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FREETHUNK BOOK -- Behind The Complete Edition
Now on sale, Freethunk, the completed edition, collects 7 years of work by cartoonist Jeff Swenson. The humorous material is aimed at atheists, agnostics, freethinkers of all stripes and those individuals who are sick of religion altogether.

Book Cover - Art by Jeff Swenson 160 pages, full color cover with intro

In 2000, Cartoonist Jeff Swenson, feeling the need to get something off his chest, started drawing a weekly feature that targeted religion. Eventually it turned into the Freethunk.net website. His goal wasn't so much to offend the spiritual as it was to entertain freethinkers, those who had shed superstition in favor of relying on themselves to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others. Oddly enough he was influenced by the progressive and pervasive Christian pop culture that he enjoyed in his youth and watched as it exploded into a commercially viable business. What the mythical Jesus would say about Christian movies, rock music, product lines and materialism it's impossible to say, but Jeff thinks it is all laughable bullshit. Not that there is anything wrong with making a buck, but the contradictions between the spiritual and the commercial are self-evident. Christian pop culture is it's own worst enemy and just plain fun for freethinkers to witness. Purchase a copy of The Freethunk collection in print and pass it around. It's time to laugh at the madness of religious folly and the end of the sacred.

Why are you so obsessed with making fun of religion?

I'm not sure I'd call it an obsession since it is not the only thing I draw in terms of cartooning. It's more like I'm fascinated with religion and Christian pop culture. It was part of my childhood. We all return to our childhoods which is why we buy nostalgia. I listened to the early Christian rock bands when the members still had to have day jobs in order to pay the bills. And I tried to get hold of attempts to create Christian comics and fiction in the underground zine world where I traded with other zine publishers. I honestly have a lot of fond memories of tracking down the obscure while other kids were listening to bands like Poison and Metallica and watching horror movies I wasn't allowed to see. I never quite fit in with my peers so religion and it's growing product line provided me with a collectable escape. Now that I don't believe in Jesus or God it still is fun for me to reexamine what I used to think was true and all of the influences that were a part of shaping my misguided faith.

So you like religion, hate it? What are you saying?

I consider myself an atheist or an agnostic-atheist (if you want to be more specific). But I don't hate religion or religious individuals. Maybe I should hate religion in general but I just can't force myself. It would be the same as me trying to force myself to hate Greek Mythology because people once believed it to be true. The problem with religion is that people take it literally when they should be treating it as mythology. And that's why there's a need to parody it. You're talking about religious individuals who actually think animals lined up in an orderly fashion to stay on an ark while everyone drowned in a flood or that a Balaam's Ass talked to him (the animal, not his actual ass) or that Moses parted the Red Sea. If these weren't in The Bible, they'd be considered fiction because we know those things don't happen. If Jesus, mythical or a real person, came in modern times and made the stir he did back in the day he would still gain believers but most of us would be able to see that he was a fraud --because the media would expose him. The only thing I can hate are the actions taken by zealots and the hurtful words of some Christians who believe people will be tormented eternally. Otherwise this is all just ridiculous and I can only draw my cartoons and laugh. People have this idea of the angry atheist and I'm sure I leave that impression with readers at times. But anyone who knows me personally realizes that I'm usually in a good mood and have a positive outlook on life. An atheist can't hate God -- you can't hate what you don't believe in. And hating religion is like hating fairytales. Individuals need to be held accountable despite their beliefs because moral individuals temper the extremes of their religion with reason -- a contradiction they have to deal with, but it's how they get along with all of us.

How long did it take to produce this book?

If I was able to work fulltime on this book it would have come out sooner. I'm inundated with projects and requests so I worked on it when I had the spare time. Any print project you do seems to take forever because you find errors, there are technical problems and you have to go back over it a hundred times before you get it right, or as close to right as possible. I also had to hunt down lost material. Since 2000 when I started I had moved several times within the Washington State area and that resulted in material being buried or damaged or completely lost. Luckily I was able to dig up most of it from old cd-roms and original artwork tossed in a nondescript box in the garage. There still may be some missing material but this collection is as complete as I could make it.

For those unfamiliar with Freethunk, what is in the book?

The humor is a cross between The Far Side and something more twisted than the Far Side. Add to that comic strip specials like Bible Science Man Creates An Atheist, the notorious but sexy Humanists In Love, Holiday Humor and some commentary plus an introduction. You can see several examples of Freethunk here on the site. I managed to rescue alot of material that was lost or is not on the site but may be posted on some obscure spot on the web. Freethunk is aimed at the intellect but contains bad taste. Despite what people may think, smart people often like their humor dangerous, sexy and lowbrow. I draw what I think is funny, and have been accused many times of stepping over the line. But that's what you want in a book.

Why should people buy your book? Who should buy your book?

As I've said before, I draw Freethunk to entertain the nonreligious and I believe there are many people who would enjoy the book beyond those labels we normally use such as atheist or skeptic or humanist. I embrace the label atheist because I think it is misunderstood or maligned unfairly, but I know there are those out there who would laugh with me who hate the term atheist and would never want to be labeled as such. So obviously it is for freethinkers but also for those who don't even know what a freethinker is. If you were raised in Church and now sleep in on Sundays, I'm betting you'll find the book funny. If you have a co-worker who is trying to convert you and won't leave you alone you'll definitely find the book funny and maybe get some verbal ammo to defend yourself from their stupid but intellectually sounding arguments. There's not too many books like it on the market, or at least that I know of.

Are there plans for more books?

Definitely yes. Most regular readers to this site already know that the first collection of The Cynic is available which may appeal to freethinkers who like their humor to be more outrageous with adult characters dealing with an adult world. Next I'm hoping to do a best-of collection of Freethunk to offer as a gift-edition for the holidays or birthdays, etc. It will be trimmed down with only the gag cartoons and an introduction written by someone who has agreed to do it that I admire. The complete edition offers the most bang for your buck but I know there are many readers who like edited best of versions too. And I have some project ideas in the works based on the themes of this site that I believe would make for a good read. All in all, it has taken me 8 years to get to this place and my goal is to continue to publish for the next 10 years because I love the printed page. And because the Christian Pop Culture Machine will only grow stronger and more absurd. Freethinkers should capitalize on it. For now, please check out a copy of the book. I've kept the price low on purpose and it is jam-packed. A perfect souvenir for those regular visitors to Freethunk.net and a great laugh-oriented intro to those unfamiliar with the site.

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