 © 2002 Big Idea Productions |
Rethinking VeggieTales November 1,
2002 |
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"Every word of God is pure ... Do
not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."
Proverbs 30:5-6
"There is nothing in this
world more important to Christian parents than to watch their children
develop a love in their heart for Jesus Christ. However, it is becoming
increasingly more difficult for parents to ignore the fact that the culture
is bombarding their children with messages running contrary to the biblical
principles of the Christian faith they want to pass on.
Interestingly, according to the recent findings of a nationwide survey, it
is not only the culture sending confusing messages to their children.
Christian pollster George Barna's research has concluded doctrinal confusion
abounds today within the Christian church (Americans Draw Theological Beliefs From Diverse Points of View).
Results of this study indicate Christians are increasingly adopting
spiritual views that come from Islam, Wicca, secular humanism, the eastern
religions, and other sources. Furthermore, Barna stated, "because we remain
a largely Bible-illiterate society, few are alarmed or even aware of the
slide toward ‘syncretism' -- a belief system that blindly combines beliefs
from many different faith perspectives."
As a consequence, parents are now also confronted with a church that has
been negatively influenced by the culture.
Therefore, in the midst of all the cultural and spiritual confusion, it is
understandable why parents would show interest when a movie, like Jonah: A
VeggieTales Movie, hits the big screen. After all, not only is the movie
about a biblical character, it is also void of sex, violence, and bad
language.
However, after having viewed this movie, I am very concerned that it will
add to the doctrinal and spiritual confusion addressed in Barna's study.
Although it is being marketed as the retelling of the Book of Jonah, Big
Idea Productions, the producer of VeggieTales, has instead trivialized and
rewritten this Old Testament story by turning a serious book about sin,
repentance, and God's grace into a Hollywood comedy.
Of course, there are similarities between the VeggieTales' storyline and the
Old Testament account. But, for the most part, Big Idea has given themselves
the freedom and authority to add to and subtract from the story about a man
Jesus himself referred to not only as "a sign," but also as "the prophet
Jonah." (Matthew 12:39-41, Matthew 16:4, Luke 11:29-32)
Revisionist
History
Just as the distortions of
history do not belong in a public school classroom, likewise the distortion
of biblical history should not be accepted in the Church.
Nonetheless, VeggieTales associate Mike Nawrocki defends their deviations
from Scripture, stating: "Although we have taken liberties, we've kept the
theme very much intact." (The San Diego Union-Tribune, "Veggies with
Values," 10-4-02).
But herein lies the conflict. Whether they realize it or not, their man-made
additions and subtractions from the Word of God have introduced other themes
and attitudes, which run contrary to truth and historical fact.
For instance, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune: "Don't expect to see
a traditional account of the biblical prophet .... Vischer and Nawrocki (VeggieTales
producers) are Monty Python fans," which The Tribune states explains a lot.
Instead of following Old Testament history about a Jewish prophet, the
veggie Jonah not only has a British accent, but also wore a monocle. As the
movie unfolds, many other liberties have been taken, such as the upstaging
of Jonah by a very unlikely Middle Eastern character.
Similarly, although Scripture does not give a detailed explanation regarding
the sins of the Ninevites, the movie liberally fills in the details
claiming: "They lie! They steal! But worst of all, they slap people with
fishes!" Now wait a minute! I realize the producers added this untrue
storyline of slapping people with fish to make the kids laugh, but what line
and verse in Scripture gives them the authority to do this? Furthermore, is
this the kind of theme that should generate a big laugh? When is what God
described as "wickedness" a laughing matter for any age group?
But laughing appears to be exactly what the producers want. For instance,
according to the Big Idea website, Jonah set sail on a pirate ship that
eventually went "to the heart of Nineveh for a hilarious showdown."
Hilarious? What a contrast to the heart of Charles Spurgeon, who said: "May
I never take a dry-eyed look at sin."
There were many other unbiblical additions, such as the scene of Jonah
playing a game of fish with the pirates to determine who should walk the
plank. And then, staying true to their comic book storyline, Jonah is seen
floating around in the stilled water with his inflated yellow rubber ducky
before being swallowed up by the big fish.
The spiritual danger and confusion surrounding the addition of truth and
error in the mind of a child was evident from a conversation overheard
between a father and his four-year-old son watching the movie. Repeatedly
the son would quizzically ask," Dad, did Jonah really do that? ... Dad, did
that really happen?" Regardless of the good intentions of this father, ideas
contrary to Scripture were being planted in his son's mind. Furthermore, is
the subtle idea also being planted that scriptural error is acceptable?
Undoubtedly, many Christian children will also be viewing this movie over
and over again when the video is available for purchase -- introducing and
reinforcing both truth and error to Christian youth. Will a parent know
whether or not the lie ends up becoming what is believed to be the truth in
the mind of their child?
Interfaith Alliance
Just as VeggieTales' producers
have taken liberty with the description of sin and the depiction of a
prophet of God, they have also added an interesting character named Khalil
-- a name meaning "friendly" in Arabic with deep roots in the Islamic faith.
It is Khalil, who is half caterpillar-half worm and wears a turban, who not
only becomes Jonah's traveling companion, but also his conscience. He is
also the character who appears to be boasting about his "positive mental
attitude" -- not because he listens to God, but because he listens to
"motivational tapes." His tape can be heard saying, "You are powerful and
attractive ... you do not run from your problems." Surprisingly, it is also
the worm (who according to Scripture didn't appear until the end of the Book
of Jonah) who was given the opportunity of delivering the film's central
message of compassion, mercy, and second chances.
