Bob and Larry (Jesus and T.V. - Part 2)

I remember stand (Stand up, stand up)
For what you believe in, believe in,
Believe in God (He's the one to back you up)
We'll stand with you!

--From the song "Stand Up!" written by Phil Vischer

Slushies. Bible Verses. Singing Cucumbers.

What could these thing possibly have in common? They're all a part of the ever-popular Christian video series known as "VeggieTales." I love VeggieTales...I grew up on Bob's humourous takes on Bible stories and Larry's adorable Silly Songs. However, this post isn't a rant on how wonderful VeggieTales is...

A while back, I was babysitting my baby cousins. As I was channel-surfing for something toddler-friendly, I spotted VeggieTales...on cable television! I quickly hit "select" and was pleasantly surprised to find an old episode I had seen multiple times before on VHS. As the program continued, I began to notice a few changes. First of all, Qwerty (the Bible verse-quoting, pong-playing desktop computer) was missing. Then, Bob failed to end the episode with "God made you special, and He loves you very much!" As another episode began, it hit me: VeggieTales had been completely stripped of its Christian messages in order to be on secular television.

Now, there was nothing inappropriate about this new rendition of VeggieTales: "Silly Songs with Larry" hadn't been replaced with "Satanic Songs with Ozzy Osbourn" or anything like that...it was just void of any mention of Jesus, God, Heaven or the Bible. I couldn't believe it - VeggieTales had given up it's Chrisian message in order to be on television.

Before writing this, I decided to do my homework. I didn't want to slam Phil Vischer (the creator of Big Idea Productions) if NBC censored VeggieTales without his knowledge or behind his back. Then I found this quote which made me almost want to cry: "VeggieTales is religious. NBC is not. I want to focus people more on 'Isn't it cool that Bob and Larry are on television.'"

God blessed Phil Vischer with so much success and he thanks Him with compromise and hypocrisy? Vischer made millions on a franchise that pointed children to God. Now that he's made those millions, he's willing to cover up God's name like Peter denying Christ. Maybe Phil should watch "Rack, Shack & Benny" again and listen to the lyrics of "Stand Up!"  Christians in the entertainment business need to be bold and unwilling to compromise their beliefs in order please others. As long as we have the right to free speech, there should be shows like VeggieTales...the old VeggieTales.

I suppose the point of these posts is "looks are decieving when it comes to entertainment." I'm sure if we were to do a survey asking "Which children's television program features characters who quote Bible verses: A) VeggieTales or B) X-Men?" we'd get a load of wrong guesses. I'll end this article encouraging all of you to do two things. First, we need to pray for Phil Vischer. He's a Christian man being tempted by worldly success. Second, don't ever idolize a Christian book, movie or franchise. VeggieTales has been given a lot of praise over the years for being such a great Christian show for kids. Rightfully so, but that doesn't mean the franchise (or it's producer, Phil Vischer) is perfect.