Hate Tracts of the Religious Right: Chick's Comic-Book Religious Tracts
SATIRICUS
story by Ted Anthony:
HATE TRACTS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) --- Across the land, they turn up in the
oddest places, tucked away at highway rest stops, atop pay phones, on buses and
at motel front desks --- tiny comic booklets the size and shape of baseball
cards, pointing the way toward salvation.
The titles are the first attraction. "Where's Rabbi Waxman?" "Gomez Is
Coming." "The Death Cookie." "Somebody Goofed." Inside, black-and-white
drawings that seem a stylistic cross between "Mary Worth" and Mad magazine
chronicle people battling to beat back evil, repent and accept Jesus Christ.
For nearly 40 years, this has been the life work of Jack T. Chick. . . .
But it is clear that Chick Publications Inc., which also publishes
conventional religious books, believes comic art --- a longtime bugaboo of
conservative Christians --- can reach out to more people than plain old text.
"There are constantly new generations coming along that need to hear about
Jesus," the company responded this month. "Thanks to television worldwide,
minds are more open to illustrated stories than ever before. People can tuck
these little tracts into their pocket and read them at their leisure."
The messages are memorable, whether by persuasiveness, fear or both. They
usually focus on a person at a spiritual crossroads who can accept or reject
Christ. They use linguistic vernacular. And they typically end with the person,
newly dead, sitting before God and being welcomed into heaven or dispatched to
a graphic hell.
The drawings make the biggest impression. Demons and evil or ne'er-do-well
humans are rendered in near-caricature, either as jowly and corpulent or gaunt
and hollow-eyed. They laugh like this: "HAW HAW HAW!" Christians, by contrast,
are generally well-groomed, well-dressed and, more often than not, white.
Depictions of other groups can veer into the stereotypical.
"Make some chicken soup," a Jewish mother says in vWhere's Rabbi Waxman?"
In the Chinese-language version of `"Hi There!", about a construction worker
killed without accepting Christ, the drawings mirror the English version ---
except the characters' eyes in the Chinese rendition are narrow and slanted.
Many tracts suggest that other points of view lead to damnation. Gays are
condemned as Sodomites; rock music is Satan's "masterpiece." "Big Daddy?"
paints evolutionists as ranting, sweating fanatics. "The Tycoon" dismisses
Buddhism, vThe Crisis'' denounces Jehovah's Witnesses as a fake faith, and "The
Curse of Baphomet" and "Dark Dungeons" equate Masonry and role-playing games
with witchcraft.
The attitude of some tracts toward the Roman Catholic church, particularly,
has raised hackles over the years. "Last Rites" brands Roman Catholicism a
"false religion." "The Death Cookie" --- the Roman Catholic communion wafer ---
paints the church as a vast unholy conspiracy.
Mike Gallagher, a Roman Catholic, first encountered Chick tracts when a
teacher at his daughters' Christian school distributed them. One, Gallagher
said, misrepresented Catholic last rites, so he launched a counter-Chick Web
page in response.
"Their belief is that only they are saved. And if you don't believe what
they believe, then you're not saved," says Gallagher, a pension actuary in
Fairport, N.Y. "(Chick) condemns Catholicism for worshipping idols, yet he uses
images much more than we use them to sway readers to his point of view.". . . .
Chick Publications suggests leaving tracts everywhere --- atop vending
machines, in airplane seat pockets, under windshield wipers, even inside rented
bowling shoes and in clear plastic bags near schools. And "if you get pulled
over," says the catalog, "cheerfully hand one to the officer.". . . .
_____________________________________
Whew! There's nothing chic about Chick's venomous form of proselytizing in
those little hate pamphlets of his. And to think that Chick was inspired to
create them after learning that Communists in Russia had supposedly used little
comic-book tracts! Sheesh! Was Chick thinking, "Well, if ya can't beat 'em,
join 'em!"
-- SATIRICUS REX ?:^)
The Vitameatavegamin of Politics
The Proper Tonic for Not-So-Happy, Pep-less People Who are Pooped Out on
Politics
"IN VITAMEATAVEGAMIN EST VINO MIRABILIS!" -- SATIRICUS REX
I. B. Withee
SATIRICUS wrote in message
<199807170746...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
This stuff scares you no end doesn't it Robot Rex?
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/6371/index.html
I.B. Withee
JJ
>
> Excerpt from the Thursday, July 16, 1998 Associated Press' Religion Today news
> story by Ted Anthony:
>
> HATE TRACTS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
>
> RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) --- Across the land, they turn up in the
> oddest places, tucked away at highway rest stops, atop pay phones, on buses and
> at motel front desks --- tiny comic booklets the size and shape of baseball
> cards, pointing the way toward salvation.
Thanks again for proving our point. "HATE TRACTS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT"
suggests that;
a) ALL Religious Conservatives purposely use hate as a tool
b) It separates Religious Liberals from using hate
Is it possible that the guy who writes these is not supported by the
vast majority of Christian conservatives??? Not according to this
article.
This is not a report by the AP. It is propaganda from the liberal left
(to incite contempt for Christians and conservatives) in the guise of a
news report.
