As Twitchy told you last week, everyone was super-stoked that Mr. Ratburn, the teacher on PBS Kids’ “Arthur,” has chosen to live his life as a gay rat. Well, not everyone was super-stoked … apparently Alabama Public Television didn’t air the gay wedding episode:

Alabama Public Television refused to air the episode of Arthur where a gay rat married a gay aardvark https://t.co/B1iRItOvre — Liam Stack (@liamstack) May 21, 2019

Is that ridiculous and counterproductive? Yeah, pretty much. But does it merit this cheap shot from Atlantic contributor — and author of “Learning to Speak God from Scratch” — Jonathan Merritt? You be the judge:

“That’s an abomination,” exclaimed Cletus to his third wife, who is also his second cousin. https://t.co/uwqKtdLdcL — Jonathan Merritt (@JonathanMerritt) May 21, 2019

Points for originality, Jonathan! Incest jokes about southerners … really groundbreaking stuff.

That’s… probably not the way to address this. — Ross (@ymi17) May 21, 2019

Jonathan- you are better than this. Of course it is ridiculous that they refused to air this episode but no need to stoop to that level. — Janet C Hulsey (@jchulsey) May 21, 2019

Jonathan, you are better than this tweet. I have a lot of respect for you but your best work doesn't come from using a broad brush. — Kerry Hollis (@kerryhollis) May 21, 2019

He’s really not.

Not a good look here stereotyping an entire state. — Brian Mumbert (@brianmumbert) May 21, 2019

Hey bro. I love what you do. I also live in Alabama, with a lot of good and fine people. — John Lemons (@JohnWLemons) May 21, 2019

Jonathan, I like and respect you, and so enjoy your words and perspective. You are better than this mean stereotype. Many Alabamians are very conservative, though lots of us are progressive, but suggesting derisively that we’re all inbred and stupid b/c APT made a bad decision? — Jennifer Precht ?? (@KnitGirlJ) May 21, 2019

"This will change the minds of people in Alabama so they will agree with me" – someone who REALLY doesn't understand Alabama or the South generally — Cʜɪᴢᴀᴅ ⚜️ (@AUChizad) May 21, 2019

The press hates you. https://t.co/E7ObmCmsvG — John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) May 21, 2019

Bigotry: fine when directed against the right people? So woke. — Polkabecky (@polkabecky) May 21, 2019

This is the kind of bias that became apparent to us when our daughter accepted a full ride scholarship in the South. Bias is unattractive, regardless of how woke you think you are. https://t.co/Uv8F9mKYjb — It's Only Words (@itsonlywords) May 21, 2019

Jonathan, I know you like to go for provocation (and it’s often a good thing), but this is unnecessary. You can confront what you believe to be wrong without resorting to stereotypes like this. — Adam Hunter (@adamhunteratc) May 21, 2019

(Also, it’s attitudes like this from progressives that led to Trump.) — Adam Hunter (@adamhunteratc) May 21, 2019

Sneering at the rednecks worked wonders in 2016. Keep up the good work. — Some guy tweeted something ??‍♂️ (@jtLOL) May 21, 2019

Please do, Jonathan.

Was that moment of vicious joy worth this? I hope so. — Terry Maggert (@TerryMaggert) May 21, 2019

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