U.S. — Evangelicals are calling on Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales, to repent after it was discovered he deliberately tricked millions of kids into believing historic Biblical figures were talking vegetables.
"I was today years old when I learned that Samson is not a decorative Latin gourd," user @iwanttobelieve posted on Reddit. "Did anyone else know about this? I feel utterly betrayed."
VeggieTales is credited with bringing evangelical children's programming into the mainstream, but at what cost? And it's not just Biblical characters. Since its inception in 1993, VeggieTales has promulgated the false claim that ancient peoples were nothing but talking vegetables that hopped around the desert sands of the Middle East.
"It's offensive," said Oxford Historian Clark Archibald. "Every year I have to deprogram students out of the false belief that Alexander the Great is a green onion."
"Phil Vischer is a shameless culture warrior who spreads misinformation under the guise of children's entertainment."
Prominent theologians have joined in the criticism, saying that lying to children is too high a price to pay for winning the culture war and making money on children's entertainment.
"There are a whole bunch of other ways that you could teach kids about the Bible other than lying about Moses or Abraham being vegetables," said pastor John MacArthur. "He lied to kids for money. Shameful."
At publishing time, Phil Vischer had responded to the criticism on his podcast, but no one heard it.
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