JJ
SATIRICUS
story by Ted Anthony:
HATE TRACTS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) --- Across the land, they turn up in the
oddest places, tucked away at highway rest stops, atop pay phones, on buses and
at motel front desks --- tiny comic booklets the size and shape of baseball
cards, pointing the way toward salvation.
The titles are the first attraction. "Where's Rabbi Waxman?" "Gomez Is
Coming." "The Death Cookie." "Somebody Goofed." Inside, black-and-white
drawings that seem a stylistic cross between "Mary Worth" and Mad magazine
chronicle people battling to beat back evil, repent and accept Jesus Christ. .
. .
________________________________________
SATIRICUS REX: "Whew! There's nothing chic about Chick's venomous form of
proselytizing in those little hate pamphlets of his. And to think that Chick
was inspired to
create them after learning that Communists in Russia had supposedly used little
comic-book tracts! Sheesh! Was Chick thinking, 'Well, if ya can't beat 'em,
join 'em!'"
J.J.: "Thanks again for proving our point. 'HATE TRACTS OF THE RELIGIOUS
RIGHT'
suggests that; a) ALL Religious Conservatives purposely use hate as a tool; b)
It separates Religious Liberals from using hate. Is it possible that the guy
who writes these is not supported by the vast majority of Christian
conservatives??? Not according to this
article."
That was only an *excerpt* from the article. Moreover, these next two
passages from the Associated Press "Religion Today" news story coupled with the
earlier excerpt relates how Chick has prospered for nearly 40 years by
producing those little hate tracts:
For nearly 40 years, from a small office-warehouse in this foothill
community of the San Gabriel Mountains, he has blended pop culture and populist
religion into a blunt, sometimes downright intimidating evangelical Christian
message --- that only by receiving Jesus in the exact way the Scripture
dictates can humans avoid being cast into the lake of fire.
The 13-cent tracts, with dozens of titles, have been translated into 43
languages, from Estonian to Tagalog, and distributed free throughout the world,
often by missionaries. But it is in the United States where they seem
omnipresent, part of the background noise of the culture; anyone who's taken a
cross-country trip has probably seen them lying around, left by local church
members to be picked up by passers-by. . . .
The drawings make the biggest impression. Demons and evil or ne'er-do-well
humans are rendered in near-caricature, either as jowly and corpulent or gaunt
and hollow-eyed. They laugh like this: "HAW HAW HAW!" Christians, by contrast,
are generally well-groomed, well-dressed and, more often than not, white.
Depictions of other groups can veer into the stereotypical.
"Make some chicken soup," a Jewish mother says in "Where's Rabbi Waxman?"
In the Chinese-language version of `"Hi There!", about a construction worker
killed without accepting Christ, the drawings mirror the English version ---
except the characters' eyes in the Chinese rendition are narrow and slanted.
Many tracts suggest that other points of view lead to damnation. Gays are
condemned as Sodomites; rock music is Satan's "masterpiece." "Big Daddy?"
paints evolutionists as ranting, sweating fanatics. "The Tycoon" dismisses
Buddhism, vThe Crisis'' denounces Jehovah's Witnesses as a fake faith, and "The
Curse of Baphomet" and "Dark Dungeons" equate Masonry and role-playing games
with witchcraft.
The attitude of some tracts toward the Roman Catholic church, particularly,
has raised hackles over the years. "Last Rites" brands Roman Catholicism a
"false religion." "The Death Cookie" --- the Roman Catholic communion wafer ---
paints the church as a vast unholy conspiracy.
Mike Gallagher, a Roman Catholic, first encountered Chick tracts when a
teacher at his daughters' Christian school distributed them. One, Gallagher
said, misrepresented Catholic last rites, so he launched a counter-Chick Web
page in response.
"Their belief is that only they are saved. And if you don't believe what
they believe, then you're not saved," says Gallagher, a pension actuary in
Fairport, N.Y. "(Chick) condemns Catholicism for worshipping idols, yet he uses
images much more than we use them to sway readers to his point of view.". . . .
_____________________________________________
J.J. (j...@mps.net): "This is not a report by the AP. It is propaganda from the
liberal left (to incite contempt for Christians and conservatives) in the guise
of a news report."
Again, these excerpts are from the Thursday, July 16, 1998 Associated
Press' "Religion Today" news story by Ted Anthony.
rose...@mail.idt.net
>SATIRICUS wrote:
>>
>
>Is it possible that the guy who writes these is not supported by the
>vast majority of Christian conservatives??? Not according to this
>article.
>
>This is not a report by the AP. It is propaganda from the liberal left
>(to incite contempt for Christians and conservatives) in the guise of a
>news report.
If you don't believe it, go to some of the web sites linked through
the RNC web page.
The "hate" is more subtle in "focus on Family", or "heritage
foundation", but the agenda is identical. The difference is in the
toned down rhetoric.
I. B. Withee
rose...@mail.idt.net wrote in message <35afbb4b....@news.idt.net>...
Go here, where the hate all started
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/6371/index.html
I.B. Withee