Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Electric Chair Religion


This cartoon has never appeared in Bizarro, of course, it's a little too controversial for the funny pages of the daily paper. I included it in my retrospective book, however, and have shown it at many of my comedy shows and it never fails to get heaping wads of positive comments. What I saw as a simple observation, something I actually thought of as a child of 11 or so, apparently resonates with a lot of people.

There is no editorial comment to be implied here, it's just a depiction of what the world would look like "if." How many of you reading this would have a tiny metal electric chair hanging around your neck or dangling from your ears right now? After a natural disaster you'd be getting blankets and drinking water from the American Red Chair. You might even be looking forward to this weekend's New York Times Chairword Puzzle.

18 comments:

Karl said...

Yes, if Jesus had died in an electric chair, I would feel awful every time I flipped a light switch on. It's because I have a guilty conscious (Roman ancestry, perhaps).

Come to think of it, if Jesus died in an electric chair, then every time we had a thunderstorm, a lot of believers would be saying "Yes, that's God reminding you that he might forgive but he doesn't forget, that easily."

marine_explorer said...

I remember this cartoon got published in Scandinavia, where society allows comics to be more pointed in their observations. Usually people find it funny, but in Jyllands-Posten's case--sometimes not.

monkeyfeather said...

This is all kinds of genius. American Red Chair, good one.

Boom said...

This is a perspective which I've heard in church on occasion.

Not executed in this fashion of course, just pointing out that if Jesus had been executed in a different manner, we might have knives or nooses or syringes or electric chairs or guillotines or garrotes hanging around our necks.

Anonymous said...

I saw this in a sci-fi movie once. It was actually a satire on America and how we would treat someone who said things like, “It’s OK to be poor,” and “Try being nice to one another.”

I tried looking up the name in Google and found an insane number of hits. If you know it, share it.

cbahm said...

My husband jokes that he's sure going to be lonely in Heaven while I'm burning in the fiery pit, because I think of things like this all the time. Like if Jesus had been hung (with a rope, ya pervert), people would just yank on the back of their necklaces instead of crossing themselves. Or if he'd drowned, the piscine symbol might have a little X where the eye goes. Or if he'd been born in a ditch there would open trenches in front of churches each December.

Yeah, I'm thinking hubs will need just a twin-size bed in his heavenly mansion. And my mattress? Asbestos, baby!

Micgar said...

I love it! It's a little shocking though....errr I'd better stop right there!

Steve said...

American Red Chair? Maybe not, actually. The flag of the International Red Cross movement has nothing to do with Christianity - it's simply a colour-swapped version of the Swiss flag.

Per said...

What a great way to start a day at work. Love your work!

Cheers from
Eskilstuna, Sweden

Daniel Joseph Sardella said...

cbahm-

no need to insert "(with a rope, ya pervert)" because when people are killed by hanging, they aren't "hung", they are "hanged".

Anonymous said...

My mom's best friend is Catholic, and this made me think of something she says a lot: "It's a good thing the Romans killed Jesus, rather than the Jews, 'cause this [beats fists against chest, Tarzan-style] would hurt a lot more than crossing myself."

Sagi Rechter said...

I think It's my favorite of your cartoons thus far! Great work!

Anonymous said...

LOL!!! OOO Golly!!! Too phunnie!! How about car? Meaning a Car running over jesus then there'll be symbol of cars everywhere on top on the Carthedral!

LOL... U're Too Phunnie!!!

CookieDuster said...

If he had OD'd on speed we could all be wearing white-crosses!

The Crooked Man said...

"Ok, I admit it, we Jews did kill Christ. And you’re lucky he didn’t come along in the 20th century, or all those parochial school kids would be wearing a little electric chair around their necks.

Lenny Bruce

Toby Mikle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
GAlcidesS said...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Anonymous said...

the center piece of my tattoo sleeve is jesus in an electric chair lol