocrites included. But are we supposed to affirm them? Endorse them? Respect them? It’s an iffy line, one that Dobson seems to know pretty clearly, but I’m not so sure.
As Vischer asked, if you disagree with the We Are Family pledge, does that mean you endorse the inverse? Should we disrespect homosexuals? I don’t think Dobson would go that far, but his statements never seem to clearly state that that kind of approach is also out of line.
This is such an incredibly hard line to walk. Respecting persons (thank you Postema!) without respecting their actions. I have no clue how to master that, but I guess practice makes perfect. And Jesus helps, too. I know John Piper will never refer to someone as “a homosexual” like it’s a noun. He always says “homosexual person.” I like that. It’s a tiny step in the right direction, because it acknowledges that homosexuality may be something they engage in, but it isn’t what they are at their core.
The difficulty then comes in when we Christians shoot our mouths off about something without carefully thinking about how our words might be understood by those with other worldviews. It gets really messy quickly.