I’m sure you’d agree, it would take a hard and incurious heart not to bend down and investigate further.
Any onlookers taking stock of my reactions would have seen excitement (hey, wow, it’s some kind of comic book!) swiftly turn to vague disappointment (oh, right, it’s one of THOSE comic books..), as I slipped my discovery into my record bag and continued on my way.
Jack Chick comics are of course the stuff of legend, and a perennial internet time-wasting favourite, but I am faintly amazed to find that Christian groups here in London are still using his hardline fundamentalist diatribes as a tool to win converts.
Beyond the wonderfully unnerving, surreal cover, this particular little number tells the tale of Charlie, an everyday fella who likes nothing better than to hang out with his work buddies and deny the sanctity of Christ’s ministry on earth.
This allows Chick to begin proceedings by pulling some cunning reverse psychology on us:
Of course, it’s not long before Death himself says “Hi There!” to Charlie (I don’t recall the concept of the grim reaper ever playing a big part in Xtian mythos, but whatever), and he finds himself sweating down in Hell, being lorded over by some self-righteous, pain-in-the-ass angel (Lucifer, I suppose).
And it is here of course that Jack Chick’s terrifyingly totalitarian worldview begins to assert itself. I mean, it’s not like Jesus is a being a jerk or anything, as he sits enthroned at the end of days passing down judgement. He’s your best buddy, after all. He doesn’t want to sentence you to an eternity of fiery torment for the unpardonable sin of saying something dumb on 27th September 1972 and not realizing that you should go to church every week, but THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS, you dig? Rules is rules, and you can’t expect old Jesus to stick his neck out and, ooh, I dunno, forgive you, after you’ve gone and wasted your time on earth mouthing off in your lunchbreak like a big doofus.
Imagine living in that world, everyday, with the cosmic secret police on your back. You’d probably end up staggering ‘round the streets scattering cheaply printed end-times comics too.
1 comment:
The cover art -is- compelling, isn't it? . . . I also have taken notice on this kind of Christian pamphleteering.
I happen to be a believer, but I remember back when I wasn't. Sometimes the arguments in these things does get preachy, but why not -- it is trying to convince you to convert.
What the Angel is saying is about the best the writers can do -- if you believe in Jesus Christ, it makes perfect sense, and if you don't, they hope you will somehow be affected enough to actually think about it a little.
What does it lay the groundwork for? Your argument about how Jesus could just forgive sinners is close to saying he just doesn't care. The response would be 'but he does care, after all, this Jesus -died- for you'. And in its own internal consistency, it makes sense.
For my part, I have decided to seriously question whether or not God is really "all powerful". Things make a lot more sense if God has His limits. If God has to make do with what He has, then it makes sense for Him to separate the really bad sinners (who always cause a lot of trouble) from the faithful (who do what they're supposed to do). The fact is, God probably wants to be loved, like I do (and maybe you), and He is not to be faulted for setting up a system that keeps around people who like him, and gets rid of those who don't.
So if He doesn't have unlimited resources, I could see why it would be hard for Jesus to 'just forgive' people who have really rejected him.
(I still will have to wait and see, if God really does condemn some people to be tortured eternally. )
No, I don't -think- one gets damned eternally for missing a Sunday of church, but I also just don't -know-.
Back with the cover art, it's fascinating to see the salesmanship that is meant to grab your attention and get you interested. Remember, they aren't going to get rich from you buying the thing, what they're after is your conversion.
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