February 3, 2002

4:24 PM

The Truth For Youth - Christian preaching in comic form.Highly amusing, yet rather disturbing at the same time -- these are the messages they're trying to get through to kids?
posted by cheaily (39 comments total)

A quick clarification : it's not the actual message of the comic that worries me; it's the way in which they portray it... I took particular offence to the anti-homosexuality comic, whilst the anti-rock music, anti-pornography and anti-evolution comics just made my friends and I laugh out loud.
posted by cheaily at 4:39 PM on February 3, 2002

The only message I got was that I couldn't right-click... in actuality I was left-clicking.
posted by geoff. at 4:43 PM on February 3, 2002

these are the messages they're trying to get through to kids?

Then they should have done them as a rap.
posted by holloway at 4:44 PM on February 3, 2002

Yes. Dammit geoff you beat me again. I was just going to say that.

When you right click, you're clicking with the devil (or communism).
posted by manero at 4:44 PM on February 3, 2002

Yeh, wtf is that 'can't right click' thing? That's about the most offensive thing on the site, IMO. Dont' they know that mozilla still pops a menu? Fuckers.
posted by delmoi at 4:44 PM on February 3, 2002

The comic is just -- it made my day. I'm so glad the kid had a nice white, Christian family to come home to.

I'm seriously thinking about ordering these. The again, I may just print them out and not pay the company.
posted by geoff. at 4:52 PM on February 3, 2002

"Eric...I'm gay, the Bible says that gays can't get into Heaven!"

"Jesus will take you just as you are and he'll change you"


I can see Jesus administering electroconvulsive treatments: Bzzzzz! "Now do you still like boys? Shall I turn up the juice?"

Seriously though, this crud is sick. And worse that its made for teenagers, a group that has enough to deal with as it is. The more open, liberal arm of the Christian Church has a lot of nastiness to contend with, God bless 'em.
posted by evanizer at 4:53 PM on February 3, 2002

Classic.
posted by XiBe at 4:56 PM on February 3, 2002

Excuse me.

I wasn't gay, but I certainly needed changing. I will spare you the gory details.

Jesus certainly DID change me. No way in hades would I go back to the way I was. And He didn't condemn me in the process...I can guarantee you a lot of "good people" would have.
posted by bunnyfire at 5:00 PM on February 3, 2002

I dunno; I thought the homosexuality one was a whole lot more understanding than it could have been, coming from the religious sector. Sure, they spun it their own way, but they didn't invalidate the relationship "Jerry" had, and they didn't portray the whole gay clubbing thing as being an anal bunnyhop congo line. Think of what Jack Chick would do - and probably has done - with the same subject.

No one's going to shift the Christian Right's views on homosexuality; this kind of understanding approach is, at least to me, a tremendous step towards understanding... if not acceptance. Sure, some of the stereotypes were over-the-top; having to identify he and his friend as drug abusers and drinkers was a little sinister and unneccesary. The HIV thing was also an obvious scare shot.. but the author did have Jerry stick with his boyfriend and care for him for a year until he died.

In a world where opinions can be so polorized, I have to admit I was impressed. Even though there really isn't a "Bathsheba's Bad Bathing Babes", which I thought was kind of a gyp.
posted by Perigee at 5:01 PM on February 3, 2002

How about this:


posted by plemeljr at 5:01 PM on February 3, 2002

I don't know why, but I feel the need to compulsively comment. On the evolution one ("Look it an extensive chapter on evolution, this is cool!") -- they attempt to dismiss carbon dating using false information. Go here to debunk that.
posted by geoff. at 5:06 PM on February 3, 2002

Pretty loopy stuff. I'm sure the Professor will be really happy with the book recommended to explain the contortions of "creation science"—the Bible!

But the weirdest part was when (in the drugs unit) "Song of Soloman [sic] 2:15" is quoted as illustrating the druggie's contemplation of his life qua sordid trash-heap, which it became through the inevitable worsening accumulation of little things...

...but the real passage is harmless erotic poetry...
posted by Zurishaddai at 5:07 PM on February 3, 2002

I hope this thread doesn't turn into a Christian-bashing fest. I am happy to hear that your life changed for the better, bunnyfire. I was baptized for the first time two years ago (as an openly gay man) and Jesus didn't take away my homosexuality. In fact, I consider it to be a source of wonderful joy in my life. But I am also somewhat of an iconoclast, and I have a really thin skin to propaganda like this. I think it is hurtful and misguided and has nothing to do with Christianity at all.

My faith (wavering as it does) has been a journey toward wholeness, not the desperate attempt to splinter myself that the "Homosexuality" issue of this comic seems to advocate.

It is really the same issue that comes up in regard to Islam: there is a radical misguided fringe, but that does not invalidate the faith or indict its all of its faithful.
posted by evanizer at 5:12 PM on February 3, 2002

evanizer : I didn't post this in order to start a christian-bashing thread, so apologies if you're under the impression that that was the case -- each man to his own devices and whatnot, it's not my right (or desire) to bash your choices.

