Jack Chick -- a vent

[Della]

We better not jinx it though, perhaps we should just call for a cure for Jack’s insanity and get him to actually see what’s wrong with himself so he can fix it.

Jinx it? LOL! I don’t think that’s possible, either theologically or realistically, do you?

What I’m trying to say is it’s no thanks to Mr. Chick if God can do some good through his comics. Indeed, it’s ironic that people are so shaken by his nasty attacks on the Church that it impels them to return to the Church. Certainly not what he intended, but definitely what God intended. Jesus said:

Matt.18:7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!

Mr. Chick wishes to draw people out of the Catholic Church or keep them from considering it. That it can backfire on him puts one in mind of Judas’ betrayal, but he wasn’t rewarded for it, and neither will Mr. Chick:

Matt.26:24 The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

I don’t mean to be overly heavy here, merely to put things into perspective. I definitely agree we need to pray for this man before he has to stand before God to give answer for the things he has written about Christ’s own Church.

 

[Little_Katie]

My first introduction to Jack Chick took place about a year ago in the form of a comic where Jack Chick tried to convince young people that playing Dungeons and Dragons would slowly brain wash you into a cult member, witch, and or satanist. At the end of the comic the main girl ended up burning her DnD books. I laughed my head off at the comic. It was incredibly ridiculous. My husband and play DnD and similar games and it’s just as harmless as The Chronicles of Narnia. It’s just a fantasy game.

I was able to laugh at the DnD comic.

But after I read that one, I did a google search on him and found all his hate comics (not only against us Catholics but against pretty much EVERY denomination of Christianity apart from his own). I was so disgusted. I think I was most surprised to find out that there are seriously people out there who think those kind of things about The Church.

Since then I have experienced at least once or twice attempts by protestant friends to ‘rescue’ me from the evil brainwashing clutches of Rome. Yeash…

It’s rather pathetic.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

My first introduction to Jack Chick took place about a year ago in the form of a comic where Jack Chick tried to convince young people that playing Dungeons and Dragons would slowly brain wash you into a cult member, witch, and or satanist. At the end of the comic the main girl ended up burning her DnD books. I laughed my head off at the comic. It was incredibly ridiculous. My husband and play DnD and similar games and it’s just as harmless as The Chronicles of Narnia. It’s just a fantasy game.

I was able to laugh at the DnD comic.

You know that’s another thing that annoys me about him. He and his cohorts come up with the most ludicrous things against harmless fantasy fiction. I mean I’ve played every single online fantasy game that’s come into my country’s market to date. Not only that, each time I play I always play the magician-type character (Mage, Wizard, Summoner, Elementalist etc.) during my first time (I just really have this thing for high damage spells you see ). Still despite my already seven years of playing as such, I have never been drawn into joining something as bizarre as a witch’s coven. In fact, I thought such a ridiculous thing was reserved for the goth sub-culture, not us gamer otaku.

 

[Chancellor]

Lost Wanderer

I love The Lord of the Rings. Do you think I’m going to go to hell?
It was written by a Catholic so now I’m really scared. (or not)

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Lost Wanderer

I love The Lord of the Rings. Do you think I’m going to go to hell?
It was written by a Catholic so now I’m really scared. (or not)

You know what, now that I think about it. Probably every Jack Chick acolyte’s worst nightmare is a Catholic WoW gamer (or other games that have been inspired by Tolkien). XD

 

[strngrnrth]

You know that’s another thing that annoys me about him. He and his cohorts come up with the most ludicrous things against harmless fantasy fiction. I mean I’ve played every single online fantasy game that’s come into my country’s market to date. Not only that, each time I play I always play the magician-type character (Mage, Wizard, Summoner, Elementalist etc.) during my first time (I just really have this thing for high damage spells you see ). Still despite my already seven years of playing as such, I have never been drawn into joining something as bizarre as a witch’s coven. In fact, I thought such a ridiculous thing was reserved for the goth sub-culture, not us gamer otaku.

