Josh Abbotoy (click here for a bio), like many of today's conservatives, is mad at Disney. The reason for their anger? It is because they believe that Disney is attacking their children by trying not just to sexualize them, but to groom them for membership into the LGBT community. At least that is his claim in a recent article posted in The American Reformer website. The owners of that website seem have an agenda of their own (click here about the website). Abbotoy has a great deal of angst not just over Disney, but from everything that could be associated with the Left (click here for the article). As a result, Abbotoy wants his fellow Southern Baptists to repeat a boycott of Disney and conduct any ethical means to get Disney to repent.
The beginning of Abbotoy's story about Disney starts with Disney's speaking out against what has been known as DeSantis's "Don't Say Gay" bill. Because Disney's opposition to the bill was delayed, Disney contributed millions of dollars to the pro-gay rights group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and to engage in a campaign of their own against DeSantis's bill. To show Abbotoy's objectivity here, he called Disney's contribution to HRC and 'indulgence.' And that gives an indication of how Abbotoy was going to refer to the people, actions, and events in his article.
Next, Abbotoy refers to a leaked video showing that Disney now has an agenda for grooming children to become members of the LGBT community. Abbotoy does not provide a link to this video and so one has to do a little research of their own to find this video. The video was provided to the conservative media by Chris Rufo and the problem with his video is this: they are a series of very short clips of Disney officials talking without providing any context for what was said. This video has play quite a few times on the FOX news programs and has been described as 'damning evidence' by some conservatives. But it is the description of these videos by conservatives, including conservative commentators, not the content of the video clips themselves, which makes the video clips seem more convincing than they are. For example, several of these conservative commentators make a big deal over the fact that Disney employees will welcome guests by referring to them as 'friends' rather than ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. IMO, if Abbotoy and his conservative friends had to rely on these clips alone to prove their claim about Disney in court, the case would not even be heard. But that doesn't stop Abbotoy and the conservative commentators from using such scant evidence to greatly inflame the issue.
So Abbotoy, using quotes from a Disney official, accuses Disney of 'queering' its stories and characters. And that has led a host of conservatives to accuse Disney of sexualizing children. But don't they understand that Disney has been sexualizing children for decades starting with Mickey and Minnie kissing and has continued with many of their princess stories that end happily ever after for the princess because they found male partners? But such stories do not count as sexualizing children in contrast to when the presence of gays in society is acknowledged through new Disney children's characters.
Abbotoy then discusses whether Disney is merely reflecting society. He adamantly says 'no' to that possibility but he presents evidence that contradicts his claim. That evidence cites the relatively high percentage of Generation Zers (almost 40%) identifying as fitting in with the LGBT community.
Then Abbotoy tries to unveil the hidden agenda in all of this. That agenda is to start a perpetual revolution that tries to undo all previous standard norms. Yes, that starts with sex and gender norms. But then Abbotoy includes in that revolution opposition to bullying, racism, and critical theory. As a result, Abbotoy complains that Generation Zers have been 'stressed-out' about systemic racism, bigotry against those in the LGBT community, climate change, guns among other issues. And that being stressed out has led to psychological problems. Of course, systemic racism, climate change, mass shootings with guns and such by themselves are understandable causes for stress so one has to wonder what Abbotoy's point is. This is especially true when he picks on Greta Thunberg's work.
Then Abbotoy makes an odd turn. After speaking disparagingly about how the left wants to remake the world, he speaks in glowing terms about religiously conservative Christians themselves are working toward their own definition of utopia for the world. Here we should remember how Os Guinness, a Christian philosopher, has warned us against utopian movements.
And so Abbotoy concludes that Disney presents a 'clear and present danger,' to borrow a Tom Clancey book title, to children. And we are morally obligated to resist the evils that he perceives Disney is visiting on our children.
Abbotoy then recalls the days of the 1997 Southern Baptist boycott of Disney. And though that boycott did not stop conservatives from losing to the LGBT over its issues back then, he does not blame the boycott. And it is here that we might really get to the beef that Abbott and many other of my fellow religiously conservative Christians have. We lost the culture wars to the LGBT community and we are trying to undo the results--I, myself, prefer culture coexistence to culture wars. And that is the problem. Many of my fellow religiously conservative Christians hate the idea of sharing society with its culture with those from the LGBT community. It isn't that they want to get rid of them. It is that they want society to punish the LGBT community by marginalizing those in the community for their evil and immorality. Anything less is unacceptable and is seen as a capitulation with evil.
What Abbotoy, and many conservative Christians, want is to refight and win the culture wars--kind of like how some from the South seem to want to refight and finally win the Civil War. And Abbotoy's article, with its hyperbolized descriptions of the current status quo and of Disney's actions, seeks, IMO, to manipulate his readers. He doesn't describe the current situation or Disney's actions in objective terms. He prefers to be accusatory and overstates his case. In the end, he seeks to enrage his fellow Christians against those who have working for change in how we view the LGBT community and other "woke" issues.
Abbotoy's article does not just reflect a tragically sad state of affairs for how many of my fellow religiously conservative Christians are seeking seize the moment and regain control over society. It reflects a hateful and vengeful side of them as people when having to share society with those with whom they disagree.
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