Ummm, Parent of DS Friend told me I was using religious propaganda on their son...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest you not try to force - even subtly - your religion on others, eslecially children

Thanks, but I'm not.

This episode had no religious undertones, and the Veggie Tales series is owned by a Christian network, we are Jewish-Agnostic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest you not try to force - even subtly - your religion on others, eslecially children

''

Dude, read much?

Christianity is not OP's religion. Not by a long shot.

She's and agnostic. Husband is an atheist.

Silly Songs by Larry is just that, a bunch of silly songs.

With such catchy lyrics as "Oooooh Where, Is My Hairbrush...What do you mean I have no hair!?!?!" (As sung by a cucumber)

AND the ever prothletising "We are the pirates, that don't do anything. We just stay here and lie around. And if you ask us, to do anything. We are the pirates, that don't do anything"

Be very, very afraid! The agnostic cultural Jew might try to convert your child to Christianity with the wise words of "I love my lips...It's a lip, it's a lip, it's a lip lip lip! It's a lip, it's a
Lip, it's a lip lip lip! It's a lip, it's a lip, it's a lip lip lip. Liiiiiiiiiiiips. Lip lip lip"

Oh the horrors

OP here!

You almost made me choke on my drink! I really love this DVD, and have watched it numerous times so I know there is no religious undertones. I started trying to sing one of the songs to the crazy mom out of desperation, it was the lips song. My personal favorite. I guess I'll be glad I found out sooner or later how she is, I feel sorry for my son and mostly her son. He seemed like a really sweet boy.

[Anonymous]

Next time play the alphabutt song.


A is for Apple, B is for Butt, C is for Cat-butt, D is for Doo-Doo, E is for Elephant-butt, F is for Fart, G is for Gorilla-fart, H is for Hairy Gorilla-fart"?

[Anonymous]

ehhhh find new friends.

being exposed to religions is normal...

it would be different if you were actively recruiting her...

we are christian and my son took an athiest friends daughter to summer bible camp. he wanted her to go she wanted to come and so she came.

My son has been with friends to a synagogue and just celebrated ramadan with our neighbors.

her kid isnt going to become chrisitan because of veggietales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So if anything is Christian you just immediately label that as proselytizing? Proselytizing is an action so perhaps you could speak to what aspects of veggie tales were actively proselytizing?

"Since 1993 Veggie Tales has been helping children discover that God Made Them Special - And He Loves Them Very Much!"

http://veggietales.com/vtmain/whoweare/

Wow. Such villainy.

The question was not about villainy. The question was about proselytizing.

Non-religious people, by and large, do not believe that there is a God, let alone that God made children special and loves them very much, let alone that children should "discover" something that they (the non-religious people) believe to be untrue. Given this, it should not be hard to understand why non-religious people might consider "helping children discover that God Made Them Special -And He Loves Them Very Much!" to be proselytizing.

And not just non-religious people, either. Believers in polytheistic religions, for example, might consider it proselytizing, since polytheism is believing in more than one god. And religious Jews might consider it proselytizing also, since "God loves you" is not (in my understanding) a major feature of Judaism. These are just examples -- there are a lot of religions I know next to nothing about, and if you wanted to know more, you'd have to ask believers in those religions how they would feel about it.

Too much ado about nothing.

DH and I are agnostic/non-believers and don't care if our kids "discover" religion. We recently went to a bar mitzvah and it was beautiful. I was glad my kids were exposed to it. Religion is a huge part of our western cultural heritage -- you need to know something of the Judeo-Christian faith to truly understand centuries of literature, art, philosophy, even music and politics. This is also true of Greco-Roman faith (i.e. "mythology") for that matter!

Proselytizing to me means actively preaching the gospel or whatever sacred literature with the intent on converting others -- it's the people who knock on your door and want to come in to tell you the "Good News." Yes, it's harassment if it doesn't stop after a polite "no thanks." Watching a cartoon that mentions God or dramatizes so-called Christian values is not the same. Heck, I look forward to watching with my kids those hokey 50s technicolor bible movies that come around every Easter. To me it's the same as watching a movie of Homer's Odyssey. If I sent my child on a play date and they watched a cartoon about Mormonism or Allah or whatnot, then I would discuss it rationally with my child afterwards if he asked questions about it.

We have a comic book about some of the Hindu gods. It's fun! It's action filled! I don't fear my child is going to convert to Hinduism by reading it.

But if some day my kids decide to become believers of some faith, that is their choice and I would respect it. I send my boy to scouting and don't flinch when they have to make token gestures toward a higher being. My kids can ask me my thoughts on the matter and I'll tell them out right. DH and I set the tone in our household, but it's for the kids to decide for themselves what they believe. (Same with politics, by the way -- our kids know our opinions about politics, but we don't tell them they HAVE to agree with it.)


Tolerance begins at home. Also the less you make something forbidden and secret and awful, the less appealing it will be to inquiring young minds. If you want your child to be a rationalist when he grows up then act rationally. This parent who overreacted about a cartoon (that didn't even mention religion) is setting herself up for a huge rebellion when her kid is older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think "shielding" children is a longterm answer. One of the reasons, we started going to UU Church so my children would have exposure to what is out there with a framework with which to observe. So, when my younger child was told on the playground that he was going to hell because he did not believe in Jesus Christ, he was able to respond in a thoughtful respectful age appropriate manner.

Nice try, but I don't buy it. Kids simply do not use the playground as a platform to threaten eternal damnation.

