Well, I was wrong. I thought the next phony "War on ..." conducted by the
Nuisance Generation and the
Christian Taliban would be the
War on Easter. Or the War on Flag Day. Or the War on the
War on Christmas.
Anything but this.
Presents unwrapped and New Year rung in, those anti-everything Americans have found a new target: Barbie. Why? Not because Barbie helps reinforce unrealistic images of women, but because they feel something on the Barbie Web site exposes young girls and boys to ... bisexuality.
The Concerned Women for America, a thorn in the side of progress, is
up in arms over a
brief poll on the Barbie Web site. Why? For that, I'll let the CWA's Bob Knight and Martha Kleder take it from here:
Bob Knight: ... But the second question is the eye-opener. "I'm a ..." And they give you not two choices but three: You can click on "I am a Girl," "I am a Boy" or "I don't know."
Martha Kleder: And this is directed at children aged 4 through 8. Those are the only age options in this poll. That's a really young age to be directing something along the lines of bisexuality, gender confusion.
Knight: That's the agenda here. That's the idea that, well, maybe people aren't born a particular biological sex, or they are but that shouldn't determine their gender identity. And that's a very big component of the homosexual activist agenda.
If you look at the acronyms they use for their movement, they used to be "L" and "G" - lesbian and gay. Then it was "LGB" - lesbian, gay and bisexual. Now it's "LGBT" - lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. And some of them at "Q" to it - for when they're talking about youth. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. In other words, any kid who's not sure about who he is, he's fair game to try to persuade to have same-sex acts.
Apart from the tired, disgusting, homophobic rhetoric, please note that Knight and Kleder
are lying to you. This exchange, taken from a CWA
multimedia report, is simply factually inaccurate. The poll, as opposed to what Kleder tells her flock, is
not aimed at those aged 4 through 8. Yes, the survey starts at 4 and 8 is the last age featured in the opening drop-box, but any moron capable of using a mouse - perhaps even
Brad Stine fans - would soon realize that the poll begins at 4 and ends at 70+, with all ages in between. The poll also asks respondees what they're "all about" in January. If you guessed "Lying in the name of bigotry and Jesus," you'd have the CWA pegged.
What we're seeing here is obvious. Yet another hate group is trying to play hardball with a big company - this time Mattel. It's happened in the past, with companies ranging from Kraft to Microsoft to Ford. The hate group - Focus on the Family, the American Family Association, CWA - tells its constituents that Company A is anti-Christian, is anti-family, is out to turn your children into homosexuals. Then, they threaten Company A with action, most notably a boycott. Sprinkle in the complicity of whichever Fox News personality feels like jumping on a soapbox. Add equal parts ignorance, idiocy and intolerance. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's a page torn right from "Mindless Christian Activism For Dummies."
If that's not bad enough, they also attack the notion of Barbie herself. Turns out she's not a good Christian:
Knight: We could get into the whole Barbie phenomenon and how some critics have said that Barbie dolls really have convinced American girls that the materialistic way of life is the way to go. That you have to have the hot car and the tropical scene and that Barbie has the perfect figure and perfect outfits and it's really steering girls away from the idea of womanhood as, predominantly, in terms of Christians, serving the Lord, getting married, having kids, building a home. You don't see any of that with Barbie. It's all about things. So, Barbie's suspect to begin with, but once you start throwing this transgender question at little girls, they really cross the line.
So let me get this straight, Bob:
If you're a woman and you'd rather enjoy your job than have a family, you're a Christ-hating lesbian? Please. Is the family so weak that the mere threat of a
doll could tear it apart? Assuming that Barbie, SpongeBob, Tinky Winky and Barney could
turn your child gay is a thought
so ridiculous, so stupid, that
only these morons could have it. But, then again, we're talking about the same people who fear that
allowing gays to marry threatens the "institution" of marriage and that
burning the flag threatens to destroy the American system. These aren't rational people.
When most see stories like this, they laugh. I'm guilty of this as well, though mine is the nervous laughter of somebody who sees where this could soon go. Groups like the CWA, by embracing a failed ideology, are making America a more and more oppressive nation each day. If it weren't the "gay agenda," it would be the "black agenda" or the "Jewish agenda." These seemingly laughable stories may seem like random blips on our radar. Far from it. No, they point to an America that I would rather not call home. Nor would you.
We're at war for our future. The religious right recognizes this fact and acts accordingly. Treating the latest outrage as an afterthought plays right into their hands, because they'll have the podium to themselves. And their worldview embraces hatred, plays on fear. Ours, on the other hand, isn't scared of change, isn't afraid of progress. Ours is a hopeful outlook that caters to everyone, not just a radical minority. But unless we force our way into these stories, get our side of things out there, America will keep losing ground to these extremists. We've won before. We can win again.
Take action
If you feel strongly about this, why not take some action? Why not get in touch with Mattel and tell them not to back down in the face of these hateful extremists? General contacts are here and media contacts are here. Ask company representatives if they plan on embracing their pledge that recognizes diversity "as an asset" and that Mattel "is committed to actively seeking and promoting diversity in the workforce." They surely wouldn't back down if a radical minority wanted them to retreat from marketing toward African Americans, Mexicans or Jews, would they? No, and they shouldn't in this case.
Perhaps you'd like to get in touch with the CWA. Why not touch base with their leadership and ask them why they embrace a philosophy of hate? Why not also ask them why they must lie to their constituents to make their ignorant points? Jesus doesn't like liars or bigots, after all, so why not ask them if they realize how un-Christlike what they're doing is?