On the other hand, it's not like it's not well known that many Christmas traditions borrow from pagan roots as well.
I wonder what Mr. Chick's perception of Christmas trees are. I'm wondering if he will tolerate some of this stuff within limit, and he just has a stricter limit than the Catholic church.
That book by Hislop that I pointed out goes into quite a bit of detail about the pagan roots of Christmas. Here's the chapter. Hislop also rips into Easter as well.
I should also note that Chick has put this book back into print and is available on his website.
To be perfectly fair to Jack, I do remember a tract he once wrote saying that gay-bashing was unchristian and he's leagues better than Fred Phelps.
Still kind of a nut, but I always got the impression he was either impressively sheltered or impressively dense, which doesn't say "evil" to me. I can see how people might use Chick rhetoric or misinformation he's spread for unsavoury purposes, though.
Oh, I didn't say he was evil.
You're right; there's really no comparison between Jack Chick and Fred Phelps. That doesn't really tell you much about Chick, though, beyond that he meets at least the bare minimum standards of human decency.
Actually, the origins of Jack Chick's brand of Christianity are almost entirely British. His main source on other world religions -- other than the King James Bible -- is a book called The Two Babylons, by Rev. Alexander Hislop, and first published in Britain in 1916 and didn't find its way to America until will into 1943. It's available in its entirely to read online here.
Whether Hislop's brand of theological thought on Christianity has any representation in the UK anymore, I have no idea. Here in the United States, though, it's mostly held by a good part of the Southern Baptist convention.
I stand corrected, then. Still, for better or worse, that kind of attitude is a far cry from mainstream British culture, and his brand of polemicism would be widely regarded as fanatical over here. It's certainly something I associate more closely with, as you say, Southern Baptists.
Edit: And certainly, he's made comics attacking things that didn't exist back when Hislop was writing, and comics featuring cultural phenomena specific to the USA, such as the American style Thanksgiving celebration, which Chick evidently regards as an important Christian celebration, but which has no direct British equivalent (we have Harvest Festival, but it's not really similar).
This is because Jack considers salvation to be completely serious business, and as a devout Christian this is to be expected. His method to accomplish this is to deliver the message as bluntly as possible, so as to drive the point home. He utilizes ugly characterizations for every hindrance portrayed in his books, but he doesn't assign such a caricature for every Muslim, Catholic, homosexual, science teacher. Insensitive? Sure, I'll give you that. Hateful? No. People who hate others don't try to save their souls.
If so he must be pretty naïve, if he thinks his caricatures are at all convincing. He's hurting the credibility of his message by displaying such ignorance.
That's all Jack does, he just doesn't water it down which is really the reason everyone gets so upset at him.
Actually, there was a point in my life when I honestly would have found his comics not merely insulting but very frightening, if I took them seriously. And not in a "Oh boy what a sinner I am, I should change my ways at once" way but in the sense that I would have felt seriously threatened by the attitudes and rhetoric there.
Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
If so he must be pretty naïve, if he thinks his caricatures are at all convincing. He's hurting the credibility of his message by displaying such ignorance.
It would be much more equitable to say that he's a product of his time. The guy fought in World War II and got most of his ideas from the stuff produced for troops at the time, including Private Snafu and other animated/comic features directed at troops which pulled no punches in order to get information bluntly across to the troops, like the matter of avoiding VD, for instance. Of course, in hindsight, that material comes off as incredibly crude and offensive but it got the job done.
It is true that Jack is ignorant to current topics and attitudes, especially regarding perceptions of other cultures and religions. The guy went completely reclusive in the 1970's and hasn't been seen nor heard by the press since.
Actually, there was a point in my life when I honestly would have found his comics not merely insulting but very frightening, if I took them seriously. And not in a "Oh boy what a sinner I am, I should change my ways at once" way but in the sense that I would have felt seriously threatened by the attitudes and rhetoric there.
That's exactly what Jack is trying to accomplish with his comics. Like I said, he takes this whole salvation thing completely serious and if it shocks or scares you into getting saved, well, it still gets the job done. On the surface this comes off as completely offensive to you, but look at it from his perspective. This man really is on a mission to save souls. Supposing you go along with it and get saved, he nor the churches and people who hand out his tracts get anything out of it. Yes, like any other non-profit he receives donations and the like but they're neither asked for nor expected.
