Weird Tract Number 66: "The Baptism of The Holy Spirit: TONGUES And The Charismatic Movement by Jack Van Impe

Troy Davis writes:

TV preacher Jack Van Impe is a trip. Back in the 90s  just for shits and giggles, I used to watch his TV show that was devoted to Bible prophesy that he co-hosted with his wife Rexella (Robert Tilton was also a favorite until he got shut down). . Once my then-girlfriend was at my apartment and she was flipping through the channels and had Van Impe's show on; I shouted out, "There's Rexella!" She asked me how I knew who she was and then smiled and said, "You watch that show to mock these people!" My girlfriend really knew me.

This long-winded 46-page tract from 1976 addresses speaking in tongues. Despite the humor potential of both the subject and the author, this tract is really boring. Bummer.

Funky Notes: At the end of the tract, it notes that it is available as an "Eight-Track Cartridge" . . . When I produced the short film Ivy League Exorcist: The Bobby Jindal Story (watch it here), I advised the actor who would be speaking in tongues to watch YouTube videos of disgraced TV evangelist Robert Tilton (who is the subject of the "Farting Preacher" videos also available on YouTube).

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 65: "Heavenly Homes" by Moses David (David Berg) of The Children of God

Troy Davis writes:

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts has a number of tracts by the predatory sex cult The Children of God (now known as The Family International). This is a typical barely-coherent batshit-crazy Berg rant-tract from the 1970s (it is dated October 21, 1974). The following is my favorite tidbit from the six-page pamphlet:

SO DON'T LET YOURSELF GET SUCKED IN BY THE BLURBS OF THE SLOBS of the great big globs of the world's city blobs! Don't become a blundering, blubbering, blabbering blobber yourself living in the midst of Babel's babbling Babylonian confusion!

Er . . . okay.

Read about other Children of God tracts in the museum's collection here , here, and here.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

     
   

Weird Tract Number 64: "Left Behind?" by James Lloyd of Christian Media

Troy Davis writes:

"Left Behind?" was written by James Lloyd of Christian Media of Jacksonville, Oregon.  The comic book tract is intentionally formatted to resemble a Chick tract but since Lloyd has a sincere religious message, this tract is more a knock-off than it is a parody.  I bought this from Christian Media's website back in the aughts when the Tim LaHaye-Jerry Jenkins Left Behind book series was still hot. For some time after I ordered the comic book, Christian Media was regularly sending me their lame publications.

"Left Behind?" is highly critical of LaHaye's Darbyesque view of The Rapture.  The uncredited artist is an amateur and has a really goofy vibe (see his work below); the artist's work reminds me of some of the lesser artists who did the Tijuana bibles back in the 30s and 40s. A lot of fundies strongly denounce Lloyd and his world view such as those here and here.

Note: Shades of Jim Bakker, Christian Media also sells a pamphlet on colloidal silver.

NOTES ON JACK CHICK: In my introductory post, I listed just a few of the many rare and valuable objects from The Museum's extensive Chick-related collection . . . I discuss the role of Bill Bright's prolific tract The Four Spiritual Laws in leading to a format change in Chick tracts that was a key reason why they have become much more popular since the late 1960s . . . My thoughts on Jack Chick's spreading of the peace symbol/broken cross mythology . . . Chick tract parody "Constitutional Rites" . . . Chick tract parody "Donald Trump Is The Antichrist; Prepare for the Rapture!" . . .The 1972 Chick tract "The Last Generation." . . . The extremely rare 1970 Chick tract "Operation Somebody Cares" . . .The rare Chick Publications comic book "Jonah" by Chick and Fred Carter . . . The museum's prized cultural artifact, original art by Jack Chick. . . Jack Chick's cold war tract "Ivan The Terrible" . . . Article on Chick by fellow Catholic-baiting Bob Jones University magazine . . .Catholic-bashing tract by Chick's protege Alberto Rivera . . . Knock-off of a Chick tract by James Lloyd:"Left Behind" 
. . . Artifacts from the museum's collections:all of Jack Chick's high school yearbooks (which include the first published cartoon by Chick) . . . "Closet Witches" by Jack T. Chick (audio-cassette interview with Dr. Rebecca Brown and "Elaine").

