My "Jack Chick Tract" initiation: 9/26/2012

It arrived unexpectedly. Unsolicited. In the mail. In a privacy envelope with no return address, with a first class stamp. Addressed in fancy girly-script to "Our Neighbors."

This made me suspicious.
Now, the first I did was try to see through the paper of the envelope. No luck.
Next, I examined the postmarks. Then, I thought about who it could be from....
"my neighbors".

Okay, the guy to the west of me despises us (used to be our friend, until his foul-mouthed, child-abusing shrew of a sister moved in, and now he's our "enemy", thanks to us asking her to watch her mouth, and calling the police numerous times)...
so...could be an Anthrax attack. Not a "sorry" note, I was pretty sure of that.
And, they know our names, so there would be no reason for "Our Neighbors".

Other side of us, is a church. Okay, I thought, maybe it's from them.

Or a person wanting to have a block party.

Or complain about my yard not being perfect.

Still, I was in an ATS kind of mood, and didn't open it until my husband got home. Just In Case it would upset me.

Inside was a mini-comic book entitled "SOMEBODY ANGRY?" With a tornado drawn on the cover. Then it went on to blame Ike and Katrina and tornadoes on God's wrath. I read it aloud to my husband, and showed him the pictures, just as I would to a preschooler with a picture book. We both cracked up. At the end, I looked at the back, and yes, it came from A church, but not the next door church. One in the next town over across the river in the next state!

"Chick Publications", it said.
And I thought, "OOoooohhh!! THIS is what they mean on ATS by "Chick Tracts".

Thanks to FlyersFan for introducing me to the phrase. Now I see what you were talking about...

Now. Ahem.....

SERIOUSLY??!! WHO FALLS FOR THIS STUFF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, guys and gals, but this is arguably the most ridiculous, insulting propaganda piece of junk mail I have ever received. Does anyone actually BELIEVE this stuff?? Still???

If you do,.... please, explain to me why. How can you, as a literate person capable of being on the internet and on this site, possibly buy into this racist nonsense? I don't mean to disparage, but. Wow. If I think of the lack of education required to see this as an important piece of information I am appalled. But, I guess there are people who think enough of it to send it out to strangers.


Really?
It's not a joke?

This one dealt with accepting Jesus and something about the Israelis and it was quite inflammatory and negative.
What's is supposed to mean??

The Israelis are great, and that's where Jesus will sit when he arrives? Or they're bad? I don't want to read it again. I want someone to tell me how they see it. Then I'll go back and read it again.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

It is my opinion that Chick Tracts operate under archaic scare tactics in order to evangelize the masses. Personally, I think that although fear is a great motivator, it does not reflect the true nature of the Christian God that the authors claim to represent.

That being said, in terms of the hurricanes being a result of God's wrath- I honestly think our God is a God of mercy and of Love, so I would disagree with Chick on that point. Do I think it is a possibility? Yes, but not likely because I think it goes against the nature of God. Scripture states in Matthew 4:41 that the people feared saying about Jesus, "What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?" But Jesus was calming the wind and sea- another example of love and mercy.

Originally posted by wildtimes
This one dealt with accepting Jesus and something about the Israelis and it was quite inflammatory and negative.
What's is supposed to mean??

The Israelis are great, and that's where Jesus will sit when he arrives? Or they're bad? I don't want to read it again. I want someone to tell me how they see it. Then I'll go back and read it again.

Chick paints Jews and Catholics with the broad brush of Satanic heretics. Once again, scare tactics. We cannot condemn people just because of a label attached to them. Scripture asks who can know the soul of a man. No one except God Himself.

reply to post by TheGreatDivider


I don't accept that hurricanes are God's punishment or warning system.

I don't accept that nowadays people continue to attribute floods, famines, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, or any other UNDERSTOOD phenomenon of this living PLANET on which we reside as some sort of God-language.

This thing (yes, now I've opened it) even goes

"back to 1991 [when George Bush, Senior] launched his land-for-peace plan by giving away Israeli land. That day...[insert scary picture of a storm] God sent The Perfect Storm with 100 ft. saves to New England, damaging even President Bush's home. "

What? Then next,

"In August 2005, the U.S. pressured Israel into evacuating Gaza. ...and Pres G Bush applauded the dividing of God's land. Was God pleased?.....next day, Katrina pounded the U.S....When we mess with God's Holy Land, we pay the price. The nations are insane! God's words warn us not to divide His land. [Insert picture of bespectacled Arab saying "Israel has too much land" to Bush] But in their "push for peace," politicans are declaring war on the same God that demolished Ancient Egypt."

