Monday, March 28, 2011

Coda to "Why I'm Not A Universalist"

Well, to a lot of my posts, really. I've been loading programs into my new computer, and a little while ago loaded my CD collection of Mad Magazines- every issue up through December, 1998. Naturally, I had to test the installation by reading a few of my favorites. For those not familiar with the Mad Magazine of yore, it was quite the literate magazine for the first 25 years or so- gonzo, yes, but not juvenile. The contributors also had a keen understanding of the American zeitgeist- that's what made their satire so funny. Even when you knew their portrayals were twisted, you knew they were the conventional wisdom. So check out this piece from nearly 40 years ago.
Mad Magazine, September 1972


The Mad "Religion In America" Primer


Chapter 8 The Minister

This is a Baptist Minister.

He is delivering a sermon.

It is a very important sermon.

It is all about non-religious people.

He tells about people who worship idols.

He calls them Paganists.

He tells them about people who aren't sure there is a God.

He calls them Agnostics.

He tells about the worst people of all.

People who don't believe there's a God.

People who are threatening to destroy religion as we know it.

He calls them Unitarians!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm happy to have found your blog. I'm a liberal UU (not a stretch there) and interested in learning more about conservative points of view.

As for the Mad Magazine excerpt, did Tom Koch by any chance write that? He was a Mad Magazine author and attended the UU church in which I was raised. I remember him being hilarious and serious at the same time.

Joel Monka said...

No, it was written by Larry Siegel.