Battle Cry July/August 2007, Jack Chick and associates

During my indoctrination into the Aggie Church [Assemblies of God] at a younger age, I was exposed to Jack T. Chick tracts and indeed I used them in my "witnessing" to bring people into fundamentalism christianhood. I was unaware of some of the controversies involved and would have dismissed it as "the work of Satan" if I had known. I had never heard of Alberto Rivera, Elaine Moses and her cohort Rebecca Brown [a.k.a. Dr. Ruth Bailey], John Todd, or Bill Schnoebelen. I did know and read the works of Charles Finney and Hal Lindsay. [By the way Hal, what happened to the rapture occurring in 1981?]

I look back on that period of my life with mixed emotions. The problems that I'd had fitting in socially were not alleviated by my forays into pentecostalism. Nor were my fantasies about women relieved. Two things did happen during that time that may have ultimately saved my life. It was a church member who called my father and blew the whistle on my mother's physical abuse. And I took a break from drinking and using street drugs. It was during that break that I was exposed to an accurate definition of addiction. I remembered that definition several years later when I was seeking a way out of my own active addiction.

Husband [non-theist] has an obsession with Jack Chick tracts. To my chagrin, he dropped-- I think it was-- 15 bucks on a box of them and now he is on the list to receive a copy of each new freebie as it comes out. Additionally, he gets a bi-monthly copy of Jack Chick's little 16 page "Battle Cry."

Jack Chick has been a long-time advocate of conspiracy theories regarding the Vatican, the Illuminati, and witchcraft. Via contact with the late Alberto Rivera and the now convicted rapist alleged former satanic high priest and Green Beret John Todd, Chick has made various claims in his tracts that are not historically accurate. Among the claims are that the Vatican orchestrated the founding of the Muslim religion and the Holocaust, and that an unholy triad of witches, Masons, and Catholics [some being Jesuits a.k.a. Illuminati] have infiltrated all or most christian churches. Sucks to be christian these days. According to Chickology, one can't trust the cops or the folks in most christian churches these days.

Jack Chick has [wisely] chosen to distance himself from the now dead Elaine Moses and her controversial defrocked physician cohort Ruth Bailey/Rebecca Brown. Both have claimed to be witches who converted to Christ. Brown authored a book about curses on christians and others. Elaine Moses claimed to have literally married Satan [in a white tuxedo] and then supposedly traveled all over Europe and the U.S.A. on behalf of some huge satanic network. Brown was brought up on charges [as Dr. Ruth Bailey] for doing things like praying over patients for deliverance from demons, diagnosing non-existent illnesses in patients, claiming special knowledge of healing including sharing Moses' leukemia very much in the fashion of pranic healing but with the twist of actually [allegedly] coming down with Moses' leukemia herself, and injecting people with non-medically necessary controlled substances for treatment of the non-medically existing diseases.

In the July/August issue of Battle Cry in the editorial on page 15-16, Jack Chick claims that the [now dead] Alberto Rivera as a [supposed] Jesuit was told that Pope John Paul II [also dead] in pre-papal days of lusting after the young boys of the factory workers he was [supposedly] assigned to investigate priests who were assigned to minister to Polish factory workers. Alberto Rivera was no Jesuit, despite his pretensions otherwise. He was a bit of a con man and a fraud. Many christian bookstores removed the Alberto comics when he was found out. Chick touted the action as a victory for the Vatican and Satan. In the editorial, there is an oblique reference to the controversy.

Also in this issue are advertisements for various books-- including one by anti-Mason and alleged former wiccan turned satanist Bill Schnoebelen-- witnessing and tract-passing tips, a summary of a lawsuit allowing a bible study outfit to send inmates who request it material [note: an outcome which I believe is correct according to the described circumstances], and references to the sexual abuse scandal within some catholic churches in California [continuation column on page 7 subtitled "Homosexual Subculture"], and a few other tidbits.

The back cover features a cartoon frame equating Islam's promise of peace with chopping the heads off of the infidels. A tiny chick in the right-hand corner says, "Ouch" much in the fashion of Spike the dog in some of the tracts.

