THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407010108
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Issues of Faith
SOURCE: Betsy Wright
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
NUMEROUS RESPONSES came in about last week's column on Bill Keen's ``The Family Circus'' cartoon portrayal of a child baptizing her doll in a toilet.
From Pat Stultz of Norfolk: ``Last week's column was a cool breath in all the humidity of today's cynicism. I recall years ago when my youngest told her class that her daddy's name was in the Lord's prayer. We didn't realize she had been saying `Cletus not into temptation' instead of `lead us not into temptation.' Cletus was her daddy's name. ''
From Tommy Steel of Virginia Beach: ``What you overlooked was that the toddler did not draw (the cartoon). It was drawn by an adult who should have had more respect for a Christian ritual than to choose a commode for his story. Do you think putting the cross in a jar of urine is also funny?''
From Carol Chappell of Wake Forest, N.C.: ``I cherish the Bible as the inspired word of God and the Christian sacraments for what they are, as you so clearly stated, expressions of God, but not God.
``Humor is vital to balanced living. It lightens our burdens. It lifts our spirits. . . . Thank you for a refreshing, sane and enlightening viewpoint. A little humor . . . I'm all for it!''
From G. Porter of Norfolk: ``I firmly believe that Jesus must have told his share of jokes and that he and the disciples sat chuckling many times. . . . If (Jesus) had seen the Family Circus cartoon, I believe he would have found it very amusing.''
From Thelma K. Jones of Norfolk: ``I don't understand why Betsy consults a rabbi about the Christian religion? Concerning the toilet baptism cartoon: This cartoon was created by an adult and not a child. This cartoon was approved by an adult who knew it would be offensive to Christians. Why a toilet? You cannot see the Anti-Christ in these insidious insults to our religious beliefs because you are bent so far over trying to please everyone. Jesus said, `He who is not with me is against me.' ''
From Gerri Frank of Portsmouth: ``I agreed with your column thoroughly. I'm a Catholic and I cut these cartoons out and we put them on our church bulletin board. That's how much we think of them. They are comical, but it is a good sense of comedy. This is what we need in this world today.''
And last, from Pat Everett of Camden, N.C., came a delightful story. Pat also sent a photocopy of a postcard depicting a laughing Jesus Christ drawn by Bo Bartlett in 1975. The original painting hangs in St. Mary's Episcopal Church in West Jefferson, N.C. (I'm sending for my own copy today, Pat! Thanks!)
`` `Lighten up and laugh' was my thought also. . . . Family Circus must be created by a parent and a Christian. That cartoon and Dennis the Menace often show a child's view of what goes on in church.
``I am married to a United Methodist minister and am the mother of four children. Church life can be humorous at best! Parsonage life can also be hilarious at times. . . .
``I'm convinced God has a sense of humor. My husband's first church assignment was Cedar Island United Methodist Church. Cedar Island had one small grocery store . . . Forty miles away, in Beaufort, N.C., there was the closest chain grocery. People in the church shared with us. They kept us in seafood, eggs and vegetables . . . One Saturday, my husband noticed our eggs were gone . . . I insisted that he not go to the store, that we should trust God and our church family that the eggs would come. They always did. Well . . answer it and collect the eggs I believed would be provided. A sweet, elderly neighbor with a paper bag in hand smiled when I opened the door.
``Imagine my surprise when I looked in the bag to find a big purple eggplant. Imagine her puzzlement when my `thank you' was surrounded by my family's laughter!
``That was my proof that God has a sense of humor.
``P.S. That one Sunday long ago, we had eggplant for breakfast and I still can't look at an eggplant today without laughing!'' MEMO: Every other week, Betsy Mathews Wright publishes responses to her
opinion column. Send responses to Issues of Faith, The Virginian-Pilot,
150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510; call (804) 446-2273; FAX
(804) 436-2798; or send computer message via bmw infi.net. Deadline is
Tuesday prior to publication. Must include name, city and phone number.
by CNB