The Veggie Tales series are a great way to introduce biblical truths at an age appropriate level for children. In the story of the rumor weed, someone misunderstood what was said by one individual and that led to the rumor weed spreading false accusations about a main character, Alfred, who was friends with Larryboy, the batman style hero of the story.

And like a snowball falling down a hill, as the rumor weed starts spreading the false information, it develops even more traction and more and more things are said about Alfred that were not true. As the story progresses the weed becomes so strong that nothing that Larryboy tried could destroy it. In the end, the only thing that turned the tide and started to take the power away from the weed was for the people to start sharing the accomplishments of Alfred.

The Christian moral to the story: good people can be led astray and bear false witness against others when they participate in sharing statements that are damaging to another and especially when there is no evidence for what they are sharing. Sometimes though the truth and/or evidence for the truth can be hard to find especially when the voice of the rumor weed overwhelms the voice of truth.

The people of America have been given plenty of opportunities to witness the rumor weed in action over the last 8 years. If you go back to 2018 there were plenty of accusations about one man in America and the rumor weed fed off the lies of senators and congressmen who said you can trust what they say because they have all the evidence that proves it. But then they never could produce the evidence. They were simply spreading rumors but the character assassination was working. Thye got more and more people to not trust the person they had attacked with their lies. Eventually though, more and more people came to recognize their lies. People like Jimmy Dore, a left leaning commentator, in his episode on “Adam Schiff’s Unhinged Fear Mongering At Impeachment Trial” in 2020 finally realized who was spreading the false accusations and it was coming from the very political party he was affiliated with.

Everyone is waking up to the lies of the elite and powerful but only in their own time. Once everyday citizens realize the elite and powerful have lied about one thing, they will research to see what other lies they are passing as truths. Such as

1. it was an insurrection on Jan 6th;
2. the election was safe and secure;
3. the vaccine is safe and effective;
4. you can marry someone of the same sex and it’s condoned by the church;
5. it’s ok to mutilate your body and take hormones to change your shape and appearance to be a sex other than the one God gave you.

Sharing the VeggieTales story with the young ones is one of the best ways to teach them how to overcome temptations from the evil one. When it comes to bearing false witness, the only way the rumor weed was taken down was to share the accomplishments of the one being falsely accused.

The accomplishments of the 45th President of these United States:

• Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution which led to overturning Roe Vs. Wade
• Executive Order 13818 – Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption
• Avoided starting any new wars and led to historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.
• Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.
• Through tax cuts and regulatory overhaul, over 3.5 million new jobs created
• 4.2 percent economic growth in the second quarter of 2018 and a resurgence of economic growth after China spread COVID on the world in 2020.
• Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans reached their lowest levels… ever.
• Small business optimism reached historic highs
• Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017, the most ever recorded in one year.
• Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.
• Signed executive order 13926 to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.
• Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.
• Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.
• Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.
• Through regulatory reform and executive orders, elevated the United States to the largest crude oil producer in the world.
• Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
• Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.
• Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.
• Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to destroy ISIS.
• Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA to combat election interference. Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities. Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities. Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.
• Executive Order 13823 keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open which led the Pentagon in 2018 to increase the size, capacity, and number of tribunal courts that could happen at the same time. This should provide plenty of capacity to hold and prosecute those convicted of treason and sedition.