Those privileged souls who grew up in the American church in the late 90s and early 2000s remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and a fiery furnace from Daniel 3 by means of the Veggie Tales episode Rack, Shack, and Benny. The details of this masterpiece of Christian cinema1 are irrelevant to my discussion here. Instead what I care about is the impression the young viewer received of the story of Daniel 3. And that impression can be summarized very easily by describing what I believe most people think is the plot of Daniel 3: Three Hebrew lads are in captivity in Babylon. When the Babylonian emperor tries to make the whole nation bow before a gold statue, they refuse, the evil emperor throws them in a super hot furnace, the lads are preserved by God and walk out of the furnace, the evil emperor says some nice stuff about how great their God must be. What is the takeaway? Stand strong against government tyranny and practice your faith even when the government (or your friends) says not to!
Citizens & Sons 