The threat now came from Islamic extremism, and there was no denying its ferocity. Terrorists were our new Communists, following a foreign faith and ready to strike at our heartland at a moment’s notice. Fears of “dirty bombs,” terrorist cells, anthrax attacks, and “weapons of mass destruction” ran rampant. Some of the immediate solutions put into action by the government, such as the Patriot Act and the Office of Homeland Security, were uncannily reminiscent of those used in the 1950s. Criticism of the President and his administration were seen as “unpatriotic.” When allies in Europe refused to support America’s assault against Iraq, the mentality of “us against the world” seemed like a reality.

As noted, when America is perceived to be under threat by a foreign ideology the conservative Right assumes a great deal of political power. Since the 1980s, their evangelical wing has had an increasingly insistent voice, and that voice is overwhelmingly conservative, exclusionary, and Christian. If the nation is to hold together under an indefinite threat following 9/11, it is reasoned, then the subversive “Other” must not warp America’s values and undermine the population, especially its youth.

Although the Religious Right has not openly associated gays with Islamic fundamentalism, they are using the opportunity terrorism provides to insist on maintaining strong values that will keep America’s children free from subversive ideals and lifestyles. The forces of antiterrorism and the push towards acceptance and tolerance for gays and others are two of the currents that have collided during recent times. In the churches, the courts, and throughout society, the Right has fought to keep gay lifestyles from being recognized and accepted (especially by children) while the liberal Left has refused to yield any gains made during the last decade or so of political correctness.

And so, against the backdrop of a New World Order gone awry, SpongeBob and Buster are trapped in a replay of earlier times when another monolithic ideology loomed menacingly over the “leader of the free world.” The Religious Right boasts a presumed mandate to remake the United States as a bastion of “Christian” values, whether the nation concurs or not. The Liberal Left would fill the airwaves and academies with like-minded folk, forcing the acceptance of diversity and the preaching of Tolerance or Else.

Martin Goodman.

It is interesting that the three feuding entities are named Focus on the Family, The American Family Association and the We Are Family Foundation. How adept they are at invoking that sacrosanct word in their titles, staking out what is essentially a private, personal arrangement run by vastly divergent rules as their own territory. The real battle is not over family; it is rather to determine who imposes their values upon a country.

For our purposes, the central debate is whether children are dangerously impressionable and whether cartoon characters can indoctrinate them with certain “values” at an early age that will turn them into acolytes of a particular viewpoint for life. It is not difficult to instill either hate or tolerance in a child, but having it stick is a relativistic crapshoot. One can expose a child to Buster and his lesbian hosts or restrict cartoon viewing to Tales from the Book of Virtues, but in the end, the overall socializing effects of an entire, diverse culture will interact with a maturing personality in unpredictable ways.

Children grow into teens that question the values of the generation that raised them, and the candidate of one’s choice may not be the candidate of Dad’s choice. There are Yippies who became Yuppies; children of racists ensconced in interracial relationships; former acidheads now settled down in middle management. There was once an ardent Socialist named Elias Disney. He raised one of the most paranoid anti-Communists in Hollywood.

In the final analysis, no one entity is correct pushing their agenda or values as the absolute truth, and animated cartoons meant to be entertainment have no place in these divisive wars.

Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.