Whatever happened to the comics?
by Michael Snyder
Source: Photos.comWhat's so funny about two homosexual boys shutting down a school?
A few years ago after I turned 50, my family doctor cited some research that suggested that people who read the newspaper funnies before they read the headlines often had better attitudes and took themselves less seriously than others who first absorbed the searing news of the day. People with good attitudes generally live longer," he said. So I started doing that.
Today, after my morning ritual of reading the funnies first, I'm not so sure that's still a good idea.
Just this morning in mid-May, a long-running comic strip about high school life is profiling how two homosexual boys create a major parent-school-administrative crisis. The comic strip's syndicators issued a statement that essentially says this: the current plot based on young homosexual boys represents a straw man argument "with one side demanding acceptance and the other side expressing intolerance."
In a nation that is already nearly ripped to shreds by partisan issues, what's so funny about that?
Another long-running strip about a medical doctor has the doctor openly gossiping about emerging alcoholic behavior in a daughter of a semi-recovered alcoholic novelist who "accidently" died under murky circumstances. The doctor, through the tonality of the comic strip, expresses a non-medical and unprofessional view of alcoholism, failing to focus on the fact that it is an AMA-certified disease , not a quasi-moral condition in its late stages that can be easily corrected.
In a nation where alcoholism, alcohol abuse and drug addiction/abuse run at least as high as 10 percent of the U.S. population, what's so funny about that?
Finally (and there were more), another popular comic strip today profiles a fictional job search by a dysfunctional slacker character who has no concept of reality. He is portrayed as clueless and having no chance at gainful employment. At best it represents low-brow toxic sarcasm.
In a nation that has very serious generational productivity issues and is just barely coming off of double-digit unemployment rates, what's so funny about that?
In the 1960s, I used to read comic strips about heroes and good people triumphing over evil. I used to read genuinely funny short pieces that poked fun at real life and lightened a day. To be sure there are still a few of those around. You probably have your own favorites.
But increasingly, comics aggressively profile the dark side of human life. Or they illustrate juicy high-octane societal issues and present behavioral points of view that more appropriately belong on the editorial page.
How do we tolerate this? As an editor friend of mine (who heads up a large urban U.S. newspaper) once told me, "People are unbelievably passionate about their comics. We choose what we publish with great care, reflecting our readers' desires and interests."
With that in mind, it reminds me of an ancient statement about a society that turns from God: "Your whole head [one's cognitive reasoning capacity] is injured, your whole heart [one's capacity for moral discernment] afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head [one's capacity to live according to healthy principles] there is no soundness" (Isaiah 1:5-6 [5] Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
[6] From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
See All..., New International Version).
What some often think is "funny" today is what many—if not most—people used to regard as "twisted." To be sure, people can get wrapped a little too tight emotionally and be a little too serious about some things, but when sarcasm—a bitter and painful discourse that it often called "the lowest form of humor"—dominates along with the promotion of social trends that run counter to biblical values, then we have to literally ask: "what's wrong with this picture?"
To correct this and protect ourselves, the Bible urges us to "call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding" (Proverbs 2:2-3 [2] So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
[3] Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
See All..., NIV) to shelter our mental and emotional capacities. Then God, who promises to supply us with everything we need (Philippians 4:19) will step forward with this spiritual shield: "Wisdom will enter your heart…Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you" (Proverbs 2:10-11 [10] When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
[11] Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
See All..., NIV).
You don't have to give up the newspaper comics page to be a Christian. But as with all things in this life, you must seek spiritual discernment and the resultant peace of God, which "will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7, NIV).
If you would like more information about how to seek and receive spiritual discernment, request (or download) our free booklet: Making Life Work . This free publication, which you can browse in a single setting, offers practical, Bible-based insight.
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