Actualy when I was into witchcraft (and was a goth) a disproportionate number of my crowd gamed, but not a majority of gamers and we didn’t really have a big organized system of covens people were secretly initiated into. And the games were obviously totally unlike witchcraft. If anything gaming was a release of the kind of tension the way of life caused, a chance to unwind in a more innocent world, where friends stuck together.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

If anything gaming was a release of the kind of tension the way of life caused, a chance to unwind in a more innocent world, where friends stuck together.

And have exciting adventures together plus the glory of victory!

You know if you actually look past the fantasy elements and themes, online games are becoming more of a virtual sport than anything else. You’ve got tournaments with high prizes, numerous teams, leaders strategizing the best offense or defense. People like Jack Chick (as well as Bill Schnoebelen, another anti-RPG idiot) are more likely to see gamers discuss the best ways to bring down a rival guild’s tactics than the absurdities found in pagan, occultic, and wiccan religions (nature spiritism, seance, tarot card etc).

 

[Chancellor]

You know what, now that I think about it. Probably every Jack Chick acolyte’s worst nightmare is a Catholic WoW gamer (or other games that have been inspired by Tolkien). XD

You’re on to something here. At least we know where to hide when the Chick-lets come with torches and pitchforks.

 

[strngrnrth]

You’re on to something here. At least we know where to hide when the Chick-lets come with torches and pitchforks.

Doesn’t it seem that the type of fearmongering Chick-and-friends do has a lot to do with fear of being overwhelmed? What are they most afraid of? The complex; the ancient; the intricate; the lovely; the stimulating; the unexplained; the mysterious; the subtle; the rare; the social; the adventurous; the loud. It seems as if they are part of a culture that can’t or won’t teach the young how to handle such things, as if they are easily confused and beguiled and deep down they know it and live in terror of being tricked. It could just be a self-fulfilling prophecy – a child grows up in deepening suspicion and fear of everything intense or complex or whatever. He develops no capacity to handle such stimulation and make sense of things. He knows he must resist anything that could be used to confuse him, yet his fearfulness itself and the isolation it causes are what con men use against him and he has made it easy, because he has no defenses against fear itself. He then passes on the paranoid tall tales to others and the whole culture becomes more fearful, then more isolated, then more open to fearmongering, then more fearful, in a vicious circle.
So Tolkien would fit right in with all that such people are so suspicious of – an author who details beauty and adventure, and companionship as well. I wonder what Tolkien character the paranoia peddlers are like. I’m thinking possibly Gollum, with his isolation.

 

[Chancellor]

Doesn’t it seem that the type of fearmongering Chick-and-friends do has a lot to do with fear of being overwhelmed? What are they most afraid of? The complex; the ancient; the intricate; the lovely; the stimulating; the unexplained; the mysterious; the subtle; the rare; the social; the adventurous; the loud. It seems as if they are part of a culture that can’t or won’t teach the young how to handle such things, as if they are easily confused and beguiled and deep down they know it and live in terror of being tricked. It could just be a self-fulfilling prophecy – a child grows up in deepening suspicion and fear of everything intense or complex or whatever. He develops no capacity to handle such stimulation and make sense of things. He knows he must resist anything that could be used to confuse him, yet his fearfulness itself and the isolation it causes are what con men use against him and he has made it easy, because he has no defenses against fear itself. He then passes on the paranoid tall tales to others and the whole culture becomes more fearful, then more isolated, then more open to fearmongering, then more fearful, in a vicious circle.
So Tolkien would fit right in with all that such people are so suspicious of – an author who details beauty and adventure, and companionship as well. I wonder what Tolkien character the paranoia peddlers are like. I’m thinking possibly Gollum, with his isolation.