I found the editorial in the July/August issue of Battle Cry to be particularly abhorrent. Then again, Jack Chick is known to be anti many things and to use inaccurate or made-up information as the basis of the biographical stories featured in his tracts.

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http://faith.propadeutic.com/authors/fundamental

http://www.squidoo.com/garydale/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Rivera

http://www.monsterwax.com/chicktapes2.html

http://www.catholic.com/library/sr_chick_tracts_p5.asp

http://www.chick.com/reading/comics/0112/indefense.asp

http://members.aol.com/monsterwax/Contents.htm

http://www.witchvox.com/protection/kerr_chick1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Brown

http://members.tripod.com/monsterwax/brown1a.html

http://www.kt70.com/~jamesjpn/articles/closet_witches.html

http://www.holysmoke.org/wb/wb0073.htm

http://answers.org/satan/brown.html

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2919/brown.html

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp

http://www.fecundity.com/pmagnus/darkdung.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Todd_(evangelist)

http://www.kt70.com/~jamesjpn/articles/john_todd_and_the_illuminati.htm

http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/todd00.htm

http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys3/jtc-jtc.htm

http://www.masonicinfo.com/schnoebelen.htm

http://www.holysmoke.org/wicca/bills00.htm

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=cabc&c=whs&id=4355

Order of the Phoenix

Friday, husband and I went to see the long-awaited "Order of the Phoenix," the fifth of seven Harry Potter movies. I was impressed. The array of special effects was stunning, the plot did leave out lots of stuff present in the book [Hollywood time constraints I suppose], and the development of several characters was notable.

It is noted that Ginny Weasley had a very minor role in this movie and hopefully that will be remedied. Luna Lovegood did remarkably well with her bit, acting every bit the part of a budding young conspiracy theorists. Voldemort remains the evil that everyone loves to hate.

I am noting nothing about the storyline in this review for the sake of those fans who have not been to see the movie yet. With this movie and the seventh book being released within 10 days of each other, there is much cause for rejoicing in those of us who have awaited every new book and every new movie with the eagerness of Snape dealing out detentions to a Griffindor.

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Two Forks, Maine

A friend who is nuts over white-water rafting wanted to goto this place in Maine for a few days and I went along.

We left on Sunday with my doggie looking out the bedroom window and crying. That was a bit sad.
There is no direct route to this place. It took seven hours or so. And the last bit of that was on a rather dinky road.
Ah, but the scenery was most rewarding. There were pine trees and little houses and stores and water and all of that.

The pictures in the on-line brochure really are a poor representation of The Forks Resort Center. Actually, The Forks looked a tad run down.
The lodge was not as splendid, the hot tub was made of metal, the pool had a line of algae along the rim.

The cabins and lake were sweet though.

Our room had comfortable albeit noisy beds, hooks and hangers but no dressers at all.
The air-conditioner [an older model hung out the window] worked well.
No phone in the room-- not even a direct line to the front office or emergency number-- was a safety hazard.
No television was forgivable since the wifi signal reached upward.
And the price-- 25 bucks or so per person per night-- was right.

For dinner Sunday, I had a huge portion of dead cow cooked as steak-- just the way I had ordered it and deliciously flavored with herbs and spices. Along with that came a salad [satisfactory green stuff], mashed red potatoes, and three very large grilled slices of squash.

Monday dawned wet and got wetter.
Friend went off on her white water rafting adventure [$129 buckeroos] after a false start [a showing of a vid and a solicitation to rent a wetsuit]. She came back looking very much like a frozen dead rat.
I spent most of the day sleeping. I did some puttering on the computer.
Friend and I went to the outskirts of Jackman to a trading post which had cool tourist trap stuff.
For dinner we split a plate of nachos. At 5 bucks apiece, it was a bargain. And quite tasty.
A huge portion which included the nachos, cheese, black olives, peppers, onions, and salsa.

Tuesday was a sunny-cloudy-sunny sort of day. The breakfast buffet was like buffets all over. Not distinguishable from any other breakfast buffet. Morning was spent poolside.
Afternoon we went off to Moxie Falls, a quiet stroll of less than a mile to some very turbulent water with signs advising not to even wade.
In spite of the danger, there were two locals jumping off of one rock into a swimming hole.
We also found a small memorial to someone who ?had died? at the falls.
The water was brown from tannic acid and the rocks were all broken up into slender pieces of bluish-gray.

