(AgapePress) - A pro-family group is accusing homosexual activists of using popular children's TV characters to indoctrinate young children into their lifestyle. Specifically, the group is questioning the intention of a new children's video featuring those characters.

SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney the Dinosaur, Arthur, Dora the Explorer, JoJo, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Big Bird, Bob the Builder -- those and many others are among the characters starring in a music video remake of the 1970s song "We Are Family" that is designed to promote diversity and tolerance in the classroom. A special DVD version will be distributed to 61,000 public and private elementary schools nationwide, along with lesson plans for teachers. Distribution of the DVD is being donated by FedEx.

Ed Vitagliano, a researcher for the American Family Association, questions the motives behind the project. The problem, he says, is that it is an "open door" to a secondary discussion of homosexuality.

"When you go to the We Are Family Foundation website, there is a 'tolerance pledge' that children and others are encouraged to sign, which includes sexual orientation," he explains. That, he says, is the crux of the problem. "While we want everyone to respect other people's beliefs, we do not consider it appropriate for children's television to be used in an effort to indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality."

The pro-family researcher sees an age-old tactic being employed by those behind the project. "This is a bait-and-switch approach. It's been used for years," he says, "and homosexuals are now using well-known and beloved children's television characters in an effort to use [them] as bait and switch."

Vitagliano says the objective behind the video is to get children to the Foundation's website -- "and there they're given the full pitch about homosexuality," he adds. In addition, the researcher says he has been told by numerous homosexual activists that teaching tolerance for all people while excluding discussion of homosexuality is not an appropriate approach.

The new video, recorded in November 2004, is scheduled to air simultaneously on Nickelodeon, PBS, and the Disney Channel in March 2005. Earlier versions of the video aired in March 2002 and September 2002 via those same networks.

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