"Veggie Tales" Creator Says Christian Filmmakers Will Inevitably Be Forced to Confront the LGBT Issue

Director Michael Barnard, center, talks with from left, Pa Grape, Jerry Gourd, Larry the Cucumber and Junior Asparagus during dress rehearsal for VeggieTales Live! at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, in this Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002 file photo. The conservative media-watchdog group Parents Television Council issued a statement Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 blasting NBC, which airs "VeggieTales," for editing out some references to God from the children's animated show. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

If you look around at children’s programming, you can see LGBT issues cropping up in them more and more.

Disney was one of the first high-profile companies to introduce a gay character into its children’s shows with Andi Mack on the Disney Channel back in 2017.

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Very recently, the children’s show Arthur made an episode which put a gay wedding into the plot. None of the children in the show asked questions or anything, it was just automatically accepted by the characters as being absolutely normal.

With major brands injecting LGBT characters and messaging into their shows, “Veggie Tales” co-creator Phil Vischer says it’s only a matter of time before Christian children’s television will have to tackle the issue.

“Parents are definitely going to have to deal with a growing LGBT presence in children’s media,” Vischer told The Christian Post. “It’s going to show up more and more as the world has decided that LGBT issues are in the same categories as race and civil rights issues. So to say you shouldn’t have a same-sex couple on ‘Sesame Street’ is the equivalent of saying you shouldn’t have a black couple on ‘Sesame Street.'”

Vischer particularly noted the Arthur episode with the gay wedding and the child character’s non-reaction to it.

“It’s such a strong message of, well kids, of course, you’re fine with gay marriage because there’s nothing to question about it,” Vischer said. “That’s a little more concerning.”

Vischer told The Christian Post that his show, currently owned by NBC Universal, will likely be pressured to talk about it and that it could be very easy to do it poorly as a Christian program, namely due to the fact that there’s a disagreement in the church about how to handle it. He also said that he will likely be pressured to display it in a positive light, but says that when that day comes that he will refuse:

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“I think it will have to be addressed at some point; I do think it’s a matter of time,” he said. “But right now, I think it would be difficult for a couple of reasons. First: the nuance of how to treat LGBT issues isn’t agreed upon within the Church; and secondly, some parents may want to have that talk with their kids. It’s tricky because it’s so divisive. It would be hard to do it in a way that works and matches everyone’s expectations.”

“It would be easy to do it poorly,” he insisted. “It’s still so controversial; I’m not sure what I would add that would be helpful enough in the conversation that it’s worth the number of people I could offend.”

For now, Vischer said he will continue to present biblical truths in his TV shows, movies, and books in contrast to secular programming.

“If I get pressure from Hollywood to show two men getting married because we’ve all decided it’s right and correct, my pushback is: ‘No, I won’t. Because that’s not what I believe is best for kids,’” he said. “It’s more about what we show as normal rather than explicitly showing something and saying, ‘that’s wrong.’ I’m portraying the positive rather than the negative.”

“At least for now,” he added. “I do believe that at some point we’ll be forced to figure out how to explicitly address it.”

It’s an absolute certainty that Vischer’s prediction will come true. The question is, once Christian creators refuse to promote the LGBT message, what will the pushback look like? The activist left has proven that it’s willing to engage in long, protracted wars against Christians who refuse to toe the line. It’s likely that Veggie Tales will find itself facing annihilation as well as a number of fabricated lawsuits for “hate speech.”

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Prepare for a movement to have Christian entertainment banned from social media on the grounds of promoting hate against groups as well.

It will be war, but it’s one in which the left’s activists will pick and choose their targets carefully. Don’t expect them to attack Islamic media, which is violently opposed to the LGBT community.

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