Here’s a site with an interview by Hart done a few years ago. Warning: It is long, but it might give some background about him, his life, and conversion, for anyone who cares to read it all. Warning, again!! It is long, and perhaps boring, unless you wish to delve into his psyche.
I wrote this before I noticed that there was a third page of this, but I figured I’d toss in my two cents anyhow.
A seven branched candelabra (menorah) is a symbol of the Jewish people. Menorahs are all over Israel and are prominently featured in Jewish art. A nine branched candelabra (in Hebrew called a Chanukiah, as opposed to a menorah) is a symbol of Chanukah.
BTW, I am a reform Jew, and I did find the cartoon offensive. My husband, who is a Baptist, also thought so. When we read about it at first, we assumed the JDL was overreacting as they often do. I was surprised to find that it really was offensive. I was more upset, though, by the letter Hart wrote about it. In my mind, he completely missed what some may have found upsetting about it. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that he didn’t mean to be offensive.
Imagine a cartoonist taking a cross and using a woodburner on it until it is the crescent symbol of Islam. I would find this offensive, and I believe it is akin to Hart’s strip.
I really liked how Delphica put it, that Judaism didn’t disappear when Christianity started.
Doesn’t Hart want all Jews to burn in Hell?
I recall reading this in an article about his take in religion in either the Toronto Star or Globe and Mail. I don’t remember which publication.
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I think that’s probably unfair.
I gather that he, like most Christian fundamentalists, wants everyone–Jews included–to “see the light”, come to Jesus, and be saved. They don’t want anyone to go to hell. It’s just that they think a lot of people are going to hell.
Except, of course, for the fact that I don’t get the Washington Post.
I thought it interesting that the web page that hosts B.C. has a different cartoon for April 15th than the one that caused the hubbub. http://umweb2.unitedmedia.com/creators/bc/archive/bc-20010415.html
Yes, but United Media does NOT syndicate B.C.; Creators Syndicate does and they DID publish the genuine April 15 strip on their website.
The president of Creators Syndicate wrote an open letter. One of the things he points out is that it was illegal for the JDL to post the comic strip on their website before it was published in the newspapers. He says this is the first time he’s ever seen anyone protest a strip before it was published. (He never says so, but I bet he’s wondering how they got hold of the strip in the first place.)
Read Hart’s latest explanation. He seems hurt and offended that anyone would accuse him of believing in “Replacement Theology.” He points out that the attempt by the JDL to stop publication of the strip is nothing more than censorship.
I agree. It may not violate the letter of First Amendment (which restricts ONLY the government), but it certainly violates its spirit.
WHAT a pompous jerk Johnny Hart is! Instead of just saying, “oops, I inadvertantly offended Jews—sorry!” he comes out with crap like this:
“I wanted everyone to see the cross in the Menorah. It was a revelation to me, that tied God’s chosen people to their spiritual next of kin – the disciples of the Risen Christ.”
Yes, I believe in freedom of speech, and I am glad to know what a Jew-hating bastard Johnny Hart is. I also believe newspapers have the right not to run religious propaganda on the comics page if they so choose.
The cartoon is anti-Semitic. Hart is just using the anti-Semitic texts of the Gospels for his source.
Is the letter “T” also a revelation from God?
I was raised Christian but am a non-believer who married a non-practicing Jew; I found this comic distasteful (as I do all Hart’s prostelyzing strips), and could see where Jews would find it offensive, but don’t think it crossed that line-I-can’t-define-so-don’t-ask-me to anti-semitism.
But I am still trying to deal with the idea that my Darwin-fish might be actively offensive (as a distortion of a symbol) rather than the mild poke I considered it to be. Time to mull that one over.