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“I don’t wanna be Elfstar any more! I want to be Debbie!” ahh, back when the satanic panic spread by mimeograph and the spittle-flecks of rage and fear damn ne

“I don’t wanna be Elfstar any more! I want to be Debbie!” ahh, back when the satanic panic spread by mimeograph and the spittle-flecks of rage and fear damn near left flecks on the page.

aidenn0 5y ago
Reference: https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=0046 https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=0046 Yes, this is an actual publication by a christian organization; it's not a parody.
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  We had someone who would, unironically, leave these around the office. It was amusing at first, but then he began targeting individuals with them rather than just leaving them in a few public places and had to be told to stop. I read a bunch of the tracts during that time, they were quite bizarre. I did share the D&D one with my gaming group, though.
- protomyth 5y ago
  A lot of Christians think they are a parody of their beliefs. They are a very odd form of fundamentalism with some serious shade thrown at certain Christian churches. I did enjoy Cthulhu Tract as a parody of whatever Chick Tracts are.
  - klyrs 5y ago
    In the 80s and 90s I'd find them quite regularly. They were definitely fringe, but numerous. I've got family that's this level of fundamentalist; they took stuff like chick tracts literally and gobbled it up.
    - protomyth 5y ago
      I think they spread so far because you had one side believing in them and the side going "take a look at this crap". They are almost perfect to spread both ways.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > They are a very odd form of fundamentalism with some serious shade thrown at certain Christian churches. They aren't that odd for the time. They pretty much reflected fairly common fundamentalist attitudes at the time they were written, including the anti-Catholicism; that's subsequently become muted mostly because the politically-focussed Christian Right realized that right-wing Catholics could be useful political allies, but calling them Satanists made it hard to work together.
    - protomyth 5y ago
      Those Tracts went beyond that. They really did go after Catholics, Mormons, and even evangelicals. They don't resemble the actual teachings of any of the mainline US Christian faiths. Sadly, a lot of people are not exactly familiar with what their church teaches and at a cursory glance the Tracts seem to be inline with their beliefs.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > They really did go after Catholics, Mormons, and even evangelicals. Yes, none of those were uncommon for fundamentalists of the time (the fundamentalist/evangelical split is perhaps the most opaque to outsiders because they seem very similar from the outside, but fundamentalism was a theological reaction against theological trends within evangelicalism.) All of them have subsided, at least in visible terms, because of political convenience in the last couple decades, but even in the early 90s I saw a lot of it, quite openly, from large fundamentalist-aligned organizations. Chick tracts were notable in their presentation, but not do much their ideas.
        aidenn0 5y ago
        I think there is a geographic component as well. I am Roman Catholic. I grew up in the North East US and DC suburbs and while I was aware of anti-catholic sentiment among certain denominations, I didn't really encounter it until I went to college in the Midwest, where it was impossible to miss.
- s5300 5y ago
  They're currently advertising for people to buy their gospel comics to use as Halloween treats. I think I'd rather get the fabled apple with a razorblade in it than Christian gospel in my trick or treat pail.
  - jrickert 5y ago
    Growing up in the Midwest, these were a Halloween staple.
- imwillofficial 5y ago
  We need more comics like these. That was hilarious.
- Kinrany 5y ago
  It's also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LADLv1803Vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LADLv1803Vw The same actors previously played in a series about an RPG world. The video is hilarious while technically not a parody: it was enough for them to stick to the plot.
- jamesmontalvo3 5y ago
  Interesting that the bad characters are all women and the good are all men.
  - hef19898 5y ago
    That. Also that the author(s) really believe in witchcraft, it seems...
- hprotagonist 5y ago
  Yeah, and he was roundly despised for it (and justly so!) I do not believe that anyone ever converted to Christianity as a consequence of reading any of Jack Chick’s gospel tracts. But I do believe that thousands of Christians were converted by them into something else — something more like the ugly dishonesty and nasty triumphalism that were those tracts’ main attributes. He helped persuade such Christians that bearing false witness against their neighbors should be the hallmark and cornerstone of their religion. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2016/10/24/haw-haw-haw/ https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2016/10/24/haw-haw... If he was just an angry bitter old man, it'd be easier to pity him: how awful to live your life in that headspace, right? But he did damage, too, and that's harder to just feel sorry for.
- MisterTea 5y ago
  Ah yes, Chick Tracts. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jack_Chick https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jack_Chick
at_a_remove 5y ago
I bought a bunch of these and slide them out whenever I find that someone is playing D&D. Always a hoot.