You don't live in the Bible Belt, do you? My elementary school age niece who lives in the south has been told by her public school classmates she was going to hell because her family does not go to church.

You should get out of your upper class northeast bubble some time. This is a huge and fascinating (and sometimes frightening) country.

[Anonymous]

I have a different perspective. I think that the "mildly" religious children's shows are actually worse, because it's so subtle that it can be seen as a form of subtle brainwashing.

Sure, she should've just told you that she doesn't want her child watching that kind of programming.

But it's possible she's had some really bad experiences with ultra religious people. And in my experience, some of the worst offenders are the ones who do it subtly and then claim ignorance.

She has every right to not want her kid to watch anything remotely religious. But she should've communicated this better with you and worked out an arrangement that still allows the kids to be friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think "shielding" children is a longterm answer. One of the reasons, we started going to UU Church so my children would have exposure to what is out there with a framework with which to observe. So, when my younger child was told on the playground that he was going to hell because he did not believe in Jesus Christ, he was able to respond in a thoughtful respectful age appropriate manner.

Nice try, but I don't buy it. Kids simply do not use the playground as a platform to threaten eternal damnation.

Actually they do. more often than you would think.

[Anonymous]

Lady,
I know your feelings are hurt, but you just dodged a bullet.
Even if you were presenting religious material, her approach was all wrong.
I am a Christian with strong beliefs, but if someone was showing my DC something that was contrary to our beliefs, I would have just said "Just so you know we believe such and such and feel a little uncomfortable with DC being presented with such and such without our prior review or knowledge.
I am sure you meant no harm, but wanted to give you a heads up."
This heffa is crazy and if it was not this, it would have been something else , be glad it happened now before your kid got to invested in this friendship.
Dry your eyes and sing praises that you found out now!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Next time play the alphabutt song.


A is for Apple, B is for Butt, C is for Cat-butt, D is for Doo-Doo, E is for Elephant-butt, F is for Fart, G is for Gorilla-fart, H is for Hairy Gorilla-fart"?

I love that song! Can we be friends?

OP, I agree with the PPs who have said that you dodged a bullet. The other mom sounds crazy. It's too bad for your son and her son, but unfortunately you can't change the fact that she's his mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say - send her a brief email that this was all a misunderstanding and make sure you tell her that you are NOT religious at all. Also, let her know that her overreaction hurt your feelings.

This seems like the wrong response to me, particularly the "make sure you tell her that you are NOT religious at all" bit. Even if she were religious, the reaction by the other parent was over the top and inappropriate. Saying something like "don't worry, it's OK, I'm not religious" sort of suggests that atheism is acceptable or desirable, which could compound the problem is the other family is religious.

Atheism is acceptable, PP. Being non-religious is acceptable.

Not really. Atheists are not good people, fundamentally.

You are absolutely right, we are scums of the earth, but at least we do not pretend we are better than others.

I've never met a belligerent atheist, only pushy religious fanatic. OP is either a troll, or the other mom is mad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think "shielding" children is a longterm answer. One of the reasons, we started going to UU Church so my children would have exposure to what is out there with a framework with which to observe. So, when my younger child was told on the playground that he was going to hell because he did not believe in Jesus Christ, he was able to respond in a thoughtful respectful age appropriate manner.

Nice try, but I don't buy it. Kids simply do not use the playground as a platform to threaten eternal damnation.

It happened in my house before, kids will say the craziest thing when fighting. Adults should not take it seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again.

Ugh, I should have known this would turn into a religion war. Why DCUM? It was one person, one person doesn't represent an entire faith or lack of. My husband is atheist, I consider him to be a good person. He can be a pain in the ass and get a little full of himself but, he is a good person. I have atheist friends who could care less about their children watching a non-religious episode of Veggie Tales. I have Christian, Muslim, Pagan, Orthodox Jewish friends who would not act like this woman. I wasn't making any statements about any religion or atheism. Nothing. I was simply stating my frustrations with this singular situation with this singular woman. No big anti-religion/anti-athiesm statements from me.

DH grew up Catholic, has been Atheist since college (as happens often). I was raised Orthodox, my family still practices. I consider myself a Jew by heritage and traditional. The children and I practice different aspects of Judaism for traditional purposes, but no...we don't normally attend any services. We also celebrate Christmas and Easter as per request of my Inlaws. So, my children are exposed to numerous religions and that's ok with me. If my child were to choose to practice any religion I would be fine, as long as they were happy. (Although I would not be thrilled if they followed an ultra conservative patriarchal religion...but I doubt that would happen.) Anyways, my point is I understand not all families are as open with different religions as mine. I can understand why a parent would be upset with me, but she didn't let me even defend myself. I wouldn't show anything religious to a child I did not know well, my son was simply singing one of the songs "I Love My Lips" and her son was curious about where it came from...nothing religious about that song or any other songs on the 15 minute DVD.

There is my peace.

OP, I am sorry. The other mom seems to have issues.

[Anonymous]

I'm totally going to check out Veggie Tales after hearing about these songs.

They sound great.

OP, that other mom is a nutcase. Sad for her and the boy but don't waste any more energy on it.

[Anonymous]

ug, my MIL sends my children veggie tales crap all the time because she is trying to actively convert our kids to Christianity. But, I wouldn't think twice about it if my children watched a show at a friend's house. They like to watch them on Netflix and we are not religious at all. Crappy friend.