"...partly because I knew a lot of fans would feel like it was a sellout or it was done for money"
There's the root. Dead-wrong hierarchy of concerns.
You got a point there, Dan. VeggieTales were never my favorite teaching tool. But they are a far sight better than most other stuff being produced for children these days, so I counted them with the Good Guys.
If the Christian content is removed, I am afraid they will become just another touchy-feely Care Bear kind of thing. If they were to come to that point, they would cross over into being actively harmful. Every bit of happy-clappy secular BS masquerading as spiritual education displaces an opportunity to teach children a truthful message.
I don't know how bad the new de-contented version of VeggieTales has become, so I will hold back from lining them up with the Bad Guys, for now.