Legacy Matters

Problems with Obits of 'B.C.' Cartoonist Johnny Hart

Since I only read an occasional cartoon, I missed the passing of Johnny Hart.

Hart's "B.C." strip was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate Inc., which distributes it.

"He was generally regarded as one of the best cartoonists we've ever had," Hart's friend Mell Lazarus, creator of the "Momma" and "Miss Peach" comic strips, said from his California home. "He was totally original. 'B.C' broke ground and led the way for a number of imitators, none of which ever came close."

Then  I read A 'fundamental' problem in 'B.C.' obits in the GetReligion blog.    An unapologetic Christian, Hart incorporated Christian messages into his cartoons at Easter and Christmas, which ticked some people off and pleased many more.  Several newspapers dropped the strip

A reminder to the New York Times and the Washington Post — Many American Christians consider the terms “fundamentalist” and “fundamentalism” to be pejorative. In the 1910s and 1920s, the term referred to a Christian who believed in the “fundamentals” of the faith — the Virgin Birth of Christ, his sinless life, his atoning death, his bodily resurrection and his second coming in the clouds of glory.

Since then, however, the term “fundamentalist” has been hijacked. Today, it is an insult, a slur, a code word the Manhattan media and others use to marginalize people. It’s not nice to call someone a fundamentalist when they’re alive. It’s even worse to use the term in an obituary.

I guessed they missed the memo NYT editor Bill Keller sent to his staff in 2005 which Terry Mattingly excerpts.