Toy option for boys

A new line of toys will soon be available:

Early next month, 425 Wal-Mart stores nationwide will begin carrying faith-based toys from One2believe that target parents who would rather that their kids play with a Samson action figure than a Spider-Man action figure.

It's the first time the world's largest retailer has carried a full line of religious toys. "We're seeing interest from parents in faith-enriching toys," says Melissa O'Brien, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Religious products have become a multibillion-dollar business, and the toy move comes as it targets a younger audience. Fox recently created FoxFaith, a 20th Century Fox unit to distribute family movies with Christian themes. In January, Universal Pictures will release The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - A VeggieTales Movie, based on the spiritual characters by Big Idea.

Two comments. Buried in the story is the fact that the bulk of the US (what the sophisticated coasts contemptuously call "fly-over country") is religious at heart. And despite decades of efforts, the feminists have failed to reprogram boys to be more like girls.

Now a caveat to the whole concept is the memory of my father dismissing my brother's GI Joes as "dolls," which leads me to believe that, in the eyes of some men, unless a boy is actually moving earth with his Tonka or engaging personally in a fist fight, he has watered down his testosterone level. That said, I think these toys are a good thing, and if a kid wrassles with Sampson or Goliath, it may cross his mind to wonder at "why" (i.e. the Biblical context of this battle) and ultimately ask himself, "Who or what is worth fighting for?"

Comments

[biby]

Hi i just surfed in searching for interesting facts on Essenes in the blogs.
you have a cool blog. Do keep up the good work. I'll be back for more. i live
far from where you live. its nice to be able to see what people from across
the world thinks.

On a related note perhaps you might find the following article interesting.
we are currently doing a series of posts on essenes and their culture and i'll
like to hear your take on the subject via comments. See ya there....

Historical
Facts on Essene Culture

Warm Regards from the Other Side of the Moon.
Bijoy Cletus - Kerala, India

[Donna Marie Lewis]

Hmmm... would you disapprove of girls playing with these ? Or perhaps they should have their own tough women of the Scriptures action figures ? ("Get your Judith action figure - the Holofernes allows for real, neck-slicing action !" )

[Julie D. Byrne]

Hmmm! I may be jaded, but wasn't Goliath the bad guy and didn't he fight and lose to David, not Sampson. And Sampson had his problems, too. I understand the concept, but can see some scripture confusion for the young boys. Seems there could be better choices of people for the action figures to model.