A Spiritual Lesson In Toon Language: Lesson 19a

Topic: Liars' Convention I ' Is Lying Good? You Make The Call (Easy)

Series: Digimon, Smurfs, The Flintstones

Episodes: Forget About It! (Digimon), Smurfy Acres (Smurfs), The Little White Lie (The Flintstones)

Lesson PDF link: 19a.pdf

Introduction

We are talking about some of the easier lies that are told to getto the bottom of and deduce the morality of. This part of the lesson includes clips from the Digimon episode Forget About It!, a clip from the Smurfs episode Smurfy Acres, and clips from the Flintstones episode The Little White Lie. Things get harder the next session though.

Scriptures Used Include: Exodus 20: 16; Proverbs 20: 23; Micah 6: 11-15; Proverbs 20: 17

Today we're going to discuss lying. What in your opinion is a lie? Is withholding the truth lying? Is it OK to lie under any circumstances?

Introduction To Clips: I will show a series of clips on lying and its consequences and we will have a discussion on each one. The Liars' Convention is open. Enjoy the clips and discussion.

Liar A) I will now show some clips from the Digimon episode 'Forget About It!' The first liar in this convention is Demidevimon. Here is the first clip.

Clip #1 from Digimon: "Forget About It!":

What is happening here? In other words, what is happening to our heroes?

Clip #2 from Digimon: "Forget About It!":

Clip #3 from Digimon: "Forget About It!":

What do you think about our villain's plan?

Looks pretty devious!



Is what Demidevimon did right? Why or Why not?

This is what I call a destructive type lie. Demidevimon tried to split our heroes up with deception and lies.

Clip #4 from Digimon: "Forget About It!":

What do you think of Sora? Let's call her the God character in this clip. Why do you think that Sora could be considered the God character here?

I am calling her the 'God character' because she seems to be a 'still small voice' that at first is mysterious until she is recognized, this is much what God is kind of like.

Do you think Demidevimon deserved what he got in the end?

Bible Study I: Please Read Exodus 20: 16

Linking to the cartoon clips, what does this mean to you?

Our next liar is Gargamel. I will now show a clip from the Smurfs episode "Smurfy Acres".

Clip #5 from Smurfs: "Smurfy Acres":

This is called a False Advertisement. Is this a good thing to do? What were the consequences of Gargamel's act of deceit?

Physically speaking, the Smurfs get the worst of this bad deal. However Gargamel, if he was real would be severely reprimanded by God and judged if repentance wasn't sincerely done and of course, changed his ways.

There are symbols that are subtle but striking on this clip. These are the liar symbols: First, Gargamel during his advertisement uses the name 'Tomfoolery', which means nonsense. Second, during his advertisement, Gargamel is holding a lyre (This one is self explanatory). Third, there are symbols in the map Gargamel shows. Gargamel uses the terms 'dry stream bed' (Dry is the key term here, meaning lifeless), 'mushroom hollow' (Hollow is the key term here meaning empty), 'half a league' (meaning not complete truth, but half of it), and 'fallen maple' (Fallen is the key term here meaning spiritually broken or dead).

The trap wall is also a symbol. Lying causes separation from God just as the Smurfs (on the receiving end this time) are separated from Papa Smurf and Smurfette. Falling victim to a liar without wisdom can do the same thing because you would believe in an untruth and therefore you could become deluded.

Bible Study II: Read Proverbs 20: 23, Micah 6: 11-15. Linking to the cartoon clip, what does this mean to you?

Liar C) Our next liars are Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. I will show a series of clips from The Flintstones episode 'The Little White Lie' and we will have discussion(s). Here is the first clip:

Clip #6 from The Flintstones: "The Little White Lie":

As the title of this episode depicts, this is a little white lie. After watching the first clip, do you think that it is good? Why or Why not? Watch what happens. Here is the next clip.

Clip #7 from The Flintstones: "The Little White Lie":

What is happening here? Fred was pretty fortunate in his poker game, but now what?

What is not shown in the video is that Wilma puts an ad in the paper about the wallet so someone can claim it. What do you think Fred will do next? Here is the next clip.

Clip #8 from The Flintstones: "The Little White Lie":

What is happening here? What's happening with the white lie at this stage? To back up the chain of lies Barney poses as a widow. Is this a good thing? Here is the next clip.

Clip #9 from The Flintstones: "The Little White Lie":

What do you think about how Wilma catches Fred and Barney in their lies? Right before the restaurant scene, what happens? What happens at the restaurant? All of those lies never profited Fred did they? Throughout the cartoon, what happened to the little white lie? Do the ends justify the means? After seeing the clips, do you think that these lies are good?

Bible Study III: Read Proverbs 20: 17

Linking to the cartoon clips, what does this mean to you? The Liars' Convention will take an intermission now. Stay "tooned" for Part II, Lesson 19b.