However, to the contrary, God chose to work through His prophet Jonah, not
through "a vaguely Muslim traveling salesman." (The Washington Times,
"Vegetables Tell Bible Tales," 10-5-02) It may be politically correct and
acceptable in liberal religious circles to intentionally add a popular
Muslim name such as Khalil to the biblical account of Jonah, but once again,
not only is this addition contrary to Scripture, but also in light of
Khalil's winning performance, conservative Christians and Jews alike should
question the confusion of this addition.
But perhaps the most disturbing part of the script is the presence of Khalil
in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights with "the prophet
Jonah." However, unlike Jonah, Khalil is portrayed as upbeat about his
unfamiliar surroundings, while Jonah is seen grumbling about the prospect of
facing death. Then, on the third day, Jonah and Khalil were both spewed out
of the fish, landing in the sand together to carry out their mission; hence,
distorting the miraculous event Jesus referred to as "a sign": the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
It is very obvious from the movie that the man Jesus called "the prophet
Jonah" is the one who is depicted as arrogant and uncompassionate. In other
words, he is the one with the problem! For instance, in the movie after
Jonah delivered his message of "stop slapping people with fish," he is later
seen gleefully awaiting the destruction of Neneveh. He coldly tells his
friend Khalil, "Now it's time to watch the fun and watch God wipe them off
the face of the earth!" Of course, it is Khalil, described in The Washington
Times as "the good guy," who ends up putting the prophet in his place.
Khalil says, "Would you look at yourself?" ... "God is compassionate" ...
"Did it ever occur to you that God loves everyone?" ... "You are pathetic!"
... "God wants to give everyone a second chance, and so should we."
At this point, the story of Jonah abruptly comes to an end. Khalil and
Jonah's camel are seen walking away from Jonah in disgust, leaving him alone
in the sand. Curiously, after Khalil had sternly delivered the movie's
message to Jonah, Khalil was unwilling to extend to him the same compassion.
Thus, even more confusion.
Tampering
with Scripture
Man has no authority to
rewrite, tamper with, adulterate, or pervert the sacred writings of the
Christian faith. Scripture states, "You shall not add to, nor take away"
from God's word. (Deuteronomy 12:32, Deuteronomy 4:2, Revelation 22:18-19)
Once Christians begin carelessly adding to and subtracting from God's Word,
where will it end?
Christians are to be valiant for the truth (Jeremiah 9:3). When the Word of
God declares that believers are to "rightly divide the word of truth" (2
Timothy 2:15) that is precisely and exactly what it means!
According to The MacArthur Study Bible, "rightly divide" literally means
"cutting it straight." Furthermore, John MacArthur states this is "a
reference to the exactness demanded by such trades as carpentry. Precision
and accuracy are required in biblical interpretation beyond all other trades
because the interpreter is handling God's Word. Anything else is shameful."
What's
the Bottom-line?
In a recent interview with one
of the Veggie creators, Phil Vischer shed light on their bottom-line. It's
entertainment. In fact, Vischer said, "As much as we want to teach, as much
as parents want us to teach lessons to their kids, and as much as we want to
put impressive images on a screen, we never forget that we are in the
entertainment business. And if our movies don't first entertain a whole
family, it doesn't matter what else we've tried to do, because they're not
going to be there. They're going to be out of the room." (Baptist Press,
"'Jonah,' a whale of a good time," 10-2-02)
But, when is entertainment ever more important than truth?
Men of God such as A.W. Tozer would never have agreed with rewriting
Scripture in order to draw a crowd -- and he would have been heartsick if he
lived to see the day that Christians would be having fun with the Book of
Jonah. Today his writings almost sound prophetic on the use and abuse of
humor. He wrote: "... when humor takes religion as the object of its fun it
is no longer natural -- it is sinful and should be denounced for what it is
and avoided by everyone who desires to walk with God .... My plea is for a
great seriousness, which will put us in the mood with the Son of Man and
with the prophets and apostles of the Scriptures .... Then we may attain
that moral happiness which is one of the marks of true spirituality, and
also escape the evil of unseemly humor." (The Best of A.W. Tozer, Book One,
p. 147)
"A Sign
of the Prophet Jonah"
Parents can unknowingly
introduce their families to false teachings by innocent-sounding movies such
as Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. Although it teaches children values such as
compassion and mercy, can Christians overlook all of the other many
confusing messages that alter the true, historical account of Jonah?
Our response will be both an opportunity and a challenge.
As Christians, our opportunity is to communicate to our children and the
nation that we are unwilling to compromise the integrity of Scripture and
the memory of man Jesus himself referred to as "the prophet Jonah."
Our greatest challenge is: How faithful will we remain to the inspired Word
of God?
Cathy Mickels (cmickels@charter.net) has been a spokesman on behalf of many pro-family, conservative issues in her state, including serving as the former Washington State President of Phyllis Schlafly's national organization Eagle Forum. She has also co-authored with Audrey McKeever Spiritual Junk Food: The Dumbing Down of Christian Youth, Winepress Publishing, 1-877-421-READ. It is also available on the Internet at http://www.spiritualjunkfood.com.
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