Something Stinks
Johnny Hart, creator of the popular “B.C.” comic strip, stands accused of “secret jihad” by several fellow cartoonists. Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post offers up a “he said/she said” report on the controversy surrounding Hart’s recent strip. It depicts a caveman entering an outhouse some say is meant to represent Islam, prompting a word balloon asking, “Is it […]
Johnny Hart, creator of the popular “B.C.” comic strip, stands accused of “secret jihad” by several fellow cartoonists. Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post offers up a “he said/she said” report on the controversy surrounding Hart’s recent strip. It depicts a caveman entering an outhouse some say is meant to represent Islam, prompting a word balloon asking, “Is it just me, or does it stink in here?” The Revealer is shocked, absolutely shocked, to learn that America’s most syndicated living cartoonist would sneak intolerant views into his “humor.” Is this not the same Hart who explained that an Easter strip depicting the words of Jesus snuffing the candles in a menorah was actually intended to praise Jews? The same man who previously told Weingarten that “Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus will burn in Hell”? (“God, That’s Funny; Or Is It?” The Washington Post, April 4, 1999) Unfortunately, Weingarten’s longer treatment of Johnny Hart, theologian, isn’t available online for free, so most readers will have to settle for this recent update. Or you can learn more about Hart’s art at the World Journalism Institute, where Hart is a faculty member, dedicated, along with the rest of the school, to making the secular world “tremble” before God. For more laffs, follow the leads in this excellent bibliography of journalism about religion in the funny pages.