Monday, July 24, 2006

Click here

Over the past fifty years Jack Chick has printed more religious tracts than anyone alive. He has translated his texts into a plethora of languages and his tracts and comic books are well known to many evangelical faiths worldwide.

But now he finds himself challenged by an expatriate American author looking to set the record straight on Jack Chick's controversial portrayals.

"These vicious lies by Jack Chick and his cohorts have gone on far, far too long," said Gary Dale Cearley, author of Click here, "They claim to be lovers of God but it is impossible to love God and not respect the truth."

Gary Dale Cearley is an American born in the Deep South but now lives the life of an expatriate in Vietnam. Cearley knew of Jack Chick's tracts from when he was growing up in southwestern Arkansas. Back in the days of his youth he thought Chick was doing the world a favor. "Jack Chick was a real Christian in my mind when I was young," said Cearley, "but my whole opinion of him changed when I started receiving e-mails containing the story line 'How the Vatican Created Islam'. I saw immediately that Chick, through the testimony of this fraud Alberto Rivera, was intent defaming two faiths at the expense of historical truths. So I became impassioned. I had to publicly refute the whole bogus story."

Why did Chick Publications start publishing these stories?

"I believe that in Jack Chick's own way of thinking, he is battling Satan directly," explained Gary Dale, "If you look at the tracts through the history of Chick Publications you will see that in the early days of Jack Chick's tract business he focused on the sins and the sinners, but as his tract empire grew so did the target base of his tracts. He broadened his scope to include "enemy religions", for lack of a better term. More and more instead of attacking the sin he began to directly attack these other religious groups such as Jews, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses. But some of his most powerful volleys were aimed at Muslims and Catholics."

'How the Vatican Created Islam' was based on the Chick Publications comic book tract 'The Prophet' and had been read by millions of people around the world. It has been posted on hundreds of well visited websites as well, including that of David Icke. The story, narrated by Alberto Rivera, who claimed to be a former Jesuit, recounts a history of Islam filled with lots of historical events and famous people with all the intrigue of an excellent conspiracy theory.

Rivera's first paragraph begins: "What I'm going to tell you is what I learned in secret briefings in the Vatican when I was a Jesuit priest, under oath and induction. A Jesuit cardinal named Augustine Bea showed us how desperately the Roman Catholics wanted Jerusalem at the end of the third century. Because of its religious history and its strategic location, the Holy City was considered a priceless treasure. A scheme had to be developed to make Jerusalem a Roman Catholic city."

Rivera also reveals that the  Vatican "engineers a campaign of hatred between the Muslim Arabs and the Jews. Before this, they had co-existed peacefully."

"The main problem is that is was all wrong," said Cearley, "They told a very good story, an incredible story. But the facts do not hold up to scrutiny. So I set out to set the record straight. I really set out to insure that Chick and Rivera did not get away with slander."

Casual readers who appreciate history would also find that Cearley's version of the story makes for interesting reading as well. He provides all of the historical backdrops behind his rebuttals and clarifications of the Rivera testimony. "I like reading history. It is one of my favorite things to do. So I wanted to write this book in a way that people who also enjoy reading history will have a good time reading my book," explained Cearley.

So what will Jack Chick have to say about Gary Dale Cearley's book?