James Dobson

===Views on tolerance and diversity===
In the winter of 2004-2005, the [[We Are Family Foundation]] sent American elementary schools approximately 60,000 copies of a free [[DVD]] using popular cartoon characters (especially [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]) to "promote tolerance and diversity."<ref name=bbcsb>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4190699.stm |title=US right attacks SpongeBob video |work=BBC News |date=2005-01-20 |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323022539/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4190699.stm |archive-date=2007-03-23 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dobson contended that "[[Toleration|tolerance]]" and "[[Diversity (politics)|diversity]]" are "buzzwords" that the We Are Family Foundation misused as part of a [[homosexual agenda|"hidden agenda" to promote homosexuality]].<ref name=tolerance>{{cite web |url=http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/event.jsp?p=0&ar=625 |title='We Are Family' DVD Still Available |date=2005-09-06 |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |access-date=2008-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114095317/http://www.tolerance.org/teach/current/event.jsp?p=0&ar=625 |archive-date=2009-01-14}}</ref> Kate Zernik noted Dobson asserting: "tolerance and its first cousin, diversity, 'are almost always buzzwords for homosexual advocacy.'"<ref name=nytkz>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE1DE153BF933A05752C0A9639C8B63 |title=Buzzwords; Hello, Synergy, Begone, Crisis |date=2005-01-30 |last=Zernike |first=Kate |author-link=Kate Zernike |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109205644/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE1DE153BF933A05752C0A9639C8B63 |archive-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> He stated on the Focus on the Family website that "childhood symbols are apparently being hijacked to promote an agenda that involves teaching homosexual [[propaganda]] to children."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=131 |title=Religious Right Attacks Tolerance Pledge |date=March 2005 |access-date=2008-06-20 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713225454/http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=131 |archive-date=July 13, 2007}}</ref> He offered as evidence the association of many leading LGBT rights organizations, including [[GLAAD]], [[Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network|GLSEN]], [[Human Rights Campaign|HRC]], and [[Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays|PFLAG]], with the We Are Family Foundation as shown by links which he claims once existed on their website.<ref name= cpost>{{cite web |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/dobson-clarifies-pro-gay-spongebob-video-controversy-20875/ |title=Dobson clarifies Pro-Gay SpongeBob Video Controversy |last=Chang |first=Pauline J. |date=January 28, 2005 |newspaper=The Christian Post |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721232727/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20050128/20875.htm |archive-date=2012-07-21 |access-date=May 9, 2018 |url-status=unfit}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0035309.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051005224429/http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0035309.cfm |archive-date=2005-10-05 |url-status=unfit |title=Dr. Dobson Takes on Media over 'SpongeBob' Controversy |website=CitizenLink}}</ref>

The We Are Family Foundation countered that Dobson had mistaken their organization with "an unrelated Web site belonging to another group called 'We Are Family,' which supports gay youth."<ref name=nytdk2>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/politics/20sponge.html?ex=1263877200&en=a1bb4268064fb8bd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland |title=Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge |last=Kirkpatrick |first=David D. |author-link=David D. Kirkpatrick |date=2005-01-20 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610210042/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/politics/20sponge.html?ex=1263877200&en=a1bb4268064fb8bd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland |archive-date=2008-06-10 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dobson countered:

{{blockquote|I want to be clear: the We Are Family Foundation—the organization that sponsored the video featuring SpongeBob and the other characters was, until this flap occurred, making available a variety of explicitly pro-homosexual materials on its Web site. It has since endeavored to hide that fact, but my concerns are as legitimate today as they were when I first expressed them in January.<ref name=cpost />}}

In September 2005, Tolerance.org published a follow-up message advertising the DVD's continued availability, including We Are Family Foundation president Nancy Hunt's speculation that many of the DVDs may be "still sitting in boxes, unused, because of Dobson's vitriolic attack."<ref name=tolerance />