I simply posted it to spark a discussion about the comic itself - it simply blew my mind that material (i'm resisting the urge to label it propaganda) like this is being used to preach the message... false, mis-representational (especially in the case of the Evolution comic - thanks geoff) pulp.

That and I thought some of the non-religious readers might get a kick out of it, as I did.
posted by cheaily at 5:22 PM on February 3, 2002

The "Pornography" comic was particularly fun. I' d like to get a peek at "Bathsheba's Bad Bathing Babes" myself.
They said that "The wages of sin is death" but after taxes it's more of just a tired feeling, really.

All kidding aside, though Evanizer is right, crap like this is hurtful to true Christians and gay people, not to mention comic book fans. Hopefully, showing them to the light of day like this will show the hard-core evangelical wing of Christianty for what they are, modern day Pharisees. Unfortunately, it gives sincere Christians a harder way to go.

So, Evanizer, take this stuff for what it is, lunatic rantings, that seem funny to the sane. And keep the faith, man.
posted by jonmc at 5:29 PM on February 3, 2002

cheaily- I didn't take your post to be an attempt at an anti-Christian thread, nor do I think it has become that. I was just concerned from bunnyfire's comment that I sounded sort of anti Christian in my first post.

These type of comics have always intrigued me. I used to find these little ones that were about 3x4 inches and had strange, punchy graphics and short titles (I remember one called "The Bull" that had a picture of a guy that looked like an old-style Warner Bros. cartoon thug).

Do you think the artist believes the message, or is just a hired hand?
posted by evanizer at 5:30 PM on February 3, 2002

Jesus, protect me from your cartoons.

A fairly depressing selection of nonsense, but no worse than a lot out there. If nothing else, this encourages teenagers to respond to evil with love, instead of more evil. It's still crap, but it's good-natured crap.
posted by apostasy at 5:33 PM on February 3, 2002

grrr, if they hadn't sliced up the comics so awkwardly, i'd have a field day linking to select panels...
posted by lotsofno at 5:38 PM on February 3, 2002

Evanizer - If I had to guess about the artists intentions, I'd have to say hired hand, just cause it's drawn in such a generic superhero style.
The small comic you mentioned finding sounds like a tract from the infamous Jack Chick, who is to Christianity what the XFL is to professional sports.
It's unfortunate that the "Christian" pop-culture is dominated by it's more extreme adherents. They're are a lot of thoughtful and entertaining artists who are self-described Christians like the hard rock band Kings X and country singer Billie Joe Shaver, not to mention folks like Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, who are both practicing Christians whose faith informs much of their work of late. I don't know of any good Christian comic writers, but I imagine there must be a few.

Before you ask I'm not a card-carrying Christian(although I was raised Catholic) just a cofused Deist who believes that good Christian folk sometimes get a bad rap.
posted by jonmc at 5:41 PM on February 3, 2002

Ewww! jonmc, you're right! I just googled the name Jack Chick and i'm sorry I did. His take on homosexuality' make the comics above look like they were penned by the HRC! I found that "The Bull" 'comic' I mentioned, but I don't want to link to it, for the same reason you wouldn't want to touch a dead, festering muskrat in the woods. I don't want MeFI to catch anything!
posted by evanizer at 5:56 PM on February 3, 2002

crap like this is hurtful to true Christians

As jonmc said, these comics are nowhere near as vile and offensive as some of Chick's stuff, and even 25 years after escaping from a religious cult, I still get nervous when people start talking about "true Christians".
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:00 PM on February 3, 2002

evanizer - don't be afraid of the Jack Chicks of the world. Just laugh your ass of at his stupidity and if your feeling charitable, pity him.
As Jim Goad once said about racism(but it applies to homophobia as well)-"Don't make it into Satan, make it into Bozo the clown." Imagine for instance leaving an email at Chick's site saying "Wow, you're really funny. Do you do stand up too?" or the infamous "God Loves Fags!" hacking of Rev. Fred Phelps gaybashing site.
As I've siad before in other situations, humor does a far better job of neutralizing these nitwits than anything else could. Believe me there's nothing a "true believer" fears more than becoming a joke.

PS. BaliHai, my main man, don't be nervous. I was simply referring to good honest decent people who happen to be Christian.
posted by jonmc at 6:09 PM on February 3, 2002

" ... That and I thought some of the non-religious readers might get a kick out of it, as I did..."

Well I sure did. What a hoot. And so profoundly unlikely to actually connect in any way to it's target audience that I suspect no one needs worry about it.
posted by MidasMulligan at 7:03 PM on February 3, 2002

Another Christian-bashing fest? Isn't that what Metafilter is all about?
posted by aaronshaf at 7:59 PM on February 3, 2002

Another Christian-bashing fest?

Delicious and nutritious. Tastes just like hellfire!

I'd hardly call this a xtian-bashing fest. Most of these posts seem to acknowledge that this is only a subset of Christians, not representative of the whole. And a particularly ignorant subset, who are being bashed accordingly.