“I don’t wanna be Elfstar any more! I want to be Debbie!” ahh, back when the satanic panic spread by mimeograph and the spittle-flecks of rage and fear damn near left flecks on the page.

aidenn0 5y ago

Reference: https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=0046 https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=0046 Yes, this is an actual publication by a christian organization; it's not a parody.

Jtsummers 5y ago
We had someone who would, unironically, leave these around the office. It was amusing at first, but then he began targeting individuals with them rather than just leaving them in a few public places and had to be told to stop. I read a bunch of the tracts during that time, they were quite bizarre. I did share the D&D one with my gaming group, though.
protomyth 5y ago
A lot of Christians think they are a parody of their beliefs. They are a very odd form of fundamentalism with some serious shade thrown at certain Christian churches. I did enjoy Cthulhu Tract as a parody of whatever Chick Tracts are.
- klyrs 5y ago
  In the 80s and 90s I'd find them quite regularly. They were definitely fringe, but numerous. I've got family that's this level of fundamentalist; they took stuff like chick tracts literally and gobbled it up.
  - protomyth 5y ago
    I think they spread so far because you had one side believing in them and the side going "take a look at this crap". They are almost perfect to spread both ways.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > They are a very odd form of fundamentalism with some serious shade thrown at certain Christian churches. They aren't that odd for the time. They pretty much reflected fairly common fundamentalist attitudes at the time they were written, including the anti-Catholicism; that's subsequently become muted mostly because the politically-focussed Christian Right realized that right-wing Catholics could be useful political allies, but calling them Satanists made it hard to work together.
  - protomyth 5y ago
    Those Tracts went beyond that. They really did go after Catholics, Mormons, and even evangelicals. They don't resemble the actual teachings of any of the mainline US Christian faiths. Sadly, a lot of people are not exactly familiar with what their church teaches and at a cursory glance the Tracts seem to be inline with their beliefs.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > They really did go after Catholics, Mormons, and even evangelicals. Yes, none of those were uncommon for fundamentalists of the time (the fundamentalist/evangelical split is perhaps the most opaque to outsiders because they seem very similar from the outside, but fundamentalism was a theological reaction against theological trends within evangelicalism.) All of them have subsided, at least in visible terms, because of political convenience in the last couple decades, but even in the early 90s I saw a lot of it, quite openly, from large fundamentalist-aligned organizations. Chick tracts were notable in their presentation, but not do much their ideas.
      - aidenn0 5y ago
        I think there is a geographic component as well. I am Roman Catholic. I grew up in the North East US and DC suburbs and while I was aware of anti-catholic sentiment among certain denominations, I didn't really encounter it until I went to college in the Midwest, where it was impossible to miss.
s5300 5y ago
They're currently advertising for people to buy their gospel comics to use as Halloween treats. I think I'd rather get the fabled apple with a razorblade in it than Christian gospel in my trick or treat pail.
- jrickert 5y ago
  Growing up in the Midwest, these were a Halloween staple.
imwillofficial 5y ago
We need more comics like these. That was hilarious.
Kinrany 5y ago
It's also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LADLv1803Vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LADLv1803Vw The same actors previously played in a series about an RPG world. The video is hilarious while technically not a parody: it was enough for them to stick to the plot.
jamesmontalvo3 5y ago
Interesting that the bad characters are all women and the good are all men.
- hef19898 5y ago
  That. Also that the author(s) really believe in witchcraft, it seems...
hprotagonist 5y ago
Yeah, and he was roundly despised for it (and justly so!) I do not believe that anyone ever converted to Christianity as a consequence of reading any of Jack Chick’s gospel tracts. But I do believe that thousands of Christians were converted by them into something else — something more like the ugly dishonesty and nasty triumphalism that were those tracts’ main attributes. He helped persuade such Christians that bearing false witness against their neighbors should be the hallmark and cornerstone of their religion. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2016/10/24/haw-haw-haw/ https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2016/10/24/haw-haw... If he was just an angry bitter old man, it'd be easier to pity him: how awful to live your life in that headspace, right? But he did damage, too, and that's harder to just feel sorry for.
MisterTea 5y ago
Ah yes, Chick Tracts. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jack_Chick https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jack_Chick

at_a_remove 5y ago

I bought a bunch of these and slide them out whenever I find that someone is playing D&D. Always a hoot.