I did some further research on this yesterday and found that the second verse of the song goes "Old man Noah built the ark. He built it out of Hickory bark." I know what you are thinking. And no, I have no idea how I reconciled that "Old man no one built the ark. He built it out of Hickory bark" but I swear that's what I though it was. Anyway, the larger picture is that the song says Hickory bark is what the ark was built out of. I am not a tree-ologist or an arborologist, but I find it questionable that Noah,Ham, Shem, and Japheth were cutting down huge Hickory trees. It's more likely that they were dealing with Cypress trees. All I could find from the Bible is that God told Noah to make the ark out of "gopher wood." Either way, I think this song is taking too many liberties with biblical stories. Plus, "gopher wood" is funnier.
Which brings me to the main point of this post. I'm sure we have all seen the cute little Noah's ark playsets for kids, or even a child's room decorated in a Noah's ark theme. I'm sorry but I
find this hilarious. Remember that in Genesis God says, "And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die." What fun for children! The least the toy makers could do is throw in some dead bodies for accuracy. What's next? I know, a playset of Job's sufferings. Mother: "Look darling, I bought you Job's playset complete with flaming sheep and a house razed to the ground!" 4 year old child: "YAY! This will also help me deal the complex theological issue of the problem of evil!"Truthfully, I don't care if kids play with a Noah's ark playset. The only reason I started to think about it is because my niece and nephew just received one from a very nice and generous Christian couple. It's just that the more I thought about it, the funnier it became to me. The only reasons that these playsets are made is because kids like boats and animals. I'm not sure that much thought of the actual story of Noah ever went into the planning.
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Not only is the ark built out of hickory, but it's built from the bark instead of the wood! Now this has got to be some strong bark to withstand the weight of eight people and roughly three thousand animals, including (according to the painting in my old King James' Bible) a pair of dinosaur monsters. And let's not forget the feed, the bedding, the manure, and the stewardesses. By the way, that was a lucky occupation in those days. Don't want to die in the Deluge? Either avoid God's wrath by living a moral life, or... get a job in the travel industry! You didn't expect that the only eight virtuous people on the face of the earth would travel by coach?
Am I wrong to make light of the story? At least I'm not sterilizing it with smiles and fluffy animals. In fact, I think we tend to focus only on the nice stories from the Old Testament (and the New Testament, now that I think about it) and ignore the dark and puzzling stuff. I guess I can understand that parents don't want to give their kids a Cain action figure or a seven-headed beast of the Apocalypse, but really, if all the stories of the Bible are realy sacred to us, then why are we playing with them like toys?
Is it worse to be an idolater--or someone who profanes all things by making them common?
My point exactly. If we make stuffed animals out of a really serious Bible story, then are we really paying it reverence? And if so, (which I don't belive) then why not make playsets out of all Bible stories? Because not all Bible stories have animals and a boat. But then, that's what the Noah story is reduced down to. We no longer have to fear the wrath of God. We only have to know that eight people and a bunch of animals went on a boat ride. The End. Now we have a cleaned up version of the story that children can handle. And more importantly, the story is now profitable.
So what is the solution to teaching kids about the Bible? I don't believe that a little Veggie Tales and Bible sing-along songs are bad, even though they are annoying and mind numbing to adults. I mean, I guess that stuff is better than Power Rangers. But I do think that it should be kept in moderate amounts and within the context of the acutal story. That way, kids really learn and the story is respected.
I am sorry- but I have to disagree stongly with part of your last statement Monica. Being a mother of three (fairly rotten) children, and not having the usual means of anesthesia (i.e. cable television)before bedtime, I let them- occasionally- watch Veggie Tales. And, I have to say that they are far from mind-numbing and annoying. In fact, a good deal of them are downright clever. Like when the British asparagus reads a play that is a complete take-off on Hamlet.... or when the french peas do what (I am assuming) is a pretty good impersonation of Monty Python, or when an entire show makes fun of the hyper-commercialism of Wal-Mart, or (my personal favorite) when Mr. Lunt sings a love song to a fast-food cheeseburger. I mean, seriously, this is high brow humour!! Now, I suppose that I am unlike your typical animated bible character viewer in the sense that boys also get the "real" stories read to them (thereby admitting that something is missing at a very basic plot level), and I also may not be a very good judge considering all the brain cells that three pregnancies have killed off; however, I do believe that Veggie Tales cannot be lumped in the same category as most mind-numbingly painful cartoons that the majority of children are fed. The question remains- how do you teach children about the bible? I am with you, Monica... cartoons in moderation and by reading (or, better yet, telling) the stories to them. Things like Veggie Tales should just be the springboard- unless you just want to watch a funny take-off on Tolkien's trilogy titled "The Lord of the Beans"!!
M.
Mary,
While I agree that Veggie Tales are better than the rest, (see Veggie Tales to Power Rangers comparison)I seriously find that when I watch them, the voices of the Veggie tales give me quite a headache. Therefore, perhaps I should have said that they are annoying and mind numbing to me and not for all adults and that this is for certain explainable reasons. I also do not condemn any parents who let thier kids watch Veggie Tales. Those cartoons are better than cable TV. Plus, I know it's easy for me to say what is good or bad for children since I obviously don't have any.
The larger point I was trying to make, both with the post and comment, is that parents often buy products for their children that have to with God and the Bible without looking at the biblical context that surrounds such products as a Noah's ark playset. You know I don't think you are one of those parents. Nor does it matter what I think since your children are obviously lovely Catholic children who will grow up to be lovely Catholic adults.
