The Burr in the Burgh

If you aren't aware, Veggie Tales are popular cartoons that re-tell Bible stories with all the characters represented as talking vegetables. The quality of the animation and humor is pretty good and they have a stong moral emphasis.

Rev. Paul McCain, over at Cyberbrethren brought the product pictured above to our attention recently.

I have two points I'd like to make. The first one having to do with the Veggie Tales Nativity scene here. And the second point regards Veggie Tales in general.

First, this nativity scene is very cute, I admit. I'm sure they'll sell a bunch of them. And sometimes I really get tired of being a curmudgeon. But this is just too goofy folks. We are talking about turning the Almighty Son of God, the eternal Creator of all things, into a carrot. Would you think it disrespectful of God if we made a cartoon of the life of Jesus and represented our Lord as a radish? Or maybe the cartoons would use animals instead. Would you think it appropriate to have a nativity scene with a puppy in the manger? Or maybe Jesus as a frog nailed to the cross. What's next? A Mr. Potatoehead Holy Ghost?

Why is it that we equate cute with harmless? This Veggie Tales scene is cute, but not harmless. I have no doubt that the real baby Jesus was adorable. Aren't all babies? Well, almost, right? But the shepherds came to worship him. The scene of Christ's birth should be more than just sweet and cute. It should inspire awe and reverance and holy fear. Thanks Veggie Tales for undermining the birth of the Savior.

And secondly, on Veggie Tales in general. I have a son who is now 10 years old. When he was little, we bought and played Veggie Tales videos for him. And some of my orthodox confreres might want to poison my beer after I say this, but in a way I kinda like them. I have absolutely nothing against moralizing to children. We should moralize to our children. Only negligent irresponsible parents fail to moralize to their children.

HOWEVER, I'm still not thrilled with portraying the great biblical saints as produce. Please do not honor me (not that I'm in the ranking with the biblical saints) by painting me as a turnip. But my chief concern with Veggie Tales is the moralizing. Now, I know what I just wrote above. I'm not contradicting myself. I am in favor of moralizing, I just don't think that is the chief purpose of the Holy Scriptures. When we tell the story of God, the point is not "be moral" or "be good" and certainly not "be nice." The point of the plot of the bible is Jesus Christ, Savior of sinners. If that is not the point of telling the bible story, then you have not spoken the Word of God, no matter where you got your script.

If you want to moralize your children - and you should - use Aesop's fables. There's a lot of good natural law morality there. Or use the Bible, but if you use the Bible and fail to end with the cross, you may as well stick with Aesop.

And by the way, Veggie Tales, a tomato is a fruit.