“Flaming liberal” because I point out bigotry and inequity to fellow humans? You could have easily called me “devout Christian” because Jesus taught the same acceptance of those different than you.

Not that it matters to the conversation, but I’m about as straight as they come. Telling, though, that you assumed only a member of a group could support the rights of that group’s members (even if to simply exist). Remember that evil is the concept of thinking that only what’s best for your group is what you should be fighting for rather than what’s best for all.

“Remember that there are others to consider besides yourselves” was exactly my point to Jim. Others different than Jim who have as much right (no less and no more) to live as they are. Others (in this case homosexuals) that make up a non-trivial portion of the world in which your children will grow up. Their existance is not a threat to you. There is no “agenda” to “force anything down your throat” any more than a black character on a TV show is “forcing a black agenda down your throat” or a female character on a TV show is “forcing a female agenda down your throat” (Lifetime TV aside). These are all facets of society and reflecting them (hopefully accurately) in characters on TV isn’t a threat to you either. Why so defensive?

And yes, it is narrow-minded to intentionally exclude (or disproportionally include) any facet of society in children’s programming. Hey, let’s pretend the Jews don’t exist… or the mentally disabled. Because that makes some people “uncomfortable”.

Yes, Jim can raise his children any way he wants to, but to continue to do as he is doing does them a disservice. I would hope he’d want to do better. I would hope that such mistakes would be pointed out to me. My goal is to raise my children to be as fair, honest, and caring as possible. That they share my political beliefs is far less important. Jim seems to disagree. Shame for his kids… who were the ones my original post was intended to help.

I’d like to know how exposure to “these characters” in any way affects your ability to “raise your sons to become men”. I guess your definition of “men” differs from mine, at least that yours somehow must include the phrase “…and puts their thingy into women”.

I couldn’t agree more, though, with your point about turning the TV off and spending real time with your kids. Your time is the most important gift you can give them. Showing them how to play games competitively but fairly, how to work and play hard, how to help those who need help, and how to have some friends that are like you and some friends who aren’t.