Guest guest Posted February 12, 2002 Report Share Posted February 12, 2002 How do folks feel about " Veggie Tales " ? When I first heard about them I had held high hopes of our getting perhaps some educational entertainment, but they seem to be animated vegetables with a collage of messages, sometimes religious and sometimes purely silly. msc wrote: For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 13, 2002 Report Share Posted February 13, 2002 I thought it was about vegetables too until we were sitting at the Peditrician and they were playing it. All of the magazines around us were Christian and so was the Veggie Tales. My daughter looked at me surprised because we were thinking of buying it because of it's name but we're Buddhist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 13, 2002 Report Share Posted February 13, 2002 I'm not a big fan of Veggie Tales. It sort of bothers me when fruits and veggies are shown as talking and walking. I guess I feel that confuses the compassion part of being veg*n. If fruits and veggies are walking and talking then they have feelings too and shouldn't be eaten...know what I mean? It also paves the way (in my opinion) for ads like chickens or tuna asking to be eaten. I don't know why this is hard for me to articulate, but I just don't feel good about Veggie Tales. Recently, my two year old son is asking for me to read 'The Race Against Junk Food' which also has kids that look like fruits and veggies. This bothers me too, but we were given the book by a friend and I believe in ds chosing his own reading material. BTW, I don't like books where non-human animals are shown as humans either. This seems disrespectful to me to show them wearing clothes, living in houses, driving cars, eating food they wouldn't naturally eat, etc. I really don't understand why so many children's books have rabbits in clothes living in houses. It really depends on the content of the book though. I do like 'Hey, Little Ant' even though the ant wears glasses because it is showing how the ant and the child are similar, but not changing the ant's antness. Okay, so I spend A LOT of time thinking about books and the messages, etc. I would love to hear what books people like...we're always looking for more books. Linda Savoy, IL ds Paker (2/00) dh Rob Send FREE Valentine eCards with Greetings! http://greetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 13, 2002 Report Share Posted February 13, 2002 I think the idea is great but I think they could have left the religious theme out and still taught good lessons to young children.And half of it really doesn't make any sense at all! My one year old loves to watch them now but my husband and I have decided to get rid of them when he gets alittle older.For now he can enjoy all the bright colors and songs.And if we want him to eat veggies, we don't know if cute singing veggies are the way to go! Send FREE Valentine eCards with Greetings! http://greetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 14, 2002 Report Share Posted February 14, 2002 Linda, I agree with you, and you brought up a lot of points I never thought about, like about animals dressing and eating like humans. I love the Twas the Day Before Thanksgiving, I think the author is Pilkey. You should check it out if you don't have it. Leena - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 17, 2002 Report Share Posted February 17, 2002 Yes, that is what its main thrust is: Christianity. I don't like it. I don't let my children watch tv hardly at all and what I do let them watch I prefer to be Mister Rogers Neighborhood or a sing a long songs video occasionally. It irks me to see Christian values taught in this way, and I'm not even sure why. It has nothing to do with vegetarianism though. , patricelfarmer@w... wrote: > I thought it was about vegetables too until we were sitting at the > Peditrician and they were playing it. All of the magazines around us > were Christian and so was the Veggie Tales. My daughter looked at me > surprised because we were thinking of buying it because of it's name but > we're Buddhist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 17, 2002 Report Share Posted February 17, 2002 Hi, Judaism holds that everything has consciousness. One of the names of God is Hamacom (the place where the Universe happens), so everything is God. And Man is made in God's image, so everything is Human-like. William Blake, the 18th century mystical Christian poet, said that if you *didn't* imagine the humanity and human form of everything (stars, rocks, plants..) your were impoverishing yourself and the world. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2002 Report Share Posted February 18, 2002 Neil, Not to start an off topic religion discussion, but Judaism does not hold that everything has a consciousness. Only all things in the animal world, not plants or rocks or chairs (imagine being a chair with a conscious being " Oh, man here comes another rear end headed straight for me! " ). Genesis I:30, " to every beast of the earth, to every fowl of the air, to everything that creeps on the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I give every green herb for food. " A very veggie friendly sentiment, imbuing the total of the animal world with a soul/consciousness. If everything had a consciousness I think I would be spending my days hiding under the covers, but then I'd have to consider how the covers felt about that. Too much stress. Phil Welsher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2002 Report Share Posted February 18, 2002 > Yes, that is what its main thrust is: Christianity. > As far as I can tell, there is no Christianity in Veggie Tales, although the tapes are very popular among Christians. They advertise 'Sunday morning values and Saturday morning fun,' but all the references to the Bible are old testament. I can't remember a single mention of the word Jesus or Christ, although they do have an episode called The Toy That Saved Christmas, in which the message is to avoid consumerism and greed. They tell Bible stories about Moses, David and Goliath, and others that