Then, hurricane Andrew the day after talks resume in Israel for land/peace in 1992, flooding in 1993, 9/11, and

'in 2005 alone', "messing with Israel cost the US over $56 billion in tornadoes, hurricanes, flood and draught. DOES ANYBODY NOTICE A PATTERN?

Um, yeah, a pattern that you are randomly connecting things that have nothing to do with one another, like a dog thinks Master picking up his car keys CAUSES Master to leave.

That God is dishing out lightning bolts, rain, and MONETARY DAMAGE?

And people are supposed to believe this? I'm sorry. Hardly. *shakes head with a sigh*

reply to post by micmerci

Chick paints Jews and Catholics with the broad brush of Satanic heretics. Once again, scare tactics.

Clearly they are scare tactics...
but...
it seems the comic is SUPPORTIVE of Israel, and negative about Palestine (non-Jews) having part of the territory.

How does that work?

Honestly, I don't get it. Yeah, I get the part of "accept Jesus", but what's with all the "land-for-peace" and "US meddling" in discussions have to do with it??

They hate the Jews AND the Catholics? What about the Muslims?

Jack Chick cracks me up -- he's pretty much angry about everything, apart from his own narrow view of reality.

Didn't tell your kids that Santa Claus is not real? Well, don't be surprised when he kills some kid that does, and winds up ahead of Osama Bin Laden on the FBI's "Most Wanted List".

As a young geek, though, I wasn't happy with his insinuation that playing Dungeons and Dragons would lead to satanism. Though someone made a crappy movie about the same premise, forever cementing Tom Hanks as a big jerk in my mind.

There is something oddly endearing about his cartoon style, though, and I suppose there's a good message buried in amongst the hate some place. Lots of other places to find that message, though, without dredging through the rage.

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by micmerci

 

Chick paints Jews and Catholics with the broad brush of Satanic heretics. Once again, scare tactics.

They hate the Jews AND the Catholics? What about the Muslims?

Oh, don't even get him started on the Muslims!!

reply to post by adjensen


It was amusing, you're right...for people who are educated and OLDER THAN 5!!

Do you suppose they are hoping some child in the household gets hold of it? I just came back here (from the Perfect Day outside -- I must be on God's good side today )....to add in those two points and saw your reply. ...

I mean, there are school-children old enough to read it and enjoy the format, and then GET SCARED....
but I see that somehow as the most subversive sort of undermining ploy....

my mom as a kid was devoutly religious, unlike her family. She says she was just "naturally drawn to it" (has now grown past that draw)....

I can imagine an exceptionally impressionable and/or uneducated adult taking it seriously.... and possibly wanting to check out
-------------waitforit--
SOLID ROCK BAPTIST CHURCH (sorry, had to reach for the thing and turn it over)..

But imagine if a Santa-believer read it!! Wow. Or any Muslim, Jew, or Catholic? It's really sinister, I think. (the word meaning "left", which now means "evil", which itself comes from witchery and demonic belief and the left-hand-of-God being the naughty corner, etc....)......

But, yeah. This is NOT A GOOD THING.
How the hell did I get on a mailing list????? I don't belong to any church at all.

Originally posted by wildtimes
Do you suppose they are hoping some child in the household gets hold of it?

I have no idea what they're hoping for. Some people see it as a way to evangelize, or to be passive aggressive toward others. But I suspect that, like most political and religious tracts, they do little to convince anyone who already doesn't agree with the content.

How the hell did I get on a mailing list?????

You got me. In the 70s, I used to go to the public library and poke through the books in the "occult" section to find mine -- there was usually at least one stuffed into every book.

reply to post by micmerci

Oh, don't even get him started on the Muslims!!

