The Christian hate group One Million Moms (Twitter count: 4,202) has issued an apology after prematurely celebrating the cancellation of the cartoon Little Demon. For months now, Monica Cole, the one mom associated with the group, has been waging a war on the Disney/FXX cartoon series.
The show is about a girl named Chrissy and her mother Laura who are just trying to live their lives in Delaware… except that Chrissy’s father is Satan and he wants her soul. (Cue chaos.) As with so many other cartoons, there’s no telling how long it’ll stay on air, and most of the publicity has focused on the voice talent. (Danny DeVito is the voice of Satan.)
But since the show premiered in August, the Christian hate group has been trying to get it canceled so they could take credit for it. A press release from September complained that the show was “set in a spiritually demonic realm” and that the mother (a cartoon!) appears nude without pixillation.
The show makes light of hell and the dangers of the demonic realm. Even the previews and commercials include such horrific content that it is difficult for families who watch FXX to avoid its evil subject matter completely.
It is evident that Disney is trying “to portray witchcraft as a positive tool to fight evil.” The first episode is more than enough for most Christian families to realize that Little Demon is an extremely dangerous series…
It’s not even a show aimed at children, but because it’s a cartoon and because it treats Satan as a regular character, conservative Christians flipped out. Since that first press release, One Million Moms has called for sponsors to stop airing ads during the show.
As with all new shows, the odds of getting canceled are high. It’s not just about ratings. It’s whether the networks believe they can eventually make money from the show through other means. It’s complicated. Critically acclaimed shows routinely get canceled while dull procedurals can last for over a decade.
But last week, One Million Moms announced a victory:
One Million Moms is thrilled to announce Little Demon has been canceled. It was recently reported that the show has been canned! According to Gateway Pundit, Disney has canceled Little Demon.
Thankfully, Disney has dropped this dark series, and Little Demon will not return for another season. Praise the Lord!
This cancellation is a HUGE Victory! Obviously, 1MM supporters are making a tremendous difference in the lives of our children.
The Gateway Pundit, of course, is a right-wing misinformation website. The fact that it was the only source cited should’ve been a red flag. It was also misleading to pretend One Million Moms had anything to do with any decision about the show.
And yet the group’s parent organization, the American Family Association, echoed the victory call in another email:
… Due to your massive response, a petition was sent to The Walt Disney Company, asking them to cancel this spiritually dangerous program.
Every week, more and more of the available advertising slots on Little Demon were being filled with network promotions for other Disney properties, and fewer were being filled with actual paid advertising. That means Little Demon was losing money for FXX and Disney!
It is also evident that public outcry was a large part of the cause for this controversial show’s cancellation.
And then, today, One Million Moms sent out another email saying Little Demon “has not been canceled after all.”
We are known for being straight-talkers who do not soft-sell the truth. That’s why we want to be straight with our supporters: We jumped the gun on this one.
We received bad information and failed to double check. “Little Demon” is such a horrible show, perhaps we wanted a victory too badly.
We know our supporters look to us for information that is accurate and reliable; that’s why it pains us when we make a mistake. Obviously, 1MM will continue to commit to speaking the truth when it comes to what is happening in our culture –– and, as always, commit to the truth of God’s word.
Part of me wants to applaud them for owning up to their mistake. At the same time, though, One Million Moms doesn’t explain their vetting process (because there isn’t one), doesn’t admit Gateway Pundit was wrong (because conspiracy nuts rarely criticize other conspiracy nuts), and doesn’t say what changes they’ll make in the future to prevent similar mistakes.
Also, it absolutely doesn’t pain them to make a mistake because Christian hate groups like these thrive on misinformation and bigotry. When the show is eventually canceled—and it very well may be—you can bet One Million Moms will take credit once again even though its impact is negligible at best.
These people just want attention by condemning anything that downplays or ignores conservative Christian beliefs. They don’t care if it’s an adult-oriented cartoon or a commercial featuring a gay couple. They’ll always pretend it’s bad for kids.