It would be much more equitable to say that he's a product of his time. The guy fought in World War II and got most of his ideas from the stuff produced for troops at the time, including Private Snafu and other animated/comic features directed at troops which pulled no punches in order to get information bluntly across to the troops, like the matter of avoiding VD, for instance. Of course, in hindsight, that material comes off as incredibly crude and offensive but it got the job done.
It is true that Jack is ignorant to current topics and attitudes, especially regarding perceptions of other cultures and religions. The guy went completely reclusive in the 1970's and hasn't been seen nor heard by the press since.
That's exactly what Jack is trying to accomplish with his comics. Like I said, he takes this whole salvation thing completely serious and if it shocks or scares you into getting saved, well, it still gets the job done. On the surface this comes off as completely offensive to you, but look at it from his perspective.
I guess I was unclear, but I didn't mean fearful for the safety of my soul.
Regardless, I don't really want to argue about this.
This man really is on a mission to save souls. Supposing you go along with it and get saved, he nor the churches and people who hand out his tracts get anything out of it. Yes, like any other non-profit he receives donations and the like but they're neither asked for nor expected.
Fair point. I shouldn't be so hard on the guy, he clearly means well.
That's exactly what Jack is trying to accomplish with his comics. Like I said, he takes this whole salvation thing completely serious and if it shocks or scares you into getting saved, well, it still gets the job done. On the surface this comes off as completely offensive to you, but look at it from his perspective.
I think it's more a fear of people like this existing.
It's not exactly pleasant having loonies claim that you do the work of satan all the fucking time
That's exactly what Jack is trying to accomplish with his comics. Like I said, he takes this whole salvation thing completely serious and if it shocks or scares you into getting saved, well, it still gets the job done. On the surface this comes off as completely offensive to you, but look at it from his perspective. This man really is on a mission to save souls. Supposing you go along with it and get saved, he nor the churches and people who hand out his tracts get anything out of it. Yes, like any other non-profit he receives donations and the like but they're neither asked for nor expected.
A lot of people have believed they were on a mission to save souls. That doesn't necessarily make any of them right or, you know, likeable.
Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
You know it's kind of sad that during the period between 1880 and 1945 the Protestant Christian church (as a whole) was at its most enlightened regarding practical matters. I have a Bible dictionary here printed around 1890 which goes into details regarding the use of magic in the OT and NT e.g. the pharoah's court magicians using slight-of-hand and other wonders and clearly states that it was bunk then and it's bunk now. This was even during the height of the spiritualism/seance/table-tipping craze. 100 years and a moon landing later everyone was acting like the armies of Satan were about to walk the earth because their kids were listening to King Diamond.
Barack Obama's use of such language and familiarity with such patois was one of the key aspects of the identity politics on which his campaign was based.
Comments
You're right; there's really no comparison between Jack Chick and Fred Phelps. That doesn't really tell you much about Chick, though, beyond that he meets at least the bare minimum standards of human decency. I stand corrected, then. Still, for better or worse, that kind of attitude is a far cry from mainstream British culture, and his brand of polemicism would be widely regarded as fanatical over here. It's certainly something I associate more closely with, as you say, Southern Baptists.
Edit: And certainly, he's made comics attacking things that didn't exist back when Hislop was writing, and comics featuring cultural phenomena specific to the USA, such as the American style Thanksgiving celebration, which Chick evidently regards as an important Christian celebration, but which has no direct British equivalent (we have Harvest Festival, but it's not really similar). If so he must be pretty naïve, if he thinks his caricatures are at all convincing. He's hurting the credibility of his message by displaying such ignorance. Actually, there was a point in my life when I honestly would have found his comics not merely insulting but very frightening, if I took them seriously. And not in a "Oh boy what a sinner I am, I should change my ways at once" way but in the sense that I would have felt seriously threatened by the attitudes and rhetoric there.
Regardless, I don't really want to argue about this. Fair point. I shouldn't be so hard on the guy, he clearly means well.
A lot of people have believed they were on a mission to save souls. That doesn't necessarily make any of them right or, you know, likeable.