Yeah, they only got a glancing blow on....*flips through pages*

....................................

wow, turned right to it !! Page 18...
Charlie is being told by plaid-shirt-angry-man, "Charlie, Jerusalem is God's Holy Cty. Everybody wants it: the Muslims, the popes and the United Nations. Jerusalem will be their undoing. Listen to God's warning:".....(followed by some scripture....Zech 12:3.........
and then

God will unleash His fury against all nations and nothing will ever be the same. Billions will die.

Hmmm. I see what you mean about the Catholics, though. But now, ALL OF THE UNITED NATIONS?

This appears to be an American chap-book. I guess they're warning of the End, huh...better get your tie on straight and invite Christ in, because we're all going to die. I see.

Unfortunately, I see.

reply to post by adjensen

But I suspect that, like most political and religious tracts, they do little to convince anyone who already doesn't agree with the content.

Heavens, I hope you're right. I know plenty of gullible people who might be tempted by this...immigrants with little education, or already Catholic....when I was a case worker I had Immigrant families show me junk mail from time to time with much concern and gravity. And we know that schoolkids like comics, and many have no religious training...

and you can imagine how that goes...they wind up in Mustard Seed, or Youth for Yahweh or something....or Jesus Camp!!!!! It just isn't okay. It's such awful, transparent manipulation. But, cheaper than tv ads, I guess.

There ARE people vulnerable, though we have to hope they have the sense to ask someone who is NOT at the advertised church.

Huh. The more I find out.....wow....the more I know I don't know. And I think I know a fair amount of stuff....

Anyway. Back to the patio. I'll check in later.

Or, perhaps that's the idea: to confuse people? So they have questions. Then they go to the church to ask those questions....
Maybe?

I see.

I think. I mean, I see the agenda. Not that I see the success of the message.

Originally posted by wildtimes
It arrived unexpectedly. Unsolicited. In the mail. In a privacy envelope with no return address, with a first class stamp. Addressed in fancy girly-script to "Our Neighbors."

This made me suspicious.
Now, the first I did was try to see through the paper of the envelope. No luck.
Next, I examined the postmarks. Then, I thought about who it could be from....
"my neighbors".

Okay, the guy to the west of me despises us (used to be our friend, until his foul-mouthed, child-abusing shrew of a sister moved in, and now he's our "enemy", thanks to us asking her to watch her mouth, and calling the police numerous times)...
so...could be an Anthrax attack. Not a "sorry" note, I was pretty sure of that.
And, they know our names, so there would be no reason for "Our Neighbors".

Other side of us, is a church. Okay, I thought, maybe it's from them.

Or a person wanting to have a block party.

Or complain about my yard not being perfect.

Still, I was in an ATS kind of mood, and didn't open it until my husband got home. Just In Case it would upset me.

Inside was a mini-comic book entitled "SOMEBODY ANGRY?" With a tornado drawn on the cover. Then it went on to blame Ike and Katrina and tornadoes on God's wrath. I read it aloud to my husband, and showed him the pictures, just as I would to a preschooler with a picture book. We both cracked up. At the end, I looked at the back, and yes, it came from A church, but not the next door church. One in the next town over across the river in the next state!

"Chick Publications", it said.
And I thought, "OOoooohhh!! THIS is what they mean on ATS by "Chick Tracts".

Thanks to FlyersFan for introducing me to the phrase. Now I see what you were talking about...

Now. Ahem.....

SERIOUSLY??!! WHO FALLS FOR THIS STUFF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, guys and gals, but this is arguably the most ridiculous, insulting propaganda piece of junk mail I have ever received. Does anyone actually BELIEVE this stuff?? Still???

If you do,.... please, explain to me why. How can you, as a literate person capable of being on the internet and on this site, possibly buy into this racist nonsense? I don't mean to disparage, but. Wow. If I think of the lack of education required to see this as an important piece of information I am appalled. But, I guess there are people who think enough of it to send it out to strangers.

Really?
It's not a joke?

edit on 27-9-2012 by wildtimes because: sorry. just to spice it up a bit.

I have never seen a Jack Chick pamphlet before. Is it racist? I went to look it up and see pictures of kids that are not white. You do realize that racism means against a particular ethnicity, don't you?

I see also on the website there is a tab for Spanish. So that doesn't seem to be racist to me. I think you should find a new word instead of racist, because by your definition, you are being racist against Christians, wouldn't you think?

