Is that one of those comic books the religious nuts hand out on Halloween?
this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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yes, they are called Chick Tracts
Well maybe if they didn't send their kid off dressed like a member of the Hitler youth they wouldn't have these issues...
Wait, this isn't just someone's fever dream?
Chick Publications has produced over 250 different titles, about 100 of which are still in print and available in over 100 languages.
Millions of these are getting printed every year.
Chick Tracts have successfully created a very real current of evangelical hostility vs. Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Muslims and other faiths, but especially against women, the poor, social liberalism, queerness, modernity, science, scepticism, atheism, freemasonry, and racial equality, but also rock music, D&D, the british, immigrants and (of course) Europe in general.
That's also true.
Those are unhinged! I like the Catholic/Jewish/communism conspiracy ones though.
The worst was "Lisa," where the father sexually abused his daughter, let's his friend rape her as well, gives her herpes, then blames it on a porn addiction and his wife being cold to him. Oh, and Jesus forgives him so there's no need to actually do anything with regards to his daughter.
My favorite are the satanic conspiracy ones. Like where there's literally a satan who is directing their devils and worshippers to lead people to commit sins.
My next favorite are the ones that are just telling people to believe in the christian god and to follow the christian moral code and that they will suffer eternally if they don't. These are occasionally moving.
The ones I dislike are the rest, which are mostly promoting bigotry against other religions or that have extremist views like you mention.
btw if you haven't seen it, check out the "Dark Dungeons" short film; it was made by some independent filmmakers who got Chick's permission to adapt one of the tracts. They play it (mostly) straight with just the right touches of satire, and it comes off beautifully:
(the video says "preview" but the full playlist is the full movie)
I just watched the first episode and I'm hooked. It's incredible. They so completely capture how RPGs make you so cool and popular.
Yeah when I played D&D in college it was just like that lol.
He’s a huge inspiration to the Subgeniuses. Subgenii? Either way, I sent my $30 to Bob and can’t wait for the flying saucers.
"Bob"
Eternal salvation - or triple your money back.
The flying saucers are supposed to be equipped with lasers and I think attractive aliens to have sex with.
We have reached the juncture in history at which two previously impossible things have become technologically feasible: the destruction of all life on Earth, or Infinite Slack for everyone forever. Hopefully, these are two different things; but it's never too early to start being pessimistic
Pretty sure they were saying this in the '90s. (Which is probably how old that HTML is.) It's very true now.
The aliens show up and the world is supposed to end July 5, 1998, but the Conspiracy has deceived us such that we don’t even know what year we are in now.
I grew up reading these. So fucked up. One of them was pulled from print for advocating that CSA victims stay at home with their abusers and forgive them (or else), so long as their abuser believes in Jesus.
Lisa. (Which I wonder if it inspired the video game Lisa at all - similar themes). It’s horrifically fucked up, but of note is that the doctor doesn’t report the dad for letting his friend fuck his daughter (giving her herpes), because the dad finds Jesus and promises never to do it again.
This is how it often happens to this day in parts of the Southern US - like they pulled it because of bad PR, not because they didn’t stand behind the message: it’s not “wow this was fucked up and we’re sorry to have ever thought this was a good idea” but just “we no longer stock Lisa”
It looks like the internet archive took down their copy, which is concerning. It’s been out of print for decades.
Only "good Christians" like Kristi Noem kills pets.
They sure love their fantasy way more than reality.
But where is the bit about heavy metal music?
All my slimes love Halloween sacrifices
If ever I get the chance to relieve myself on Jack Chicks grave...
The honor thy parents commandment is justified as "so you live longer", and is God affirming the law at the time that your parents can choose, have the right, to execute you for any reason.
the hell is this?
that actually looks like a really cool comic I might have to read it at some point
This is a real comic and not just a shitpost or satire?
Yes, this is a Chick tract, which are real comics you are supposed to give to people to convince them to become (Jack Chick’s specific variety of) Christian.
I consider it a civic duty to collect these whenever I find them and throw them in the trash.
No!!!! They are so much fun to collect! Keep them and send them to me!!!!
You want me to send you free copies of the Book of Mormon and the Watchtower, too?
Oh yeah, if you have old BoM before some of the fun changes. Watchtowers would be fun too, only have got read through PDFs.
(I have training manuals for Mormon missionaries, the textbook on Seventh Day Adventist history as used in Seventh Day Adventist colleges, and watch the Left Behind with Kirk Cameron at least once a year or so.)
Wow, you might be serious.
I used to keep tabs on the weird religious stuff for fun, but most of it turns my stomach these days to the point that I can’t even laugh at it.
Definitely got super drunk and riffed on Kirk Cameron videos back when he had that Way of the Master series (e.g. the banana video).
