Written: October 07, 1999
Jack Chick's little comics are among the more popular forms of evangelization and message promotion for very far-right Christians. Chick's company itself claims that there are literally hundreds of millions of their comics in circulation in dozens of languages around the world. One sign of their popularity is the existence of a small underground industry of spoof comics. All make use of the Chick artwork and add new dialogue, some even directly attacking the evangelical theology of the tracts themselves.
What are these tracts like? About four inches long and two inches high, they are comics featuring usually two panels per page and are 24 pages long. Each story is a little different, although all are written with the single goal of converting the reader to the most literal, conservative and fundamentalist brand of Christianity possible. The last page (if not more) is always devoted to explicitly telling the reader that they have to either convert in order to go to heaven or they will burn forever in hell.
Most readers have probably stumbled across a couple from time to time, but I've obtained what I believe to be a complete collection of all available comics in English. I've sorted through them all and have developed what I think is a reasonable overview of the Chickean worldview, theology and attitude. What we find in the pages of Chick's comics is not very unusual among fundamentalist, evangelical Christians - he's not promoting ideas or attitudes which would be regarded as unacceptable among conservative Christians. However, the comic format and unabashed honesty with which everything is expressed makes it all much clearer than is often the case.
Thus, exploring the nature of Chick's ideas also provides us with a clear window upon the fundamentalist, evangelical mind not otherwise available. We won't be able to cover everything because there is just too much material, but there are some broad issues which should be addressed. So, sit down and buckle up because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Jack Chick
Who is Jack Chick? Details are sketchy, but he does appear to be a real person, alive and well in California, creating tracts now for nearly forty years. His biography states that he wanted to be a comic artist when he was younger, but unfortunately he ended up turning his meager talents to evangelization. He himself appears to have undergone a very intense conversion experience which would go a long way in explaining why he not only devotes so much energy into converting non-Christians but why he also seems to expect similar experiences in others.
It is rather ironic that soon after beginning to create comics, Chick learned that communist activists worked to convert the Chinese with similar little cartoon booklets. Ironic, because Chick evinces such a deep and abiding hatred of communism through his works.
Chick's World
The first thing to look at is the world Chick thinks we all inhabit - and it's not pretty sight. The word "paranoia" hardly suffices to describe the general attitude towards events around us. In Chick's mind, our natural realm is besieged by a supernatural realm, specifically one populated by demons and devils. They are all around us, struggling to capture our souls in the name of Satan. In what becomes a consistent theme throughout his work, Chick misuses biblical verses for his own sick purposes. He tries to make claims in "That Old Devil" about the nature of Satan using passages from Ezekiel 28, but unfortunately for Chick those passages are about the King of Tyre and not a fallen angel.
| Quote of the week: The ne plus ultra of wickedness is embodied in what is commonly presented to mankind as the creed of Christianity. John Stuart Mill |
It is also not uncommon to find Chick tracts where liberal theologians are really demons in disguise. It seems that all the Christians who disagree with Chick are not "really" Christians. Indeed, they usually aren't even innocently mistaken, but are instead deliberately deceiving people in order to win souls for Hell. The message in Chick tracts about demons is: be afraid. Be very afraid.
Halloween receives special treatment in Chick's paranoid attack on demons. In three different tracts we can read about how Halloween is used by Satan to lure young kids away from Christianity and into Satan's clutches. One tract in particular, "The Trick," informs are readers about how witches harm children and use festivities in order to populate Hell. Interestingly, the claims that Halloween was originally a Druid festival of child sacrifices is supported by a citation of a book by Chick publications. Is this because no independent, reputable confirmations could be found?
Fear of the World
But it isn't simply nasty demons that we have to be afraid of today. Chick's paranoia extends beyond the supernatural and right into the natural world of politics, culture and education. All around us there are forces conspiring to do us harm. Modern education, of course, only serves to lead children astray in particular because it includes the evil teachings of evolution. In "Big Daddy," Chick tries to argue against evolution but only manages to offer some of the worst creationist critiques. In other tracts, Chick tries to claim that all talk of God and Christianity has been outlawed in schools because evil has taken control and hates the Christian message.
Rock music, of course, is only a tool of the devil. In the book Angels? Satan is depicted as saying "My music pushes murder, drugs, free sex, suicide, to destroy country, home and education." All of it evidently comes from ancient, evil Druidic music. Satanic priests bless each master disc and ten demons are sent out with every copy to make sure that the music accomplishes its evil task.
Modern churches aren't perceived as being any better - they have evidently been "infiltrated by witches" and are spreading false teachings. Whether they are Catholic churches or liberal churches, they are all deceived by Satan. Only Chick-approved fundamentalist churches are any good, it seems. It should be kept in mind that Chick's complaints about modern, liberal churches are central to his theology. Indeed, his tract attacking them "Why No Revival?" appears to have been his very first.
Chick's paranoia about society is made particularly evident in his tract "The Last Generation." Here we see a theme which is often repeated in tract after tract, namely that Christians are persecuted and everyone laughs at the Christian message. If you try and talk about Christianity at work, you will be laughed at and risk losing your job. If you convert to Christianity, your family will laugh and perhaps disown you. Your friends, of course, will toss you aside. Clearly, the writers have no idea what being persecuting in America really means. All of this comes to a head, however, in "The Last Generation" which tells of the world united under one government and how the practice or even mention of Christianity has been outlawed. Naturally the Rapture occurs just before the heroes are to be killed by New Age police, signaling the beginning of the end for all who aren't Real Christians.
All of the above might seem rather fanciful, but it closely matches the sort of psychology I discussed in my earlier article on Conspiracy believers. There are massive forces, both natural and supernatural, which are moving in a coordinated fashion against the True Believers. Eventually, there will be a climactic battle and of course the True Believers will win.
Consequences and Conversions
It isn't surprising that Chick tracts have several examples of "self promotion" which feature Real Chick Christians converting other people to the Chick brand of Christianity. A couple of tracts depict very rich and powerful men who are unaware of Jesus (as incredible as that might sound) and who, near the end of their life, finally learn from a nice young Christian what they need to do to save their souls. Most of the conversion stories, however, are about very tough people, often criminals, who do all sorts of horrible things to nice people until they hear about Jesus for the very first time.
It seems amazing that there should be so many people who have heard absolutely nothing about Christianity. It should also be kept clear just what is being depicted: in all cases where non-Chick Christians are portrayed, they are shown to be foul, deceitful, dirty, addicted or just about anything else nasty. I don't think that I've read a single tract which had anything especially nice to say about non-Christians.
And what lies in store for non-Christians? Several tracts like the ever popular "This Was Your Life" depict first the sinful and evil life of a non-Christian, then their horrified surprise at finding themselves in hell. Sometimes, they were lead astray or tricked by a demon. Other times, they are depicted as mistakenly following liberal theology which teaches that being a good person actually accomplishes something. Typically, the unsaved sinner is shown as having been presented with Chickean theology and rejecting it as ridiculous or false.
Although there are several instances where it is made clear that even those who die without hearing of Chick's ideas spend eternity in hell, this is never actually depicted. I'd like to think that this is regarded as too gruesome, but that would be strange considering how often hell and torment are drawn with gruesome detail in Chick comics.
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