In an octopus's garden

The Protestant Rev John H. Thomas, president of the 1.3 million member United Church of Christ, has announced that the animated SpongeBob SquarePants is welcome in his congregations' churches. Jesus, it turns out, loves everybody -- even a sea sponge who holds hands with a boy starfish. (See also my original SpongeBob post.)

This brings back the efforts of Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign back in 1995, asking the folks at the far right Christian Coalition for the chance to speak at their annual conference. She was told to buzz off. Instead, she went to the host hotel, rented a conference room, and gave a talk (to an audience consisting mostly of reporters) seeking to find common ground between homosexualists and religious extremists.

Excerpts: "The character of prejudice, of stereotype, of demagoguery, is to tear down the respect others might otherwise enjoy in public, even the respect they would hold for themselves in private. By taking away respectability rhetorically as well as legally, we justify the belief that they are not quite human, not quite worthy, not quite deserving of our time, of our attention, of our concern. And that is, sadly, what many of your children and colleagues and neighbors who are gay and lesbian have feared is the intent of the Christian Coalition. I have launched this conversation to ask you to join me in a common demonstration that this is not true."

It didn't work then. Won't work now. But if nothing else, talk is good PR.