Point taken, though. MeFi certainly isn't beliefnet...
posted by apostasy at 8:19 PM on February 3, 2002

*vomits*

comics used for evil....guh...
must...get to ... wrong asain schoolgirl porn...

*cough*
quick!
posted by dong_resin at 8:44 PM on February 3, 2002

...and...spellchecker...*cough*.....
posted by dong_resin at 8:46 PM on February 3, 2002

Folks, let me bare my soul a bit for your entertainment.

These comics aren't aimed at non-believers. They're passed out at revival meetings, Christian music concerts, and anywhere else that young Christians might be found. If you haven't taken part in any of this, you honestly can't understand what it's all about.

Seventeen years ago, I graduated from high school. My mother, as a graduation gift, gave me a present. It was a round-trip ticket to Hawaii. I was to go to the Big Island and stay with my aunt and uncle, who are very extreme Fundamentalist Christians. My aunt actually answers the phone with "Praise the Lord" instead of "Hello".

Anyway, for entertainment these people went to church. Every night. Monday through Sunday, church was the center of their lives. When you're a teenager wrapped up in that lifestyle, it's easy to fall under the spell of this kind of stuff. I know it seems silly to most of you, but when you spend seven days a week around people who believe in (and regularly practice) laying on of hands, speaking in tongues, and faith healing, it's a very powerful force to be reckoned with. The high point of my "vacation" was when a travelling evangelist came through town and did a week's worth of preaching. The man was hypnotic. He wasn't much to look at, but he had charisma in the most basic sense of the word. I'm absolutely convinced that, had I spent an extra week there, I would have become a preacher myself (I score very high in aptitude tests in that field).

(un)Fortunately, my uncle caught me in bed with one of his Bible students, and banished me from his house. In hindsight, I think it was possibly the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned a lot about following the crowd. For a young person with a very sparse support group who doesn't feel like there's anyone else in the world going through the same experiences, it's a very persuasive lifestyle.

This kind of propaganda isn't meant to convert outsiders to Christianity, it's meant to hold fast to the ones that are already part of the group. And for that, it's very effective.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:47 PM on February 3, 2002

I prefer this.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:51 PM on February 3, 2002

I discovered that chick.com isn't a porn site.
posted by XiBe at 1:37 AM on February 4, 2002

This was definately laugh out loud funny. Reminds me of the stuff they were passing out when i went to ozzfest in '97 (manson played that year and brought the freaks out of the woodwork -- on both sides).

on the homosexuality thing, there's passages, and forgive me for not having this kind of stuff memorized, that refer to Christ "the bride".

perhaps the best i've ever seen in terms of a good sum up message, and i think it applies here.

Jesus, protect me from your followers.

[as a side note, i do janitorial work PT at a church and am a PK and went to a catholic university]
posted by Zebulun at 2:29 AM on February 4, 2002

These comics aren't aimed at non-believers. They're passed out at revival meetings, Christian music concerts, and anywhere else that young Christians might be found.

What? I work for a grocery store and I always have people handing me this junk. Also I find some Jesus bible verse sticker stuck to the urinal every week.

I am a moral person, religion just seems so much like an ancient chainletter. You should do the right thing anyway, not because your going to hell or heaven or whatever. I'd like to think I have an open mind about things, but religion is just filled with hipocracy.

Why can't religion let people make their own decisions and not try to "convert" or change their mind?
posted by andryeevna at 3:44 AM on February 4, 2002

For those who want to walk with the devil and right click on sites that use a "no right click" script, just do this -

Right click as normal.

When the "sorry no right click" message pops up, keep holding down the right mouse button, but move your curser over it and click "OK"

Then the message will disappear, release the right mouse button, and the right click menu will pop up and you can use it.

I read the comic on homosexuality. To me, the message was, that if "Chad" hadn't found the lord, he would have eventually died, as did his "father figure". That a homosexual life is not a "true" life and goes hand in hand with drugs, illness, a superficial social life, and frustrated ideals.

Although I don't doubt there's worse out there, I thought it was appalling.
posted by lucien at 8:16 AM on February 4, 2002

From chick.com:

"What happens to Chick tracts after you pass them out?"

Same thing that happens to everything else you've eaten, I guess.
posted by chrismear at 10:54 AM on February 4, 2002

I love all the be-ruffled men on the dance floor. All street cred has been lost. Anyone who knows anything about gays knows that the ruffled shirt went out of fashion circa 1978.
Also, can someone tell me what a faggit is?
posted by CreequeAlley at 4:19 PM on February 4, 2002

The site appears to be down now...

"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away..."
posted by evanizer at 5:22 PM on February 4, 2002

don't be afraid of the Jack Chicks of the world. Just laugh your ass of at his stupidity

"Haw haw haw!"
posted by Dirjy at 10:18 PM on February 4, 2002

I so want to start a band called Madonna Dahmer and the Death Squad now.

"Sick dreams are made of fleas,
Moldy breath and schoolyard cheese."
posted by dagnyscott at 4:14 PM on February 5, 2002