Does Johnny Hart (of B.C. fame) really say this about Jews?

[Running_with_Scissors]

According to this article in POV Online (a site run by Mark Evanier, who I’ve never head of),

[…] given Mr. Hart’s tendency to tell interviewers that Jews are condemned to rot in Hell for all eternity […]

While it’s fairly common knowledge that Hart is a devout Christian, I never heard anything about him espousing anything anti-Semitic. A quick Google search revealed nothing to corroborate it. On the other hand, this guy (Evanier) seems to be deeply into the comics industry, and would presumably be fairly familiar with Mr. Hart’s work.

Any idea?

[pravnik]

He ran an Easter Sunday strip a year or two ago depicting a menorah transforming into a cross that he got a lot of flak over. A ot of people condemn him as an anti-semite, although many Jews defended the strip, like Benjamin Jolkovsky, as merely being representative of his belief that Christ is the fulfillment of Judaism. I’m sure if pressed he’ll say that all those who don’t accept Christ as the Messiah are condemning themselves to the Bad Place, but he’s hardly the first person to believe they’ve found the One True Religion.

[beagledave]

From here

At first, I was willing to give Mr. Hart the benefit of the doubt. After all Jews and Christians do maintain a common heritage, so maybe that’s what he was somehow trying to portray. Then I read some snippets of an interview he gave to the Washington Post back in 1999 in which he said, among other things, “Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus will burn in hell.” Hmm … if that’s the way he feels, then I hardly think he would have been keen on “paying tribute” to a religion he (stress he) feels is hell-bound, would he?

Google “Johnny Hart jews hell” to see similar links.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

Not “interviewers” plural. One interviewer, singular.

I can’t find the interview itself online, but it was apparently with the Washington Post in 1999, and in it, he evidently remarked that Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus are going to burn in hell.

Well, this is just conservative Christian theology–everyone who fails to accept Jesus Christ is going to burn in hell. That’s the way the theology goes. It’s not very PC to come right out and say it, true, but hey.

Also, I find it interesting that Evanier tosses off a categorical statement like “Johnny Hart routinely tells interviewers that Jews are rotting in hell” but doesn’t provide even a smidgen of support for it, not even a quote or a mention of the relevant Post interview, but then goes on to spend the entire article proving, with cite after cite, that Johnny Hart is not, after all, the “most widely read writer, or cartoonist” in the world. I sense someone suffering from a terminal wedgie, for whatever motive. Probably “sour grapes”, as his bio amply illustrates someone who has labored long and hard in the salt mines of the comic/cartoon industry, but who is not a household name like “Johnny Hart”. That’s got to hurt…

[astro]

*Originally posted by pravnik *
**He ran an Easter Sunday strip a year or two ago depicting a menorah transforming into a cross that he got a lot of flak over. A ot of people condemn him as an anti-semite, although many Jews defended the strip, like Benjamin Jolkovsky, as merely being representative of his belief that Christ is the fulfillment of Judaism. I’m sure if pressed he’ll say that all those who don’t accept Christ as the Messiah are condemning themselves to the Bad Place, but he’s hardly the first person to believe they’ve found the One True Religion. **

Here is anarticle about that strip.

[sub]

Fortunately, many Christian leaders today, including Pope John Paul II, have abandoned this idea of Christianity’s superseding Judaism. Based on a reading in the New Testament Book of Romans, they argue that the covenant God made with the Jewish people is permanent. It is to be fulfilled by a life of Torah. Paul, who is the real founder of Christianity, lived more than 30 years after Jesus died. Paul wanted to bring Gentiles in the Greek-speaking world into a relationship with God. Doing so through Torah did not fit their culture.

Another way had to be found. Paul opened up a path to God for them. They could connect to God through faith in the saving power of Jesus. Thus we have two covenants: one for Jews through Torah, and the other for Gentiles through Jesus. They are equally valid for the peoples for whom they are intended. The later one did not replace the earlier one.