We went off to a meeting that night at the library in Jackman.
It was a small meeting and everyone felt they had to tell us that no one could get sober and stay that way without god.
The regular members were warm and welcoming there, a point in their favor.
We ate at a little diner afterwards. I had a nice juicy reuben.

Today being Wednesday, we packed up and left with rain whipping at our backs.
Yeah it did rain more.
We did get home and doggie was happy to see me.


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DRUG COURT GRADUATION

I went to Drug Court last week to support a young friend who was graduating from the program there. Drug court is a concept which is spreading throughout New York State. A county judge presides over each one. Some drug courts are very large and have massive community tie-ins and supports. Others are struggling with funding issues and thus are limited in how many people they can help.

When someone is brought before the justice system on charged related to or stemming from chemical addiction, if they are fortunate, someone from drug court will visit them in jail to determine if they are eligible and motivated to stay out of jail or prison. If so, they are released from jail, placed on probation, and must follow their individual treatment programs.

Drug Court is not something that people can just skate through. They are subject to random urine screenings and must report to drug court as directed, usually biweekly. They are given forms to take with them to self-help programs which much be signed by someone there as proof of attendance. The drug court participant must attend day treatment programs on weekdays and any other counseling as directed. Sometimes, they must interview at halfway houses and then follow the dictates of those residential programs as well. Drug court is strenuous by definition. Those who miss days at treatment, are caught driving after losing their licenses, relapse, do not obtain employment after completing a day treatment program, or have a dirty urine may be sanctioned by the court and remanded to jail for a long weekend or two weeks. Occasionally, a drug court participant violates their probation and must go to prison. Almost all drug court participants complete and many go on to maintain abstinence and become productive members of society.

After going through a cursory screening, I walked down the hall and entered the courtroom. The jury boxes on either side of the judge were occupied by treatment professionals and law personnel. I sat in the general audience with the families and friends of the graduates and with those who were not graduating yet. Everyone was dressed up rather nicely. There were no jeans or casual clothing in evidence. The bailiff and sheriff personnel had on their crisp blue uniforms. The judge appeared in a suit rather than in robes.

That afternoon, instead of participants meeting for an hour beforehand to talk, the judge went into what is usually done second-- he called up the participants one by one to his bench to ask how they were doing. Two people were sent to jail for a long weekend. One had missed two days of treatment and one had not brought in his meeting attendance slips. Many people were told, "We have a very good report on you. Well done!" Each was asked by the judge if things were going alright or if they had anything to tell him or how their family was. The judge was obviously familiar with all participants.

While speaking to each one, the judge would dispense tidbits of wisdom. "You have to have a Plan B" was one phrase. "There are consequences for your actions" was another. In speaking to one man who had lost his third job in as many months, the judge told him, "You and your bosses butt heads. You need the job. I want you to have long-term employment at one place. You have to back down. Do not let your machismo take over. Understand?" Another man said he didn't know why two halfway houses had rejected his application. He had three more to hear from and another interview scheduled. After a few minutes of hemming and hawing and then finally admitting that he told the last director of a halfway house that he didn't like group homes, the judge thundered at him, "What do you know about group homes that makes you think you know you won't like it???" The man continued to present excuses. "I think you are sabotaging your interviews," the judge declared. A third, a woman, was cheered because she had managed to gain weight. [She was overly thin]. Everyone clapped for her. A fourth man was advised to get or borrow a bicycle for when his car broke so he could pedal to treatment and to meetings-- that was one of the Plan B people. A fifth was instructed to stick around because the judge wanted to speak with him privately. All of that went smoothly. Folks were called up in alphabetical order. A few seemed a bit nervous. Most were not.

