Return to the main menu for comics, games, articles and links to entertain your inner freethunk.
The Complete Edition
By Jeff Swenson
160 pages, Jam-Packed
Purchase your collectable copy!
"JUGS, BEAVERS and EXPLODING BALLS"
by Jeff Swenson
First Cynic Comic Strip
collection now in print.
2004-2005
Buy it now for
below retail.
| WIDE-EYED COMICS: A Visit To Hellhouse by Cartoonist Jeff Swenson |
| Hell Houses are popular amongst Christians now-a-days to show the horrors of sin, but on Halloween I wonder if it is really that effective? |
| Halloween is about indulging in pretend-play about being monsters, demons, and horrible creatures of the night that commit murder and suck blood. You can dress up in other costumes such as angels or clowns but let's face it, every kid has to pretend to be a vampire just once in his/her life; or some sort of evil creature. Halloween horrors aren't about real horrors, it's fantasy. Fantasy horror and the psychology thereof is a huge discussion but I don't think Fundie Christians understand the nature of a scary Halloween night and why it is a great experience for a young person On a night of funhouse type scares, why do Christians think it is appropriate to tell kids that Hell is real and exaggerate every sin that their church likes to focus in on. Don't kids get enough rules thrown at them all throughout the year? It is also simplistic to mix Halloween in with complicated issues such as sex and abortion. Atheists and other unbelievers are accused of being killjoys on Christmas and I will grant many are as I think the Xmas mythology is taken too seriously by some as a real threat to freethinking. However, Christians are doing the same thing to Halloween when they say it's Satan's holiday or put on Hell Houses that miss the point. The Modern Halloween celebration is about scaring yourself in a fun way, not concentrating on real tragedy. It's like creating a Hell House with actors playing the victims of Darfur and inviting kids in. That's not Halloween. There are times when kids need to explore those dark subjects but Halloween is about boogeymen, quick frights and roleplaying evil based on myths and legends. Let's not ruin it for them. And stop handing out boring religious tracts and give those kids some tooth decaying candy, dammit! |