I used to have a copy of Dianetics that you would have thoroughly enjoyed.
You should try to acquire a copy of a Mormon seminary textbooks. There should be a series of four of them: Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants/Church History (this is one is a gold mine). The Mormons apparently make them available as PDFs for the current versions, but the older ones are sure to be better.
I’ve got you tagged now as “collects weird religious stuff”. Congrats.
The most immediately accessible gems of the collection.
I have a genuinely Scientology folder thing for a course and a Spanish DVD of Dianetics, but that’s at a friends.
Bibleman and A History of Christian Hymnody are wildly different theological materials; what’s the criteria for your collection?
Do you study religions or is the there something else, like an aesthetic thing, that drives your collection?
Also, how much of this have you read and is there any of it that you believe?
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I find the notion of collecting cult and religious media to be fascinating, especially if it’s for reasons other than faith.
I have taken some classes in religious studies, although I don’t know if I can say I formally “study” it. But it has been a lifelong “special interest.”
I just grabbed Hymnody from the thrift store so haven’t read it yet. But yeah, I read most of them.
As far as criteria, it’s complicated. I get a lot of books by thrifting - there’s usually a lot of bulk generic Protestant stuff, which I don’t usually pick up because one probably could fill an apartment with just shit associated with the Left Behind series or the Purpose Driven Life. (Or I Kissed Dating Goodbye in that above picture, that just got pruned into an art project because I could get another one for $1 pretty easily).
I’m usually seeking ideas that I haven’t encountered yet or things that are so ridiculous and kitsch that they amuse me. (Which goes for my book collection as a whole.)
Ie, the value in that SDA textbook Light Bearers to the Remnant is comparing what SDAs claim about Ellen White and the Kelloggs to mainstream history, and it would be fascinating to write an article on. Or I grabbed a copy of modern reprint book from the 1800s that argued that the wine in the New Testament wasn’t alcoholic, and watching someone contort themselves in knots claiming that Jesus turned water into grape juice is amusing.
The really kitsch stuff I enjoy stoned. I’ll watch videos warning Muslim women of the evils of painting their nails (you can’t clean your hands properly for prayer apparently, because water can’t get to the nail) or Bibleman or those classic Mormon cartoons.
As far as personal beliefs, I’m something like a Discordian ultimately. I don’t really “believe” in her, but I have rituals I do to worship Eris. (She wants me to get stoned, pretend to be Jackson Pollock and commune with her by typing random letters in the YouTube search bar - which is what I want to do anyway. She’s an awesome Goddess like that.)
A wild discordian appears! Eris is the best. Always keep your apples loaded my fellow pope.
Amazing! Thanks for taking the time to share. I figured there was an aesthetic interest in addition to the morbid curiosity.
I went through a phase where I wanted to build a library of weird, bizarre, cult, occult, and outlandish books (which I why I had a copy of Dianetics among other religious texts). I abandoned the idea mostly because I didn’t want to dedicate space to books that I never wanted to read or felt repulsed by reading.
If you like kitschy and bizarre books, I recommend checking out the following (if you haven’t already encountered them before):
- Telecult Power by R. Durbin
- Apocalypse Culture by A. Parfrey
Telecult Power makes me laugh since it’s a how-to for developing telepathy and telekinesis. Apocalypse Culture creeps me out and reading essays from that book is like dropping into a conversation midway while no one cares to explain what’s going on.
Some others from the esoterica.
It’s really tragic how much conspiracy spaces have been overtaken by scary alt right ideologies. I think there was some purposeful targeting of seriously mentally ill and vulnerable people with some of those conspiracies.
I want a return to like Whitney Strieber’s Communion. I would shit myself with delight given the opportunity to attend a conference where people talk about the wars between the Dracos, and whether or not the Greys are on our side, but part of the Dracos plan is making us gay or something. There’s always been the antisemitism on the periphery, but David Icke started making that impossible to ignore.
Spirit Science guy I think still steers that line (Jews are space aliens, just good ones).
Roswell, New Mexico is amazing - the town eats that shit up, the museum is awesome, the McDonald’s is done up like a UFO.
I once went to a lecture on Bigfoot in a used bookstore in a small town, where a man described an encounter where he was terrified by a family of Bigfoot into staying in his RV to a captivated audience of 8 people, including myself, my ex husband (who was not eager in his attendance), the book store owner, and few elderly couples. It was great.
Wow. I did not know of this. Thanks for posting. It's kind of frightening knowing it's a real comic for the purpose you mentioned. I used to be religious (as a kid) but have never come across these (thankfully).
I can't comment further on the subject matter, other than: Christianity (well at least some [most?] of it) is a terrible invention.
Glad I'm far removed from it now.