predate Christianity by 500-1500 years. Mainly the stories have a lot of silliness and a little moral about being kind, or sharing, or having a happy heart. They don't preach or evangelize about any religion. Even so, it is possible to arrive at the vegetarian idea from the Bible. Vegetarianism is presented as the ideal way things should be in and after the episode of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve and many biblical characters were vegetarian; the ideal of the Peaceable Kingdom where the lion will lie down with lamb is presented as the goal to work toward and the way things will be one day, as it was in the beginning. The idea of personification of animals, plants, and other things in stories is a universal way of saying things about people, not about ascribing human characteristics to non-human things. Aesop and Uncle Remus are telling stories about human traits, not animals. Little children can see at once that the world of cartoons is different from the world of ordinary experience. They know that a cucumber in the fridge isn't Larry Boy or a cat in the neighborhood isn't Sylvester. Veggie Tales programs do no harm, teach good values, and are funny; that is a rare and amazing thing among all the nonsense made for kids. -- Be kind. Be of good cheer. Dick Ford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2002 Report Share Posted February 18, 2002 I am shocked at your comments on Veggie Tales. Many of the veggie tale video's are about values that most people want in their children, like sharing, honesty. They mention God but I don't remember hearing Jesus though I have seen only a few. I consider them Judeo-Christian. I would think even buddhists want their kids to know how to share. If the video's had similar values but were presented in a new age way, would you still be so appalled? ----Original Message Follows---- " bonbonsaresweet " <friedenbach Re: " Veggie Tales " Sun, 17 Feb 2002 01:16:51 -0000 Yes, that is what its main thrust is: Christianity. I don't like it. I don't let my children watch tv hardly at all and what I do let them watch I prefer to be Mister Rogers Neighborhood or a sing a long songs video occasionally. It irks me to see Christian values taught in this way, and I'm not even sure why. It has nothing to do with vegetarianism though. , patricelfarmer@w... wrote: > I thought it was about vegetables too until we were sitting at the > Peditrician and they were playing it. All of the magazines around us > were Christian and so was the Veggie Tales. My daughter looked at me > surprised because we were thinking of buying it because of it's name but > we're Buddhist _______________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 For those of us who practice some religion other than Judaism or Christianity or who do not believe in God/Jesus, etc., Veggie Tales is a problem. That does not mean that we do not want our children to share, be nice, etc., but we are looking for ways that those values can be taught without tying them to God or other Judeo-Christian references. I know that this is a vegan/vegetarian board, so I will not go too far down this road. However, for those of us who do not accept the prevailing religious views it gets frustrating to find it thrust into so many things. Kind of like being a vegan in a world in which meat eating is the assumed norm. The problem with things like Veggie Tales for us is that they teach not just the values, but also the religion, which we don't want. Karen - " Deb Proen " <deb_proen Monday, February 18, 2002 5:02 PM Re: Re: " Veggie Tales " > I am shocked at your comments on Veggie Tales. Many of the veggie tale > video's are about values that most people want in their children, like > sharing, honesty. They mention God but I don't remember hearing Jesus > though I have seen only a few. I consider them Judeo-Christian. I would > think even buddhists want their kids to know how to share. > > If the video's had similar values but were presented in a new age way, would > you still be so appalled? > > > ----Original Message Follows---- > " bonbonsaresweet " <friedenbach > > > Re: " Veggie Tales " > Sun, 17 Feb 2002 01:16:51 -0000 > > Yes, that is what its main thrust is: Christianity. I don't like > it. I don't let my children watch tv hardly at all and what I do let > them watch I prefer to be Mister Rogers Neighborhood or a sing a long > songs video occasionally. It irks me to see Christian values taught > in this way, and I'm not even sure why. It has nothing to do with > vegetarianism though. > > , patricelfarmer@w... wrote: > > I thought it was about vegetables too until we were sitting at the > > Peditrician and they were playing it. All of the magazines around us > > were Christian and so was the Veggie Tales. My daughter looked at me > > surprised because we were thinking of buying it because of it's > name but > > we're Buddhist _______________ > Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com > > > > > For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 http://www.bigidea.com/videos/veggietales/ This is a list of all the Veggie Tales tapes. Only one, The Toy That Saved Christmas, mentions Jesus with the same verse quoted in Charlie Brown's Christmas special. The rest only quote Old Testament, Jewish, scripture and seem to be trying to avoid offending anyone's theology. Big Idea Productions has changed their mission statement from a goal of leading a revolution in values-based media to becoming a top four media company itself. -- Be kind. Be of good cheer. Dick Ford http://www.dick-ford.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 Most of the ones I have seen have Old Testament themes. ----Original Message Follows---- Jackie Harris <ajharris " " Veggie Tales Tue, 19 Feb 2002 19:37:16 -0600 Do most all of the Veggies Tales have a Christian theme? The only one I've seen is the story of " Esther the girl who would be Queen " (we're Jewish) and the kids really liked it...I was considering getting others... _______________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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