Kevin & Jaquinna: Sponge Bob and Dr. Dobson

In a pineapple in the bottom of the sea, there was a modern rhetoric class who loved this posting.

http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0035339.cfm

Dr. Dobson and Sponge Bob Controversy

In a way, Dr. Dobson presents both a theoretical and practical argument. First, he outlines much of the data that he used to formulate his ideas that were so misconstrued by so many. However, he focuses on specific data in this situation, referring to specific news articles and specific websites as well as the Sponge Bob movie itself. Thus, he is making a practical/substantial argument; yet, he really doesn’t make a strong conclusion at the end that is inferred from the data. So, without that leap, its not a fully substantial argument.

He begins with the backing that his views were misconstrued, thus the purpose of this article. The media says that Dr. Dobson is specifically against Sponge Bob. However, Dr. Dobson seeks to explain that he wasn’t against Sponge Bob specifically, but moreover the video supported by the We Are Family foundation. Then, his warrant is that the We Are Family Foundation supports homosexuality in the youth of America today.

The grounds of his argument focus on the quotes from the We Are Family Foundation website that support homosexuality. Thus, he claims that if the We Are Family Foundation supports homosexuality according to the evidence on their website, then the video they published must support homosexuality, so therefore the video (including cartoons such as Sponge Bob) must be a tool in supporting their agenda.

So, in a way, if a leap is made, it is that We Are Family Foundation does indeed support homosexuality, and so does their video.

On his personal role, Dr. Dobson says that Focus on the Family is responsible for the support of the family and the children of America and that they will persist in raising flags to parents – because that is their job.

However, Dr. Dobson doesn’t necessarily offer a rebuttal. Instead, he closes with his promise of standing for what they’ve stood for, supporting parents, and together we can make a difference. I’ll pose a possible rebuttal: Just because the We Are Family Foundation includes Sponge Bob in a video that supports homosexuality, thus misaligning the true intentions of Sponge Bob, then Sponge Bob is innocent and the harm is in We Are Family. However, Dr. Dobson doesn’t make this rebuttal because essentially, he was never attacking Sponge Bob to begin with; instead, he was attacking We Are Family Foundation from the beginning.