Adventures in Odyssey

[InkyGirl]

I grew up listening to Odyssey and learned a lot of random facts from the radio series. Do any of the fundies mention Odyssey? I can see why some wouldn't like it - several characters are from divorced homes, whit's kids date and I believe one of them is divorced. Plus, Whit employs a teenage girl.

Anyone heard of Odyssey? A fan? Hate it with a passion?

[GeoBQn]

The Duggars visited the show's headquarters in the episode when they speak at Focus on the Family.

[CanadianHippie]

The Duggars visited the show's headquarters in the episode when they speak at Focus on the Family.

Think Odyssey has been mentioned many times by the Duggars.

[finleeport]

Are you talking about Homer's Odyssey?

If so, why would Christian fundies want to read that? its non-christian.

Oh you mean the radio, sorry never heard of it.

[maybeizfundie]

There are some fundies who dis Adventures in Odyssey because of "attitude" displayed by some of the kids in the stories.

[oscar]

One of my friends was not allowed to listen to this show, because the kids on the show spent too much time with people other than family, children who "knew better" than adults and were sassy about it were sometimes shown to be in the right rather than punished for their tone, and younger siblings were portrayed as annoying, rather than always being best friends.

[atheistjd]

Oh my word - I LOVED AiO growing up. LOVED. Now (being atheist and all that) I have some issues (ok, LOTS of issues) with the theological crap but I still think the stories are often well-done, age appropriate and interesting. They tackle a lot of issues, like divorce or abuse or loss of a loved one, that I think they do pretty well. I would personally not let my kids listen to them because I don't want them to think they're going to hell, but will always remember them fondly...

[MerryHappy]

We weren't allowed to listen to it when we joined ATIA. It was considered too liberal.

[snarkykitty]

I have to admit, when I catch this on the radio in the car, I end up listening. It's dorky, I know. But it reminds of me the "Davey and Goliath" show when I was a kid. Dorky but captivating.

[sableduck]

On one of the fundie moms forums I lurk at there is a lot of divison and arguing about AIO. A lot of the moms don't like it because the children arearen't 100% all the time supervised by their parents(they have too much free time where they are not in eyesight of a parent), everybody is public schooled, there is sibling bickering, etc. To quote one mom, "they portray families and situations from a worldly perspective."

Whatever. I still listen to them. You can pick and choose the theological lessons based on which episodes you allow your kids to listen to, and anything I disagree with, we can use to to open a dialogue with my kids about why we think differently, and that people can think differently from each other but still be friends.

[LynnKaboom]

I used to have a VHS tape of this, where Whit was falsely accused of robbing this rich person's house. I don't remember the rest of the story or how it ended, but it was pretty interesting. I used to have some old casette tapes too, that I would listen to in the car with my parents when we would drive to visit relatives.

I don't really remember anything objectionable about them. Yeah, they were religious, but kind of like Veggie Tales, in that if you ignored the religion stuff it was just about good morals and such.

[Trynn]

When I was a kid I liked it a bit, but then when I got older I hated the way it talked down to kids. At least that is how I saw it. I'd have no problem letting my kids listen to it, as it's not extreme in the slightest (at least not since I last checked.)

[Joykins]

I've never heard it but I've been to the Focus on the Family Headquarters in Colorado Springs, and they have a kid's area--indoor playground, really quite fun for the children--where they have a Whit's End ice cream parlor and the booth where the kids can do their own "broadcast" for the show. Kids who listen to the show seem to enjoy it, my kids (who don't) did other things.

[dawbs]

Oh my word - I LOVED AiO growing up. LOVED. Now (being atheist and all that) I have some issues (ok, LOTS of issues) with the theological crap but I still think the stories are often well-done, age appropriate and interesting. They tackle a lot of issues, like divorce or abuse or loss of a loved one, that I think they do pretty well. I would personally not let my kids listen to them because I don't want them to think they're going to hell, but will always remember them fondly...

I'm with most of this. They also do a decent job w/ historic works.

I still LOVE, with puffy pink hearts, their 'the gifts of Mag and Guy' version of 'The Gifts of the Magi"

(although the short-lived, non FOTF 'Jungle Jammin Friends, the Radio show" may actually be more clever. Anyone remember that?

"right next to the gazebo, not to close to the trellis!" and "We'er all gonna die. I mean, highside, High side!" are normal thins peppering conversations I have with siblings)

[maybeizfundie]

Slightly off topic but their other radio drama is good too--at least the Chronicles of Naria ones.

[Bookworm]

I really loved Odyssey growing up, although we were not super fans. We did try to listen when we remembered/had time. They were very interesting and pretty well done stories. Of course, I have vivid memories of Eugene and his whole skepticism thing and nowadays I realize they protrayed some things about that rather unrealistically. Plus, his conversion being based on emotion (fear of Hell) was too easy and weird for a cerebral dude like him. But whatever. In general the series is quite fun and definitely not all patrio.

[atheistjd]

I really loved Odyssey growing up, although we were not super fans. We did try to listen when we remembered/had time. They were very interesting and pretty well done stories. Of course, I have vivid memories of Eugene and his whole skepticism thing and nowadays I realize they protrayed some things about that rather unrealistically. Plus, his conversion being based on emotion (fear of Hell) was too easy and weird for a cerebral dude like him. But whatever. In general the series is quite fun and definitely not all patrio.

This. One of my favorite things about the show as a kid was the (usually) pro-education stance, which was something I craved, having 2 post-grad-degree-holding parents who pushed me to succeed academically and expect a post-graduate level education for myself in a fundie-lite environment that REALLY demonized college and anything beyond. Whit and Jason and Eugene were awesome... But they also did the non-academic, blue-collar characters (Tom the farmer, Bernard the window washer, Connie the seeker) really well and non-judgmentally too.

But to me, at least now that I have spent some time questioning and eventually rejecting religion, I felt they really glossed over the seeking and questioning because blind faith must prevail. Never really sat well with me even in my fundie-lite childhood.

Also, as long as we're doing favorites, I loved anything with Jason (I think I had a crush on him way back when ;) ) but oh my gosh my heart hurt when he broke up with Tasha because she was a "non-believer"... come to think of it, that's probably what began my dislike of the show. Haha. I think the episode was called "A Question about Tasha" or something like that.

But I loved the one where Whit was kidnapped in the middle east by the two warring factions who wanted control of the "Q document" - I always have and still do love the archeological aspects of the Christian Bible, as it was and as it is now, canonically speaking.

[sableduck]

Okay, true confession time: I still buy adventures in oddyssey tapes off of ebay when I find them. My husband makes fun of me, especially when I wanted to buy a car with a tape player so I could listen on long trips. Eh, it's harmless fun and better than letting my 16-month-old watch SpongeBob(no offense to anyone, he just gets really hyper when he watches that). Like I said before, if there is anything I disagree with, like Eugene's conversion based on fear of hell, we'll use to to talk about why I believe something differently.

Oh yeah, and I STILL have a total crush on Jason.

[atheistjd]

Okay, true confession time: I still buy adventures in oddyssey tapes off of ebay when I find them. My husband makes fun of me, especially when I wanted to buy a car with a tape player so I could listen on long trips. Eh, it's harmless fun and better than letting my 16-month-old watch SpongeBob(no offense to anyone, he just gets really hyper when he watches that). Like I said before, if there is anything I disagree with, like Eugene's conversion based on fear of hell, we'll use to to talk about why I believe something differently.

Oh yeah, and I STILL have a total crush on Jason.

Ahhh... I totally did this prior to grad school and having no free time. What can I say, they're entertaining :D