Weird Tract Number 77: "Constitutional Rites" by Satanic Bay Area

Troy Davis writes:

I previously wrote about a pamphlet put out by Satanic Bay Area (formerly Satanic San Francisco). These people have some great lit. Constitutional Rites is a Jack Chick tract parody that advocates freedom of religion through a parable (just like the ones put forth by Jeebus). There's a stuffed shirt legislator who is all for a Ten Commandments monument being erected at the state capitol grounds but is appalled at the idea that the same rights being given to a satanic sculpture. The blowhard crashes into the Ten Commandments monument and is knocked unconscious. Satanists take him to their place where he recovers and learns about religious freedom! Talk about having a Come-to-Beelzebub moment!  Bodacious stuff!

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 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 . . .  Jack Chick's retro-futuristic car in the scarce 48-page version of "The Beast" . . . 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. . . . 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 76: "Jesus Failed" by The True Bible Church

Troy Davis writes:

Nathan Boyer started the True Bible Church with a Kickstarter campaign in 2013. The fruits of this campaign were three tongue-in-cheek yet thought-provoking tracts; Jesus Failed is number three in the series "Christianity Made Clear." This tract, like the others, takes the ideas from The Bible to their logical conclusions, conclusions that are really, really bizarre. The tract has the coolest Come-to-Jeebus appeal in the history of religious tracts and it is included below for your benefit.

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 75: "World's Deadliest Drug" by "Dr." Terry Watkins

Troy Davis writes:

Tracts by Terry Watkins have been featured on the museum's site here, here, and here.  This is one of the least hysterical of Watkins' tracts because--unlike fictional scourges Watkins warns against like satanic ritual abuse--societal harm caused by alcohol abuse is real and extensive. Nevertheless, the tone of this pamphlet is off-putting and Watkins makes use of bold fonts and all caps throughout his screed. He makes me want to do a beer bong just to spite him.

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 74: "WWJD: Who Would Jesus Destroy?" by PinPoint Evangelism

Troy Davis writes:

Last weekend, I went to Columbus, Ohio. There were several things going on Labor Day weekend. As I mentioned in the previous post, I went to the annual Greek Festival in the Short North (on the way encountering some lame-oids from the Westboro Baptist Church who were picketing Joyce Meyer; don't ask me what they have against her).

I also took the trip to go to the Johnstown Swappers Day but, more important, I went outside the Ohio State football game a couple hours before kickoff. I carry a huge sign promoting the film I wrote and produced Ivy League Exorcist: The Bobby Jindal Story (I don't have any pics with the sign from last Saturday, but below is from last year's OSU game against Tulane; I'm wearing the Hipsterman superhero outfit that I wore at San Diego Comic-Con 2016--see here, here,  and here ).

Anyhow, outside the Ohio State football games, real-life fundamentalists hold signs and pass out tracts. I sometimes hang out with them and they often give me tracts. "WWJD: Who Would Jesus Destroy?" is one given to me at the game. It's a two-sided flyer put out by PinPoint Evangelism, a real fire-and-brimstone outfit. It succinctly uses Bible verses to tell you who is going to enter the Lake 'O Fire! Number one is fornicators so I'm doomed.

Hipsterman with a confused fundy youngster

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 73: "The Truth About Drugs" by The Foundation for a Drug-Free World (Scientology front group)

Troy Davis writes:

I was in Columbus, Ohio for Labor Day weekend and found this tract in the free lit section of a shop in the Short North. The notorious Church of Scientology has a number of front groups (Weird Tract Number 10 deals with a pamphlet for a Scientology anti-psychiatry front group). The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is one of them. Scientologists want people off of drugs and want them to get high on Xenu (by the way, here's my online comic book "Cock-Tale: A Modern Tijuana Bible" starring Tom Cruise, Xenu, and L Ron Hubbard).

This 32-page 2010 pamphlet is standard 1980s-style Just-Say-No Nancyesque propaganda.

Also, when I was in Columbus, I headed to the annual Greek Festival in the Short North. I parked in downtown Columbus and as I passed by some freaks from the Westboro Baptist Church who were picketing evangelist Joyce Meyer who was speaking downtown. I took pics and asked them for tracts. The guy on the left thought he was clever when he told me he could leave some "tracks" on the pavement.

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.

Weird Tract Number 72: "If You Like Harry Potter, Have We Got a Book for You . . ." by Jews for Jesus

Troy Davis writes:

I previously wrote about the lameasses at Jews for Jesus here. When Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had its premiere in Westwood, the Westwood chapter of J4J passed out this very weak pamphlet to very little fanfare among the Harry Potter fans. I grabbed a couple copies for my collection.  In case you're curious, for those who like Harry Potter, the book they had for you was . . . The Bible!

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.

Weird Tract Number 71: "The Rapture: in the twinkling of an eye" by Eugene Turner

Troy Davis writes:

This 4-page pamphlet-style tract that Eugene Turner wrote for the Free Tract Society of Los Angeles is boilerplate Dispensationalism full of Bible verses. Not surprisingly, the tract ends with an appeal to come to Jeebus in order to avoid The Great Tribulation. It has no date or copyright info.

Ho Hum.