 

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Click to embiggen

Artwork from The Museum's Collection: "La Nueva Jerusalen"

Troy Davis writes:

Click on painting to enlarge

Gawd, I love the museum's print of "La Nueva Jerusalen," a print of a painting by an unidentified artist. I bought it when I visited Mexico.  Apparently, it is a popular painting that is found in the homes of devout Catholics in Latin America. The painting shows two paths: 1) one scenario where the Redeemed go to Heaven and Eternal Paradise; and 2) The Road To Perdition where decadent playboys, exploitative colonizers, a guy about to commit suicide, and corrupt politicians are about to get their asses handed to them.  They meet up with what appears to be The Whore of Babylon riding her multi-headed beast with an unnamed bearded guy with a turban. Their ultimate destination is a date with Satan! The painting reminds me of the Chick tract "The Long Trip." 

Scary stuff.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 63: "Their Peace Symbol - 'The Broken Cross'" by The Network of Patriotic Letter Writers

Troy Davis:

CLICK TO ENLARGE 

The Network of Patriotic Letters Writers was a right-wing group that operated from 1958 to the early 1980s that had a lot of overlap with The John Birch Society. That they published this circular deriding the peace symbol is hardly surprising (In an earlier review, I mentioned how the Birchers pushed the peace symbol/broken cross canard). This is so delightfully campy that I scanned both sides for your enjoyment. It encourages readers to "GIVE COPIES OF THIS ARTICLE TO ANYONE WEARING THE 'BROKEN CROSS PEACE SYMBOL.'" I would have loved to have seen the expression of some young hippy's face when given this by an archetypical Bircher-type.

For those of you not familiar with the peace-symbol-as-satanic moral panic during the Vietnam War era, read this post on tract  "Peace."  Also, check out this post on another peace symbol-based scare tract.

UPDATE: This blogger has a compelling history of the peace symbol/Cross of Nero hoax.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 62: "What Is Satanism?" by Satanic Bay Area

Troy Davis:

This is a weird but level-headed tract by Satanic Bay Area. In fact, it is one of the most level-headed tracts in the museum's collection. I just received it in the mail along with some cool Chick tract parodies that will be reviewed later.

This pamphlet explains contemporary Satanism and debunks some rumors put forth by fundamentalist Christians.  They point out they are not a bunch of "baby-eating devil-worshipers," an idea in the forefront during the 1980s Satanic Ritual Abuse Hoax championed by the fundy crowd. They point out they don't worship any deity and that Satan is a myth they invoke when sectarians abuse their authority.

Notes: In my Chick tract parodies (read them here), I include a satirical panel that warned about "Satan's Spiritual Structure" and warned about various activities that could become "doorways to demonic possession (most of these things were culled from Jack Chick or his one-time muses John Todd and Dr. Rebecca Brown). This article discusses how this panel became a viral Internet meme.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Museum Artifact: "The Curse of Bakamono," a Chick tract parody.

 Troy Davis writes: 

I like this Chick tract and what it's attached to.  The tract was part of the 45 rpm record by the 90s hardcore band Bakamono that includes the songs "Gypsy" and "Ms. PacMan." It's a 12-page largely stream-of-consciousness comic that focuses on Bakamono. I loved the record cover art of "shiny" anime art by artist Aaron White. The other side has an illustration of a sumo wrestler farting a Japanese symbol. The back cover of the tract mimics the Chick tract format of the time and indicates that the tract is compliments of "Big Jesus Enterprises" and that the museum's copy is number 277 out of 555. 

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 61: "God's Plan for Roman Catholics" by Alberto Rivera

Troy Davis writes:

Alberto Rivera (1935-1997) claimed to be a former Roman Catholic priest in the Jesuit Order who left after uncovering treacherous worldwide conspiracies by the Roman Catholic Church. He was Jack Chick's motivation for making Rome the main target of Chick Publications. The evidence is overwhelming that Rivera was a fabulist. Chick wrote of Alberto's exploits and crackpot conspiracy theories in several editions of The Crusaders comic books as well as in many of the regular tracts (my favorite is "My Name? . . . In The Vatican?").

