| Chick flick |
 Tonight, based on a recommendation, I watched a documentary about Jack Chick -- infamous evangelical author/cartooner of over a BILLION distributed tracts (!).
I'm very well acquainted with Chick tracts -- as is almost everyone who has a similar background to mine. I can vividly remember sitting indian-style at the base of a display case of the tracts (being barely able to read), and working my way through them. There's certain hallmarks and images of the tracts that stay with you. For me it was Judgement Day's viewing of your life on a big cosmic theatre screen, with the next panel in the tract of an angel tossing the wicked sinner into the lake of fire.
Watching this documentary, I was just fascinated by the theological worldview these cartoons represent. I'd recommend the film to everyone, both believer and heathen alike. The people behind the film had the permission of Chick Publications, and I think the filmmakers did a fair, evenly-balanced examination of the phenomenon behind these little tracts.
At one point, a scholar in the field of comics (?) stated about Jack Chick, the man behind the tracts: "We take you seriously, while we don't take what you say seriously." I think that statement provides a pretty interesting summary of what this film's about.
While the theology represented in these tracts is abhorrent on all sorts of levels, I find myself respecting Chick's outspoken, while comic, hatred. He represents the theological views of millions, and he's not afraid to speak out about it, even if it means having to offend someone. So many times when I've talked with people who share similar theology as Chick, as soon as hell or some other uncomfortable doctrine comes up, that's when the evading or eumphemising or changing of the topic begins. Not so with Chick. He's willing to be consistent and vocal about all the implications of his theology (as wacky and hateful as they may seem to someone on the outside).
One of the tracks they talked about in the film provides a good example of what I'm talking about above. It's one of Chick's most controversial tracks, in fact it's no longer in circulation (though thanks to the power of the Internets, you can find several copies of it online, or even a video version on YouTube). The tract is called "Lisa," and it's the story of a deadbeat father who drinks, watches pornography, and sexually abuses his daughter. She eventually goes to a doctor and is diagnosed with herpes. The doctor confronts the dad about the abuse, and eventually shares the gospel with him, and then VOILA! The dad is saved and goes back home and everything is A-OK.
I'm sure anyone would find it repellent that a child predator like this could do something so horrible and then get away with it. And, yeah, it's an extreme example -- but does this awful comic expose something equally awful about Christian theology?
If there is a God, and if there really will be some kind of final judgement (whether it's a literal Book of Life name look-up, or something more vaguely metaphorical), would a predator like Lisa's father be more welcome into the heavenly kingdom than a nonbeliever like me?
It's the old question of "if Hitler accepted Jesus before he shot himself, would he go to heaven?" I can remember asking these kinds of questions when I was growing up in the church, and I can also remember the (non)answers of "God is just" or "God will do what's right" -- neither of which actually answer the question. But you know, maybe it's better to evade the actual answer, especially if, doctrinally-speaking, the answer would have to be "yes, if Hitler authentically accepted the 'gift' of eternal salvation, he will be in heaven."
I guess this is another reason why I don't see myself ever returning to the Christian tradition. I don't think it's enough to just possess the right beliefs -- for me it's more about having the right actions that illustrate the right beliefs you hold.
Now I understand that many believers will come back at me to say that when you have the right beliefs you will exhibit the right actions, and sure, that's fair enough -- but when it really comes down to the basic matters of salvation, I was taught (and I think most Protestants believe) that it ultimately comes down to your faith, and not your actions (or "works") that will give you eternal salvation or damnation.
As part of our library for the Freethinkers group I'm a part of, we've got a fairly good collection of Chick tracts that a friend of mine collected while she was a truck driver. Maybe I'll dust off a couple of them tonight, and reminisce about the old days.
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