Hart unconvincingly claimed that his intentions were misunderstood. He said that he abhors replacement theology. He offered this convoluted explanation for his Easter cartoon. He said that he used the menorah, not only to highlight the importance of the number seven. He also intended to symbolize Jesus, who was Jewish. The seven flames of the menorah represent Jesus’ life, slowly being snuffed out in the days before his resurrection. He wanted to publish his cartoon during Holy Week for Christians and Jews in order to pay tribute to both. On a previous occasion, he had announced, however, that the Jews are unsaved. Thus his interpretation is not persuasive.

[/sub]

Here is the strip itselfon the JDL website.

Here are some interviews with Hart.

[micco]

I have no idea what Mr. Hart believes but I’d just like to point out that, objectively speaking, believing Jews will burn in hell is not anti-Semitic. A person can believe, based on their religion, that some other religion is wrong and will not be rewarded in the afterlife without having or expressing any ill will toward that group. It reminds me of an old Seinfeld episode where Elaine’s fundy boyfriend informs her that she’s going to hell. He cares about her and is perfectly happy to spend time with her, but according to his beliefs, her religion (or lack thereof) is wrong and she’ll be punished. No discrimination or animosity or any other manifestation of anti-Semitism, just a belief that I’m right and you’re wrong and you, you poor confused soul, will burn in hell.

Another good comparison, not to draw this completely into GD territory, is the Christian view toward homosexuality. It is possible to believe, based on Christian views, that homosexuality is wrong without having that manifest in any homophobia. I have a number of Christian friends who firmly believe that homosexuality is wrong, but they can still be courteous and civil toward homosexuals, sharing ideas and discussion without falling into argument as long as everyone keeps their head. Neither side will ever change the other’s mind and both sides believe the other side is wrong, confused, and misguided. Still, they can have a cup of coffee and chat about something else.

Unfortunately, many times civility does not take precedence and people allow their personal views to justify all manner of bad behavior. I simply wanted to point out that that is not necessarily the case, and calling someone an anti-Semite because he believes Jews will not be “saved” is unfair. I can disagree with you, even about topics as important as religion and sexuality, without hating you.

[Duke]

From beagledave’s post
Then I read some snippets of an interview he gave to the Washington Post back in 1999 in which he said, among other things, “Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus will burn in hell.”

Also from that Washington Post article:

Johnny Hart has been talking amiably for six hours. His voice is gentle, almost timid.

He says:

Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus will burn in Hell.

Homosexuality is the handiwork of Satan.

America was founded as a Christian nation, and should remain one. The country’s moral decline began the day that prayer in the public schools was outlawed.

Angels travel at the speed of thought. Some are the lackeys and stooges of the Devil, and they whisper temptations in our ears.

God probably engineered the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin as punishment for trying to give away holy land in violation of biblical commands.

The end of the world is approaching, maybe by the year 2010.

And:

Johnny Hart is going straight to Heaven.

No comment necessary, one supposes.

[Duke]

Whoops, almost forgot my copyright disclaimer to the above story. (Thanks to JeffB for suggesting this.)

The article from which the above excerpt is taken was published in the Washington Post * of April 4, 1999.*

[tomndebb]

Duke, do you have a link to the actual Washington Post interview?

[tomndebb]

Never mind. I found it in the WP archives (although I’m too cheap to buy it).

[Anamorphic]

You know how I’m going to make my millions? As soon as I can find a way (and get all the permits), I’m going to cash in on the ‘reality t.v.’- craze, and set up a camera crew in the afterlife. Imagine how much fun it’ll be to get to watch the reaction of these nutballs when they find out that the rhetoric they’ve been spitting venomously all these years has been wrong! Phelps greeted at the pearly gates with a big hug and kiss by Liberace, and we’re there to see it! Who wouldn’t watch!?