And who knows? Maybe if Veggie Tales were around when I was a kid, I would have known that Noah and not "No one" built the ark.
It is my hope that I see you on Thursday at our stomping grounds to continue engaging in stimilating conversation.
P.S.
I didn't see David's Veggie Tales voices comment until after I posted my own. I guess I'm not the only one.
Little Peter also used to think "no one" built the ark. We had a hard time convincing him otherwise.
I agree with M., veggie tales are fairly intelligent humor as cartoons go, and the voices never bothered me that much...in fact as I recall they're entertaining not only to little kids but also to teenagers. I seem to remember a youth group trip on which veggie tales was played the entire way to Chicago and back, with everyone singing along. In fairness to those annoyed by the voices, though, I'm also pretty sure our chaperone/driver was ready to shoot us all and burn the tape by the end of the trip...
Firstly, I am not sure that my little ones are lovely. The screams and fights this morning seem to indicate that they are the very spawn of satan! Secondly, to continue our conversation, don't you think, at some level, Monica, that children aren't ready for complete comprehension of God's wrath? I mean, seriously, I am wrathful enough! I am of the opinion that children, in their innocence, should first learn to love God and know of his unconditional love- there will be plenty of time to drill in the righteous anger of the Almighty later! On a side note- when you and Dave are blessed with offspring I shall give a whole series of Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato to add to Dave's bleary-eyed parental experience!! Lastly, I will surely be there on Thursday- but cannot promise either engaging or stimulating conversation. I only guarantee to complain about all aspects of life... children, husband, Veggie Tales- whatever!
M.
I'm with Mary on this one... infants and toddlers are incapable of understanding the depth of ANYTHING, let alone the hand of God. We soften things up for children for a reason. The Virgin Mary no doubt endured hours of labor giving birth to our savior, but we don't need to tell children that when they're 3. All they need to know is that we should strive to be as open to God as Mary was. Why not let young children use Bible stories first as an example of God's infinite love and learn His wrath later when they can understand it?
If you want to look at it at a greater extreme, why give children baby dolls to play with? Life is sacred and children should be taught so, but you can bet that more often than not those baby dolls are having their arms ripped off by quarrelling toddlers, or left out in the rain, thrown on the floor, etc.
I'm only saying that when it comes to young children, you can't expect too much. We first give children examples of what is good in the world and how to be good people living for Jesus... I think the depth of Christ can be saved for a few years down the line.
Only my opinions!
Of course I don't think drilling the wrath of God into children's heads to scare them is a good idea, but I also see Monica's point about giving them the full biblical stories. Actually, I think her point holds whether you’re talking about religious stories or not. Most fairy tales, bible stories, and stories of all kinds are way, way toned down for modern children - a symptom, I think, of our modern fear of death, which is a very adult fear. We like to shelter ourselves from it and pretend we’re immortal. Often we succeed – this isn’t the middle ages, where life expectancy & infant mortality made death such a commonplace that people had to be comfortable with it. And so we think we have to shelter our kids from anything ever happening in their stories that isn't warm and fuzzy. Remember when we were kids and the Lion King came out, and some parents made a huge fuss because Simba's father died, and they thought that was "too disturbing" for their kids to see? That kind of extreme sheltering, which extends to censoring the dark bits of stories, only serves to make kids fragile. No, that doesn't mean you let your small child watch Law & Order SVU...but it does mean they might be able to handle the original Brothers Grimm, rather than Disney’s sanitized version.
I agree with Christine about the fairy tales, and in fact I was about to say the same thing myself. We were fortunate in my family to have an old copy of folk tales--very scary ones--and I loved them as a kid, as much as I loved ghost stories around the campfire (or whenever). And I always liked the scary parts in Disney cartoons the best. I couldn't bear any part of Fantasia, for example, except the windmill scene. I think it's often this sort of spiritual fear that opens people up the most to a spiritual reality--at least it does for me. It's far easier for me to believe in a supernatural reality when my soul has been awakened by terror. Anyway, I'd rather my kids look at God with awe than just think of Him as an eternal nice guy.
Wow... Thanks for all the comments. I love it. I guess Veggie Tales really hits a nerve.
In response to Mary and Annie, Yes, I agree wholeheartedly that young children should not be told the full extent of God's wrath. Nor do I believe that I could explain the full extent of God's wrath or love, for that matter. Moreover, this is the exact reason that I raised an objection to kids playing with a Noah's ark playset; so we don't have to expalin that kind of thing. (See Mother-4 year old child dialog) Also, I just hate seeing the Noah story watered down (no pun intended). Surely we would not give children a Hurricane Katrina playset because they love emergency vehicles and construction machines, right? This is because we remember what death and destruction was caused by such an event. My point is that we need to tell the truth or don't address it until kids are older. Just don't sanitize to the point of near meaninglessness.
Further, children will decapitate their baby dolls and abuse them. However, they also are punished for doing so. One might argue that this is because the damn things cost so much, but there is a deeper reason. It is not pleasant to see a headless, limbless baby doll because it does remind us so much of real life.
In response to Christine and David, I like the real versions better too.
In response to Christine solely, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who tought "no one built the ark.
Finally, I really do like all of this debate. It's great and everyone has great opinions. I'd think of something else that is as inflamatory for the next post, but I'm not sure I can. I mean,this one just happened by accident. Plus, I don't want to run the risk of looking like an agitator.
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