Jesus Minus Jesus
Way back in 2008, an Irish technology manager named Dan Walsh got a lot of attention for removing Garfield from Garfield comics, re-contextualizing John Arbuckle to be delusional, alone, and sad. He called them “Garfield Minus Garfield.”
For example, this…
…became this:
And also came these gems:
Another comic strip that has caught my eye lately is from Naked Pastor (aka David Hayward) but for completely different reasons. David Hayward illustrates what commonly goes wrong with Christianity. His comics cause people to reflect on their faith biases and how the church hides abuse.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Though I relate greatly with is work, he uses a recurring theme of Jesus defending LGBTQA+ people that I can’t relate to. I grew up gay in Fundamentalism. I begged God to help “fix me” and “help me” since I was 14 years old and discovered my unwelcome attraction, but I was left alone. When I left Fundamentalism at 28, many told me to try a more Liberal Christianity that allows for people to be gay. For God to be real to me, I have to answer why he heard he beg for his help while I repressed my sexuality for 14 years. If real, he did nothing to help alleviate my shame while I passionately sought to know him personally. Or begged not to go to hell, a fear I gained from having faith in him.
I hope he doesn’t mind, but I removed Jesus from a few of Naked Pastor’s comics (like Garfield Minus Garfield) to express what my experience felt like now that I look back:
Liberal Christianity is great for many LGBTQ+ people, and I support that. In my experience, it wasn’t helpful and having it pushed on me was an obstacle. It took me a long time to deconstruct and process my worldview enough to be able to express this without frustration toward people of faith. It’s a sign of healing from my Religious Trauma Syndrome, and I hope others my experience may empower others with similar experiences.
Brady Hardin (@bradyhardin) is a co-creator of The Life After Podcast and Community