A most wondrous post. I accept all of it and for good measure toss in a few tidbits. In terms of Tolkein characters, Gollum is such a good character not because he is totally paranoid, but because his hobbitish side still shows through and fights, mostly but not totally unsuccessfully against the evil that is devouring him. If you were God, would you condemn Gollum to Hell? I don’t think most people would, although cleaning him up might take time. Did Gollum redeem himself at Mt. Doom? Well, he was certainly used by God to serve the cause. Part of the mastery of Tolkein is that it is never totally answered. And who among us, beyond a certain age and after a series of decades plodding toward our own fate has not discovered a little bit of Gollum in our own personality. It is a profound Catholic question to ask, “If I am Gollum, am I beyond hope?”

 The psychopathic paranoid in Tolkein is Sauron of Mordor. There is nothing left of human sentiment. Everything has been reduced to power and death. Every fuzzy little creature is either in his service or a threat to his existence. Satanic.

 I experience some apocalypse-obsessed "Christians" as lacking human warmth, forgiveness, charity, humility, social concern etc., the things I consider central in the Christian life, but I also try to see the glimmer of hope. The Gollum, not the Sauron.

Is that Irish at the bottom of your signature line?

The Chancellor

 

[strngrnrth]

A most wondrous post. I accept all of it and for good measure toss in a few tidbits. In terms of Tolkein characters, Gollum is such a good character not because he is totally paranoid, but because his hobbitish side still shows through and fights, mostly but not totally unsuccessfully against the evil that is devouring him. If you were God, would you condemn Gollum to Hell? I don’t think most people would, although cleaning him up might take time. Did Gollum redeem himself at Mt. Doom? Well, he was certainly used by God to serve the cause. Part of the mastery of Tolkein is that it is never totally answered. And who among us, beyond a certain age and after a series of decades plodding toward our own fate has not discovered a little bit of Gollum in our own personality. It is a profound Catholic question to ask, “If I am Gollum, am I beyond hope?”
The psychopathic paranoid in Tolkein is Sauron of Mordor. There is nothing left of human sentiment. Everything has been reduced to power and death. Every fuzzy little creature is either in his service or a threat to his existence. Satanic.

 I experience some apocalypse-obsessed "Christians" as lacking human warmth, forgiveness, charity, humility, social concern etc., the things I consider central in the Christian life, but I also try to see the glimmer of hope. The Gollum, not the Sauron.

Is that Irish at the bottom of your signature line?

The Chancellor

Insightful post.
I think some paranoia-driven Christians are Gollums and some are Saurons – not really Christian but using the religious cover as a cloak to control people.
Gollum sounds like golem – a revenant I believe, maybe a zombie, someone controlled and empty, perhaps not even alive inside, and that could be what Tolkien meant with him.
Sauron is the lizard, the reptile – the serpent in the garden? A deceiver who uses the illusion of power just out of reach to lure people to their doom.

Yes, it is, it’s the our Father.

 

[Chancellor]

Insightful post.
I think some paranoia-driven Christians are Gollums and some are Saurons – not really Christian but using the religious cover as a cloak to control people.
Gollum sounds like golem – a revenant I believe, maybe a zombie, someone controlled and empty, perhaps not even alive inside, and that could be what Tolkien meant with him.
Sauron is the lizard, the reptile – the serpent in the garden? A deceiver who uses the illusion of power just out of reach to lure people to their doom.

I agree on the Christian part. Jesus told us in the parable of the sower and the seeds that some were weeds. I wonder about some of the paranoids and fundies but at the end of the day I have to admit that I probably don’t know who is God’s and who is not.

On the Gollum thing, here is what I am thinking. The Nazgul and the Orcs are clearly revenants. It says so about the kings in the book and I forget whether Tolkien describes the Orcs as most likely Hobbits who were totally lost in the trilogy, but if not I know he does somewhere. Others, like Theoden, are possessed. I am leaning toward seeing Gollum as possessed because of the conversations he has with himself that suggest that the Hobbit personality is not totally gone. Either way, I agree that there is not much left alive.

Finally, I applaud your thought about the satanic aspect of Sauron, the deceiver, the liar and the tempter. The illusion of power is very seductive.

Again, thanks for a very interesting post.