In addition, Alberto started the Antichrist Information Center and published a newsletter and several publications (including the hilariously awful comic book The Great Holocaust I: The Martyr Story of Klark [sic] Butterfield; the book is full of typos and no sequel was ever published). Anyhow, "God's Plan for Roman Catholics" is a four-page pamphlet that mostly tells the reader how to accept Jesus. The last page lists a "Salvation Kit for Winning Roman Catholics To Christ" that consists of 1) three of Chick Publications' Crusaders series: Volume 9 ("Angel of Light"), Volume 11 ("Sabotage?"), Volume 13 ("Alberto"); 2) Priest-turned-Presbyterian-minister Charles Chiniquy's lurid book The Priest, The Woman, and The Confessional; and 3) an audiotape of the testimony of an alleged former nun. 

Note: The museum owns a copy of The Great Holocaust I: The Martyr Story of Klark [sic] Butterfield and it will be featured in the future.

NOTES ON JACK CHICK: In my introductory post, I listed just a few of the many rare and valuable objects from The Museum's extensive Chick-related collection . . . The role of Ralph Rushtoi in the publishing careers of both Jack Chick and another comics-based tract writer Vic Lockman. . . I discuss the role of Bill Bright's prolific tract The Four Spiritual Laws led to a format change in Chick tracts that was a key reason why they have become much more popular since the late 1960s . . . My thoughts on Jack Chick's spreading of the peace symbol/broken cross mythology . . .  Jack Chick's retro-futuristic car in the scarce 48-page version of "The Beast" . . . Chick tract parody "Constitutional Rites" . . . Jack Chick's cold war tract "Ivan The Terrible" . . . Article on Chick by fellow Catholic-baiting Bob Jones University magazine . . .Catholic-bashing tract by Chick's protege Alberto Rivera . . . Knock-off of a Chick by James Lloyd:"Left Behind" . . . Chick tract parody "Donald Trump Is The Antichrist; Prepare for the Rapture!" . . .The 1972 Chick tract "The Last Generation." . . . .The Chick Publications comic book "Jonah" by Chick and Fred Carter . . . The museum's prized cultural artifact, original art by Jack Chick. . . The extremely rare Chick tract "Operation Somebody Cares". . . Artifacts from the museum's collections:all of Jack Chick's high school yearbooks (which include the first published cartoon by Chick) . . . "Closet Witches" by Jack T. Chick (audio-cassette interview with Dr. Rebecca Brown and "Elaine").

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 60: "A Letter From HELL (A Message to Christians)" by Book Fellowship International

Troy Davis writes:

This three-page, undated pamphlet by Book Fellowship International is a major-league guilt trip aimed at Christers who are slack in their efforts to convert the masses to Jeebus. Essentially, it's a letter from Hell from someone who died in his sins and is bitching at the Christian reader for not witnessing to him.  It's a shorthand version of Jack Chick's "The Letter."

 

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 59: "Jesus Loves You So Much It Hurts" by Gospel Tract Society

Troy Davis writes:

This handbill by Gospel Tract Society of Independence, Missouri is underwhelming. GTS was founded in 1926 and still churns out tracts. I received this as part of a lot sale on eBay. Apparently, a child or a really bored person got possession of the tract and gave Jeebus teal-colored fingernails. The thing I love about this tract is that it included the scripture Isaiah 53:5, a portioned of which (". . . by his stripes, we are healed") was paraphrased in the film I wrote and co-produced: Ivy League Exorcist: The Bobby Jindal Story; watch it here. Read a review of the film here.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 58: "How Big is God?" by Oral Roberts

Troy Davis writes:

I previously wrote about Oral Roberts and his self-serving "seed-faith" theology when discussing the museum's booklet by Roberts on the subject. This three-page ho-hum tract by Roberts is mentioned only because of its great cover graphics. It can be summed up with the following shopworn platitudes: 1) God is the source of all power; 2) God is bigger than your afflictions and problems (this is a key component of Roberts' supercilious "health-and-wealth" gospel); 3) Roberts wants the reader to embrace a "bigger God."

Note: Roberts' first name has been the subject of a number of juvenile jokes; here are some Oral Roberts jokes by professional comedians.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.