“Next up on Those Wacky Dead People, watch as cartoonist Johnny Hart, fresh from a cardiac arrest, sits down to dinner with a Jew and a Muslim and they point and laugh at him. And listen in as God himself tells ol’ Johnny that B.C. hasn’t had one funny strip in about 20 years, “Ever since you went all 'Goody-goody Christian on us…”! But first, a message from our sponsor, Mountain Dew.”

[Guinastasia]

Um, there’s one major flaw-I don’t think Phelps is gonna get anywhere NEAR those ‘pearly gates’.

[Jackmannii]

*Originally posted by Anamorphic *
Phelps greeted at the pearly gates with a big hug and kiss by Liberace, and we’re there to see it! Who wouldn’t watch!?.

Substitute “gates of hell” for “pearly gates” and John Wayne Gacy for Liberace, and I think you’ve got a winner.

[Anamorphic]

:smack:

The original idea (in my head, at least) had been that a trap door would open up, denying Phelps entry after we get a good laugh at his expense, but I never got around to putting that in my post. Of course Phelps will never make it to heaven, and I apologize for the implication that he would.

[Little_Nemo]

In defense of Mr Hart, it appears he considers the idea that “Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus will burn in hell” in the same manner as “people who smoke cigarettes will get lung cancer”; ie an regretable fact rather than a something to be anticipated with glee. Mr Hart has always seemed to place a much greater emphasis on the benefits of becoming a Christian rather than the downside of not doing so.

[Duke]

*Originally posted by tomndebb *
**Duke, do you have a link to the actual Washington Post interview? **

Sorry, tomndebb…as you found out, it’s an archived article. No link available.

[rowrrbazzle]

I searched the ProQuest newspaper and magazine archive available through the Chicago Public Library. I found an article in the 4/19/1999 issue of Time about this.

The Post paraphrased him, saying that Jews and Muslims who don’t accept Jesus will go to hell, that homosexuality is Satan’s handiwork and that the world may end by the year 2010. The assertions are “really harshly stated,” winces Hart, but he stands by them (except the bit about the Jews, who may get a scriptural dispensation).

[psiekier]

*Originally posted by Running with Scissors *On the other hand, this guy (Evanier) seems to be deeply into the comics industry, and would presumably be fairly familiar with Mr. Hart’s work…

Yeah!

Mark Evanier used to work on Marvel Comic’s “Epic” line. I was most familiar through Sergio Aragones’s (of Mad magazine fame) caricatures of him in the “Letters” pages of Groo the Wanderer.

Mark, Sergio, and Stan Sakai (creator of Usagi Yojimbo: Samurai Rabbit) worked together on this book for many years. They still might, but I haven’t followed that book since the title transferred to Image from Marvel many years ago.

IIRC, Mark was the editor. However, there was so little for him to do in overseeing the production of Groo that one of the book’s many running gags was that he would be credited with a different staff position each issue (i.e. “Chief Mulching Engineer,” “Cheese Dip Taster,” atc.) because nobody was really sure what, if anything, it was that he contributed.

It was also common for Sergio to draw in his fellow staffers as background characters in crowd scenes. Mark shows up there quite frequently. Then, when he does “A MAD Look At…” articles for Mad, Sergio inserts characters from Groo the Wanderer into crowd scenes.

[Revtim]

In the church I was taken to as a kid (protestant, I believe) it was taught that only through worship of Jesus Christ one can go to heaven, and hence non-Christians end up in Hell. I always assumed that the majority of Christians believed this way too; is this belief actually the minority view?

What is the official Catholic view?

[Mahaloth]

*Originally posted by Revtim *
**In the church I was taken to as a kid (protestant, I believe) it was taught that only through worship of Jesus Christ one can go to heaven, and hence non-Christians end up in Hell. I always assumed that the majority of Christians believed this way too; is this belief actually the minority view?

**

I’m protestant and have always beleved that the only way to heaven is through Christ.

Jesus said(if you believe the Bible), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father except through me.”

I will now duck.