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 70: "Creation and the Virgin Birth" by Henry M. Morris of The Institute for Creation Research

Troy Davis writes:

I bought this 10-page tract when I visited San Diego in the '90s and visited the Institute for Creation Research's Museum of Creation and Earth History in nearby Santee (When ICR moved to Dallas in 2008, they sold the museum to the Life and Light Foundation). Henry Morris (1918-2006) was one of the founders of ICR and this tract's title suggests, Morris attempts to link two supernatural events: biblical creation and the virgin birth of Jesus. Morris had a Ph. D. from U.C. Berkeley but this booklet is full of citations of The Bible but none from scientific journals (to nobody's surprise). 

Notes: I mention fellow ICR co-founder Duane Gish in this discussion of Life Messengers' "Hooked For Good: The True Story of Sammy Hall" . . . ICR has a beautiful Discovery Center in Dallas . . . Also, when I was on vacation in San Diego, I visited the wacky The Unarious Academy of Science  of nearby El Cajon (but I don't have any of their literature). I find it incredible that the El Cajon/Santee area has been the home to giants in recent fringe culture 1) ICR; 2) Tim LaHaye and his San Diego Christian College; 3) Unarius Academy of Science.

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 69: "The Taming of Television" by Dr. Hugh Pyles

Troy Davis writes:

When it comes to nerdy white fundamentalist preachers and authors of the late 20th century, Hugh F. Pyle is just okay. He's nowhere near as interesting as Leon Bates (whose inimitable personal style and worldview were addressed in this review of his work on this site). Nevertheless, a lot of Pyles' tracts are worth a hoot or two; this is the case for The Taming of Television, a 33-page tract originally written in 1972 (this edition is the revised 1994 version). Some highlights:

• Pyles is aghast at the "slanted" political show that give a voice to "humanistic liberals [who] are promoting a socialistic, top-heavy racial program in our country." 
• One of the sub-chapters is titled, "Is TV a Kleptomaniac?"
• Another sub-chapter is titled, "WE Must Realize Satan's Control; He Is the "Prince if the Power of the Air."
• Pyle writes, "A pastor friend well called HBO 'Hell's Box Office.'" 
• Pyle cites demented schoolmarm Phyllis Schafly pamphlet "Let's Clean up Television"

Dr. Hugh Pyle, Nerd

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 68: Collegiate Challenge Magazine, Fall 1973 by Campus Crusade for Christ

Troy Davis writes:

I previously wrote about my extreme distaste for the ideology and tactics of Campus Crusade for Christ.  I just received this Campus Crusade magazine in the mail; I bought it online.  It contains a short superhero story ("The Last Adventures of The Old Wonderman") that is surreal. I have included the entire two-page story at the end of this post.  It's a shockingly puerile, barely-coherent story--which makes it par for the course for Campus Crusade. It's the story of Wonderman, a washed-up superhero who is brooding in his apartment when Pleasureman crashes through the window and explains modern hedonism; Wonderman punches out Pleasureman, not for B & E but for wanting to have a good time (Wonderman should change his crimefighter name to WetBlanketMan).  Captain New (who apparently also broke into the apartment) gives encouragement to Wonderman and they form a crime-fighting team. That's it.

If you're appalled that someone considered this idiotic pabulum as reading material for college students, you have your head on straight. It's moronic drivel. I'm appalled but not surprised. I read John G. Turner's  biography of Campus Crusade founder Bill Bright and it mentioned that in the early 80s, Tim LaHaye's idiotic book The Battle for the Mind was a big hit with the Campus Crusade crowd.

Notes: On page two of the strip below, the footnote refers to "Captain New's secret" on pages 38 and 39; those pages contain Bill Bright's "The Four Spiritual Laws." . . . I have written about how Campus Crusade's tract "The Four Spiritual Laws" had an effect of religious tract history: Jack Chick saw the tract and decided to make Chick tracts pocket-sized . . . In the wake of the success of the comic book debut of Superman in 1938, there were several imitators. Comics legend Will Eisner did Wonder Man in 1939 in the book Wonder Comics for Fox Publications. DC sued and it was the only issue.

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 67: "The Facts on the New Age Movement" by John Ankerberg and John Weldon

Troy Davis writes:

As a fan of fringe religion, I enjoyed watching John Ankerberg's Christian apologetics TV show back in the 1990s. Ankerberg had debates with various apostates and followers of creeds containing extrabiblical revelations. This 48-page booklet from 1988 takes on the New Agers.

It's a standard fundy take on the movement. The booklet received back cover plaudits from Dave Hunt (one-time collaborator with Ed Decker; for more on Decker, click here and here) as well as Hal Lindsey's then-sister-in-law Johanna Michaelsen who cashed in on the 80s Satanic Ritual Abuse Panic by claiming that she was a reformed-by-Christ former aide to a  "psychic surgeon" (I saw Michelsen on The 700 Club and she claimed that what she was doing was not sleight-of-hand flimflam but as a New Age healer, she supernaturally removed cancers from people and that she had been elbows deep in the bodies of her "patients"). The booklet discusses Michaelsen's story and treats it as real.  The last page has an ad for the hokey documentary Gods of the New Age (watch it here).

Note: This is one of a series of books Ankerberg wrote for Harvest House.  The imprint for Ankerberg's books makes use of a pun in his name. Here is the logo:

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 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.