After it was over, a defense attorney who had been the victim of property destruction by the hands of one graduate when drunk gave him his graduation certificate. The judge handed out all of the other other certificates of completion, telling a bit about each graduate and how far they had come, and also reading from something each had written beforehand about how they had changed. Each graduate also said a few words. There were many stories of people who were drunk or high a lot, drove drunk or high a lot, were estranged from their families, were unemployable, had been arrested three, four, five, or six times, had been through treatment programs before and didn't make it. It was heart-warming. Graduates had between fifteen months and two years of sobriety. All graduates were employed full-time or had completed schooling. My friend who graduated had had his house raided. 1000 pounds of mushroom-laced chocolate was recovered during that raid. Before drug court, he had flunked out of a two year college in three and a half years. During his time at Drug Court, he was able to graduate a community college with a 3.75 average and is on his way to a bachelors. He has plans to get a masters.

After the graduation, we went out to a jury room where a nice spread of sandwiches was laid out, along with fresh fruit platters, cookies, pastries, fruit punch, sodas, and coffee. The food had been prepared by members of Lifeworks! Lifeworks! is composed of some folks who are currently in drug court, some who had graduated and a few family members. The tuna sandwiches, [artificial] crab salad sandwiches, and egg salad sandwiches were prepared on small hoagie rolls. I had an egg salad-- it was good. Graduate friend had one of each. Pineapples and strawberries were fine specimens and delicious. Cantaloupe also looked fresh. Pastries from a nearby Italian bakery were tasty.

Everyone who had stayed on to eat were looking pretty happy and excited chatter filled the room. I knew almost everybody there. Friend left because his father [who wasn't able to get the time off of work for the graduation] was there to pick him up. He and his parents were going out to dinner. I spent the rest of the time talking with a treatment professional that I know casually.

For those with concerns about forced treatment programs for addictions, I write this addendum. The participants of drug court were able to resume their lives and stay out of the criminal justice system. They are not accepted into drug court if they do not want to be there and would rather just complete their jail terms or prison sentences. [And yes, some do refuse drug court]. Participation in drug court is an alternative to time behind bars. As such, the participants must be under severe strictures, watched, monitored. They must remain abstinent in order to continue to live in their homes during their time in drug court. They must follow the program guidelines. All of that is as it should be.

Drug court teaches people that their actions do have consequences, that they must change playmates, playpens, and playthings in order to avoid jail time, that they must be responsible for their problems, that they must have a Plan B because the drug court judge does not accept excuses or rationalizations for bad behaviors.

The success rate of people who attend a drug court and required treatment [day treatment; or day treatment plus halfway house] is higher than those who attend any treatment or self-help programs without a drug court. Drug court is another tool that we now have at our disposal in order to mitigate the effects of addiction on society. Putting someone in drug court is cheaper than housing them in the criminal justice system. And many many times more effective in terms of self-rehabilitation.

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Mr. Brooks and Shrek 3

A couple of nights ago, husband and I went to see the movie "Mr. Brooks" featuring William Hurt, Kevin Costner, and Meryl Streep. Kevin Costner is Mr. Brooks, a filthy rich business man with a rather bloody little secret. Marshall, his devious alter-ego played by William Hurt, steals the show. Meryl Streep, Mr. Brooks' wife did alright. His daughter however was just too cute and rather enjoyable as she mirrored my own relationship with my dad when I was younger-- although I was never that coy.

Mr. Brooks is driven by an addiction and goes to the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous-- identifying himself as "an addict"-- to try to escape it. That is only a very small part of the movie but it was the hook which prompted husband to want to go see the movie. Marshall loves the bad thing. He also offers brilliant insights into the workings of his fellow men.

There is one genuinely heart-racing scene involving a white van; and quite a few dramatic holding on to the edge of your psyche scenes. While the two people behind us appeared to dislike the movie and were too loud about it for my taste, husband and I enjoyed it.

Movie has mood music which some folks may not care for. Audiences who are not involved in 12-step programs and who prefer action, action, action would do better to spend their bucks elsewhere. Those of us who like psychological thrillers will enjoy.

***

A week ago, husband and I went to see Shrek 3. I concur with the real movie critics who say 3 was better than 2 but not as good as 1. The sneaky adult-level jokes are missing. The frog-king and the motley assortment of friends and defenders remain very very cool. Ani of course is awesome.

My favorite character remains the orange pussycat and the voice I most dislike remains Pinocchio. Arthur the high school student is introduced and I suspect there will be a Shrek 4. Husband and I will go see 4 I am sure, if only to categorize 4 on the scale of excellence to okay but...

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