Warning: Veggie Tales in the House

[Ben Davis]

I hadn't heard of Veggie Tales before and the new series popped up on my Netflix listings, targetted at my son's age range. He seemed interested in the characters and the show claims to be educational so I though that we'd give it a go.

5 mins in to the first episode, it seemed harmless enough; a lesson in caring for animals, taking responsibility for the care of others and suchlike. All good lessons. Then we got hit by a surprise quote from the book of John! I brushed it off as it's an American show and I don't care if it's a christian teaching a good lesson, as long as it's a good lesson (who can argue that taking personal responsibility for the care of others is anything but!). The second episode continued in the same vein: a worthwhile personal/social lesson with a random biblical quote thrown in for good measure! However my opinion changed drastically with the end credits of that second episode. It ends with the main characters telling the audience to "Remember, God made you special! And he loves you very much!". As the series kept developing, the biblical input started increasing and the fundamentalist lessons started creeping in. I now won't let my son watch any later than episode 4, due to the indoctrinal nature of the content.

So I did my research. For those who don't know, Veggie Tales is an overtly Christian show, created by Big Idea Entertainment (the famous christian animation house and subsidiary of Dreamworks Ent.). It's been running in a variety of forms for over 20 years! I guess the Netflix team thought that people would already be aware of the Veggie Tales brand but with no labelling of the religious nature of the content, I was taken completely by surprise.

is this news to anyone else or am I simply behind the times?!

[FatAndFaithless]

Oh hell, Veggie Tales has been around forever. Well known "Good Christian Upbrining" for kids.

[rexbeccarox]

Oh hell, Veggie Tales has been around forever. Well known "Good Christian Upbrining" for kids.

This. And from what I hear, a lot of Christian parents are pissed because the new incarnation isn't as hardcore as it used to be.

[FatAndFaithless]

"That fucking talking carrot and his buddy the plum are corrupting my kids...talking about acceptance of gays and shit..."

[Jenny A]

Our kids got lots of Veggie Tales videos from grandparents. Each one featured a Bible verse, a silly interlude and Bible story or lesson reworked for kids and acted by vegetables. We let the kids watch. Provided it is discussed afterwords, and we did discuss it, there's not much indoctrinating power in Veggie Tales. This particular silly interlude became my husband's theme song for awhile.

---

Oh hell, Veggie Tales has been around forever. Well known "Good Christian Upbrining" for kids.

This. And from what I hear, a lot of Christian parents are pissed because the new incarnation isn't as hardcore as it used to be.

I haven't seen the new incarnation. Is it more accepting or are the new parents more hardcore?

[rexbeccarox]

Our kids got lots of Veggie Tales videos from grandparents. Each one featured a Bible verse, a silly interlude and Bible story or lesson reworked for kids and acted by vegetables. We let the kids watch. Provided it is discussed afterwords, and we did discuss it, there's not much indoctrinating power in Veggie Tales. This particular silly interlude became my husband's theme song for awhile.

---

This. And from what I hear, a lot of Christian parents are pissed because the new incarnation isn't as hardcore as it used to be.

I haven't seen the new incarnation. Is it more accepting or are the new parents more hardcore?

I'm not sure. I was never religious as a kid, but my sister was, and loved Veggie Tales. I don't have kids, so it's not something I have to field.

[vorlon13]

I'm thinking since vegetables are unensouled, using them for biblical instruction for male children would be WORSE than allowing a woman to do it.

Therefore, Veggie Tales = apostasy.


Dammit, is there no such thing as religious purity anywhere these days ??? We're surrounded by apostates, heretics and blasphemers !!!

[Rev. Rye]

I was raised on Veggietales, and it's easily the best of the many Christian series me and the people in my class were subjected to, and it really has a legit following among Non-Christians. Granted, I haven't seen that many episodes since I was a kid, and though, from what, I've seen the recent redesign is extremely unnerving, but at least it's not Bibleman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3En1-5f-J2E

[abaris]

Hasn't bibleman been convicted for kiddie fiddling?

[rexbeccarox]

Willie Aames... wasn't he on Charles In Charge?