Vischer 2020 - Veggie Tales' Creator Has Captured My Heart & Mind

 When I was 14 years old, I had a huge crush on Sam Combs. Sam was so smart and witty. He was a skinny guy with glasses and taught himself to play the guitar. I was just amazed by him. I was friends with many boys throughout my youth/young adulthood, but had very few actual crushes or boyfriends, (I would say 3, counting my husband). Sam was basically nothing like the man that God gave me as my husband, who is quiet, Haitian, and into body building. However, he represents a special place in my heart you could say – a smart, talented, guitar playing white boy.

Shortly after George Floyd, I saw a video shared by one of my friends on Facebook called Race in America. It was by Phil Vischer. It was brilliant. It put my heart on the issue into intelligent words and provided historical stats with simple graphs and images to back it up. I was so impressed and grateful. Someone shortly after shared the same video in a group I am in called Mommas Against Racism. But she introduced it by saying that Phil Vischer was the creator of Veggie Tales.

Wow! I had watched Veggie Tales since I was a kid and shown it to my kids as well. What a creative program that taught about God in a completely loving way. And its creator is a smart, sensible anti-racist? Who knew?

I ended up researching Phil Vischer and learning how Veggie Tales came to an end when he was sued by someone he did business with, causing him to lose all that he had built. He had dreamed of being the Christian Walt Disney. But after Veggie Tales ended, he continued to serve God through cartoons for kids and podcasts geared toward adults. All of his cartoons, songs, and family based Bible studies are available at Mr. Phil TV, which someone can subscribe to for a small fee. I did, and this has basically replaced our children’s church, which closed permanently due to the pandemic. (It was run by missionaries who went back to the U.S. for good, which is why it was a permanent close).

I highly enjoy watching the children’s programs with my kids, but I am very intrigued by the podcasts. It used to be called Phil Vischer Podcast, but now is Holy Post. He has some sidekicks who are with him often, who share his views and have valuable input. He does silly things like a great Irish accent when reading the Irish constitution in a discussion about how Ireland legalized gay marriage, and an impressive deep South southern accent when reading a politician’s quote from the Southern states in the mid-1900s. He writes songs to summarize topics that are discussed during the podcasts and sings them, while playing his little ukulele.  I just love it!!! As you may have guessed, he reminds me a bit of my old crush Sam!

 Today alone I shared two of Phil Vischer’s Holy Posts on my Facebook page. I have been waiting for the right moment to share his Race in America 2 post which dives deeper into misunderstandings about and fact checks of the welfare system, black families in America, divorce trends, unemployment, solutions, etc. But I saw two other videos today that friends had shared on Facebook and just had to re-share. The first was explaining why white Christians majorly vote Republican and black Christians mostly vote Democrat. The second was about whether or not Christians should vote based solely on the issue of abortion. Again, he (actually it was mostly his friend Skye) captured what I already thought in his overall message, but explained it so brilliantly with historical information to put it into context and provide a strong base.

After reading so many posts and memes that seem to be based on misunderstandings, I wish there was a way to require American citizens to watch these posts and podcasts as part of a course or something. I have no power to do that, but I can share them on social media and promote them in conversations and in this blog post.

In conclusion, I would suggest that we vote Vischer 2020, but in reality, I think his presidential duties would take up important time that he spends creatively teaching about Christian living. I know not everyone is a Christian, but honestly, he showed us in Veggie Tales how applying Jesus’ teachings are good for everyone. Veggie Tales was a Christian show that I don’t think any parents felt threatened by, no matter their religious affiliation. So perhaps he could be an advisor?  Anyway, if you haven’t checked him out yet, please wait no longer!! Prepare to be enlightened!