| “Absolutely, the UCC extends an unequivocal welcome to SpongeBob,” said the Rev. John Thomas, the UCC’s general minister and president said after a pastoral visit with a SpongeBob doll in his Cleveland office.
“Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.”
Thomas said the offer to welcome SpongeBob also applies to “Barney, Big Bird, Tinky-Winky, Clifford the Big Red Dog or ... any who have experienced the Christian message as a harsh word of judgment rather than Jesus’ offering of grace.”
James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, blasted SpongeBob’s appearance in a video called “We Are Family.” The video’s Web site urged children to sign a tolerance pledge that advocated acceptance of differences of culture, belief and sexual identity.
The idea that SpongeBob might be gay, or is an advocate for gay families, is “silly,” Thomas said. The charges by Focus on the Family are “one more concrete example of how religion is misused over and over to promote intolerance over inclusion.”
The UCC is no stranger to controversy. Last year, a UCC television ad was nixed by CBS and NBC as “too controversial” because of its welcome to gays and lesbians.
UCC leaders also said they are exploring the creation of a new church in SpongeBob’s hometown of Bikini Bottom, although it is unclear if SpongeBob, Patrick the Starfish or the cranky Squirdward are interested.
“While we haven’t heard from the residents of Bikini Bottom at this time, that is definitely something we’d help them with if they wanted to start a UCC congregation,” church spokeswoman Barb Powell told RNS.
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