The Chancellor

 

[YADA]

We have received Jack Chick tracts in various venues over the years but today takes the cake …

My husband bought two pais of dockers shorts at a local COSTCO today … in the pocket of one we found a Jack Chick track … made us fuming mad …

It looks like they have taken on the job of spreading misinformation via stuffing pamphlets into clothes on the sale racks of stores …

Perhaps that means that they ‘face to face’ hand off is not going well so they need to resort to this less than courageous method

 

[mercygate]

We have received Jack Chick tracts in various venues over the years but today takes the cake …

My husband bought two pais of dockers shorts at a local COSTCO today … in the pocket of one we found a Jack Chick track … made us fuming mad …

It looks like they have taken on the job of spreading misinformation via stuffing pamphlets into clothes on the sale racks of stores …

Perhaps that means that they ‘face to face’ hand off is not going well so they need to resort to this less than courageous method

Not necessarily. Their web page specifically mentions leaving the tracts where they will be “discovered.”

 

[justinthemartyr]

I received an email from ‘catholic answers project,’ from Jimmy Akin today. It was relating to Jack Chick, and his proganda against the Church. Have any of you read Chick’s materials? I glossed over his comics briefly (after doing a quick google search on his name)…oh my gosh, I thought I was going to be ill.

For those of you not familiar–he claims that we Catholics worship a ‘cookie,’ and popes…and that we believe we will earn salvation, through good works. That priests ‘do magic’ over ‘a cookie’ and everyone ‘just believes that it’s Jesus.’ The most shocking thing he wrote was that Catholics believe that the pope and priests are ‘mini Jesuses.’ I can’t believe that someone who tells such lies about our faith, is a best selling author. I mean, it’s not even closely resembing anything that is true about the Church. It’s like he knows NOTHING about the Church:banghead: , and just runs with whatever he thinks is happening or something. I can almost see if he left the Church, and is sharing his story…but not just boldfaced…MADE UP lies.

All in the name of making a buck, I would imagine.

I just wanted to vent. Anyone else get that email today?

Just the name should tell you that this guy is cuckoo.

 

[Chancellor]

justinthemartyr

Welcome to the “cookie worship” thread. Some of us think that 'ol Jack is crazy and some of us think its about greed and some of us think that Jack might be a Jesuit double agent whose mission is to make evangelicals look like dangerous bigots.

my only request is that if you use the initials “J.C.” on this thread, please let us know who you are talking about.

I met Jack in the 1970s. He believes what he publishes.

The Chancellor

 

[mercygate]

justinthemartyr

Welcome to the “cookie worship” thread. Some of us think that 'ol Jack is crazy and some of us think its about greed and some of us think that Jack might be a Jesuit double agent whose mission is to make evangelicals look like dangerous bigots.

my only request is that if you use the initials “J.C.” on this thread, please let us know who you are talking about.

I met Jack in the 1970s. He believes what he publishes.

The Chancellor

I have never doubted that he is utterly sincere.

 

[Chancellor]

I have never doubted that he is utterly sincere.

That’s the scary part. I like to joke about Jack but what he represents is very dangerous.

 

[Believe_85]

We have received Jack Chick tracts in various venues over the years but today takes the cake …

My husband bought two pais of dockers shorts at a local COSTCO today … in the pocket of one we found a Jack Chick track … made us fuming mad …

It looks like they have taken on the job of spreading misinformation via stuffing pamphlets into clothes on the sale racks of stores …

Perhaps that means that they ‘face to face’ hand off is not going well so they need to resort to this less than courageous method

really, in Oregon? i live in OR and had never heard of chick until I read about him here

 

[Zlatan]

hahah

Jack T Chik is the greatest idiot of all time.
According to him the catholic chruch started islam. Mohammed’s 1st wife was supposedly a papal agent used by the pope to recruit Mohammad so the papcy could regain the holy land. hahah what nonsense! The jesuits are also suposedly behind ww1,ww2, the lincoln and kenedy assasinations, the holocaust, the inquisition, communism, fascism and everything else bad that happens. he makes all these comments but he is yet to offer 1 shred of evidence for these claims other than obscure book refrences