BishopAccountability.org
	Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles, Tintin! By Sarah Pollak Christian Broadcasting Network July 17, 2007 http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/196349.aspx Tintin a racist for the way his illustrator portrays Africans? I've seen many stories out there about this topic. The strange thing is that I haven't seen any interviews with people from the Congo as to whether they are offended by the drawings of Belgian author and illustrator Herge. When I was a girl, my best friend and I would take turns dramatizing the voices of all the Tintin characters and read them in to our tape recorder, providing hours of listening fun for us later. So, I am familiar with the series of comic books, however I don't recall ever reading Tintin in the Congo. After seeing the pictures in news reports, I think the way he depicts the residents of the Congo as simple "savages" and "apes" is wrong. I do not agree with it or condone it. A few months ago, I watched the old American movie "Africa Screams" with Abbot and Costello. I hear it was a spoof of a movie from 1930 called "Africa Speaks." The movies were very similar to the Tintin book in the way they portrayed the Africans. To understand this portrayal, you have to look at it in the context of when it was written and produced. It seems Herge was reflecting society's perceptions of Africans at the time. Was he a racist? Maybe. Remember, when these comics were drawn in 1931, Africa was still mostly colonized by other countries. Africa was the stereotypical "dark continent" where people went to go "hunt big game." This does not excuse his ignorance, but it might explain it. In fact, a CNN report quoted a man who said that towards the end of his life, Herge said in an interview that if he had it to do all over, he would have done things differently. What is the Biblical response to racial discrimination? Well, that in itself could take days to write about. Over the centuries, there has been abuse of throngs of people based on twisted interpretation of Scripture by people who really didn't seem to have a real relationship with Jesus. In brief, here's what we do know…the indisputable facts based on the Bible. Genesis says God has created all men equally. Psalms tells us that He forms people in their mother's wombs-regardless of race or gender. John tells us that God loved the WORLD so much that He gave His Son, Jesus, to die to pay for the sins of all. Romans says that there is no difference between "Jew and gentile" and that EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This doesn't even get in to all the commands to love one another, treat others better than yourself, etc. I'd LOVE to hear what you think about Tintin. Is the bookstore chain Borders in England and the U.S. wrong to stop selling the book in the kid's section? Are they wrong in putting a giant red disclaimer on the front cover of the book? (Click here to read the full story about Borders' decision.) Please drop me a line and I'll post the best responses later this week. By the way, I am also going to be posting some pictures of snow from Africa Matters' readers. This is the last call for pictures…if you have some, send them before Wednesday, 3 PM EST.
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