Jack Chick

Oh my, they have a book about a hero named Alberto. That doesn't seem racist to me.
So they might be against other religions, that does not make them racist. What you have done is race-bait, you made a charge against them calling them racist. Choose a different word, because this one does not apply.

reply to post by wildtimes

What you have done is race-bait, you made a charge against them calling them racist. Choose a different word, because this one does not apply.

What? They are definitely condemning the Arabs (a race), and the Jews (a race). I don't know why you are trying to paint me as a race-baiter. I received the pamphlet, I read through it, and I found it offensive. Not my fault how they worded it and how it affected me. NO ONE in this pamphlet is Latino or Black.

?????????

It's "creedist" if anything. And definitely blaming several (all other) factions.

Originally posted by wildtimes
NO ONE in this pamphlet is Latino or Black.

Here you go, there are a bunch of them in the "Black Tract Series" (which comes off as kinda offensive in itself, but whatever -- Chick does put black people in his tracts, but maybe a bit segregated. )

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by wildtimes

 

What you have done is race-bait, you made a charge against them calling them racist. Choose a different word, because this one does not apply.

What? They are definitely condemning the Arabs (a race), and the Jews (a race). I don't know why you are trying to paint me as a race-baiter. I received the pamphlet, I read through it, and I found it offensive. Not my fault how they worded it and how it affected me. NO ONE in this pamphlet is Latino or Black.

?????????

It's "creedist" if anything. And definitely blaming several (all other) factions.

Well there are Arab Christians. And there are Jewish Christians. And there are Jewish Muslims. And there are White, Black and Brown Muslims.

I was only going with what the website shows because I have not seen you actually holding a pamphlet.
Are they Anti-Islam? That would not be racist because more than Arabs are Muslim.

OK, creedist we can accept. Creed does not imply race, but an ideology. I hope you understand now what I meant. A lot of people will read the OP and think, oh my, they are racist, without actually having seen the tracts. I did at first, that is why I went to look them up.

OK, so it's offensive. I am not disagreeing with that. I was disagreeing with the statement it was racist, when clearly it does reach out to other ethnicities. Religions, well, that's another story.

Chick Tracts do appeal to my warped sense of humor- but on further reflection- they upset me. Not out of conviction that I need to follow Chick's version of Christianity- but that it bears little resemblance to the Christianity I follow. If the only thing a non-Christian ever hears about Christianity is a Chick Tract, one couldn't fault someone for never becoming a believer.

When I was in the third grade, I used to go to Children's Church at the Assemblies of God my family attended. I never brought a bible with me because we never used them. However, the fact that I didn't bring it and tote it around was an issue for the teacher (who was the preacher's wife). She gave me a bible the next Sunday, despite the fact that I told her I already owned two (and had many more at my disposal around the house if it took my fancy).

Anyway, one Sunday afternoon, she finished the lesson, but church was still going on due to a business meeting. She asked us if there were any games we wanted to play. I immediately piped up and suggested Dungeons and Dragons. Now, there used to be a Dungeons and Dragons cartoon that was popular back then, and my sister and I watched it along with practically every other cartoon. Our version of 'playing' Dungeons and Dragons consisted of fighting over who got to pretend to be the girl with the invisibility cloak for half an hour. We didn't play the actual game.

You can imagine her horrified response. She also told me she was going to tell my mother and I was put on the prayer list at church. My mom started paying attention to the cartoons we were watching and banned that one, as well as G.I. Joe (which I managed to sneak and watch anyway). The next Sunday I was handed a Chick Tract, and for the life of me, I didn't understand what it had to do with me at all. I believed in God and I liked to watch cartoons. I wasn't a witch. I was fairly indignant.

Here's the one I got: www.chick.com...

As I got older, certain pastors would have an array of Chick Tracts set out on tables for people to distribute. I remember certain elements of the youth group (me and a few others) would read them for the entertainment value and go on about how stupid they were.

Originally posted by LeSigh
Here's the one I got: www.chick.com...

As I got older, certain pastors would have an array of Chick Tracts set out on tables for people to distribute. I remember certain elements of the youth group (me and a few others) would read them for the entertainment value and go on about how stupid they were.

You should have pointed out to her that, as an eighth level Cleric, "Debbie" would already know Raise Dead and could have resurrected the dork that was freaking out in the second panel.