Charles Schulz, Secular Humanist

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 4:10pm

The CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS thread made me do a little digging, and I was surprised that for all the quoting of Scripture in PEANUTS, the beloved Charles Shulz may not have been what may people consider "Christian" - and in fact, he descibed himself as a "secular humanist" - a phrase that strikes terror in the hearts of religious fundementalist conservatives.

Excerpt from a 1995 interview:

"Just the week before, Schulz--whom his friends call Sparky--had been attacked in print by a fundamentalist media pundit who disliked his creative use of Scripture in a recent Peanuts strip.

"They're so narrow-minded on things," he said with a laugh, clearly taken aback at the criticism. "They're either offended that you've quoted Scripture, or delighted."

Schulz revealed that in the years following World War II he'd been quite involved in the Church of God in Minneapolis, occasionally dabbling in what he called "some very lousy preaching."

Though his philosophical views evolved over the years--"The term that best describes me now is 'secular humanist,'" he explained--his characters continued to quote biblical passages, occasionally musing about the darker inconsistencies of religion. These thoughtful reflections were never heavy-handed; rather, Schulz had become the reigning master of the lighter-than-air, spiritually resonant comic-strip koan.

"I'm the only one who's done it," he shrugged, smiling his somewhat baffled smile.

He was right. While some critics occasionally dismissed Peanuts as being old-fashioned or irrelevant, Schulz had, in fact, crafted a determinedly philosophical comic strip that, if not exactly edgy (read: angry), was nothing if not intellectually daring.

"I despise those shallow religious comics," he said. "Dennis the Menace, for instance, is the most shallow. When they show him praying--I just can't stand that sort of thing, talking to God about some cutesy thing that he'd done during the day. I don't think Hank Ketcham [Dennis' creator] has any deep knowledge of things like that."

He cringed when I mentioned Family Circus, the strip by Bill Keane that is strewn with cutesy references to Jesus (who wants to protect children on school buses, but can't because of laws about separation of church and state!) and those sickly-sweet images of invisible deceased grandparents looming protectively over the kids.

"Oh, I can't stand that," Schulz laughed. "You could get diabetes reading them, couldn't you?"




Good Grief! You're a Secular Humanist, Charlie Brown!

Updated On: 12/4/06 at 04:10 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 4:21pm

Those were the days...before "secular humanist" and "liberal" were bad words.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 4:23pm

Too bad you spelled his name wrong EVEN THOUGH you pulled direct quotes from an article where it is spelled correctly.

Charles Schulz was an increadible man from everything I've read. He is missed.

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 4:42pm

I am a "huge" fan of Peanuts (I try to purchase all the books and films as soon as they come out), and consider him a genius. And yeah, from everything that I've read and seen, he was an extremely humble, warm, caring, nostalgic, sentimental, and free-spirited person.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 4:52pm

Oh let's compare this to the guy who writes "B.C." comic (I've blocked out his name) who manages to fill his strip with endless references to Christ despite it being set thousands of years before the BIRTH of Christ!

[Calvin]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 5:02pm

Johnny Hart. I think he's senile, because besides being occassionally offensive, B.C. never makes sense.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 5:03pm

Exactly what I was thinking, PJ.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 5:54pm

Objecting to Charles Schulz on anything he did is CRAZY

The man was a genius & his strip will live forever. What a legacy .

Updated On: 12/4/06 at 05:54 PM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 6:10pm

"Too bad you spelled his name wrong EVEN THOUGH you pulled direct quotes from an article where it is spelled correctly."

Someone had a big bowl of GRUMPY FLAKES for lunch I see!

Updated On: 12/4/06 at 06:10 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 6:16pm

No

I did not read the article so it was hard for me to take a quote from it.

Never assume etc etc

Updated On: 12/4/06 at 06:16 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 7:52pm

i learned to draw by studying PEANUTS and CASPER comics.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 8:14pm

"Charles Schulz was an increadible man from everything I've read."

Actually, you should probably dig a little deeper. Sparky was known to be a world class crank. Lifelong depression will do that to a fella.

And PalJoey, "secular humanist" had its first round as a dirty phrase in the late-'70s/early-'80s. The Moral Majority articulated "secular humanism" as its earthly enemy at that time. I was a bit startled to see Bill O'Lielly reintroduce the phrase in his appearance on The View several weeks ago. I thought "That's all he's got?" and remembered that everything old is new again.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 10:30pm

n69n--Charles Schulz would have LOVED your illustrations, and so would Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, who created casper.

And namo--I had no idea the description as an insult was that old. I know it only from the past 10 years.

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 10:35pm

ok , so grumpy flakes is my new favorite expression
on topic
Charles Schultz is a genius
that is all

[Unknown User]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 10:44pm

just coz he was depressed doesnt mean he was a bad person...just realistic.

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 12:06am

Namo, it's true that Schulz struggled with depression, but if anything, I think that makes his work greater. Many, many (if not most) creative individuals struggle with depression; and for many, Schulz included, it gives more depth to their work.

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 12:11am

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 12:14am

Believe you me yous guys, I'm not saying his depression made him bad. I am saying it did render him notoriously prickly. I thought the last ten or so years of the strip were not up to par, they often seemed to start en media res and go nowhere. But there's no denying the decades of mostly-genius that came before.

[roquat]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 2:04am

Oh, you'd be cranky too if you had to deal with some of the stuff he had to deal with--and not only religious objections. When he introduced "Franklin" in the 1960s there were actual letters to the editor in certain newspapers (mostly in the South) that objected to strips showing an Afro-American child sharing a classroom with white children (phrased in disgustingly condescending language, i.e.--"We would appreciate it if future strips did not deal with this sort of content.") This was during the school-segregation issue, remember. He rose above it, refusing even to answer such complaints.

[DG]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 3:09am

They sent his work into the cosmos, as a part of the representation of who WE are. That covers his legacy for me.

But, I still resonate more with Theodore Geisel.

[cturtle]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 4:19am

i visited sparky's ice skating rink in santa rosa one time. it was cool.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 6:05am

In 1999, Christopher Caldwell wrote one of the least sentimental asessments of PEANUTS - one I largely agree with (though I think Peppermint Patty and Marcie, whom Caldwell only mentions in passing, are two of the Schulz' greatest characters).
Against Snoopy

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 12:15pm

Remember his cranky response to the color-blind casting of the "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" revival?

ETA Great article. I am forever better for having read the phrase, "a kind of daily pornography of sentimentalism."

Updated On: 12/5/06 at 12:15 PM

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 12:48pm

I really enjoyed the article, especially since I was once one of those who did not "get" the depth of Peanuts when I was young.
It simply wasn't there for most of that time, the strip was about Snoopy, and insufferable at times. I must say that sometimes little spurts of Greatness came back out.

Now, looking back at those older strips, the genius of the Comic still surprises me.

As to the debate here: I just don't see one, Schultz was a crank, and an artist, generally a complex figure. Faults are interesting. That the strip could have been even greater is probably true.

It is interesting that within these two articles one called him "devout" while the other calls him a "secular humanist." Now I know some devout secular humanists, but somehow I don't think that was what the article's author intended.

[nickatnight]

Posted: 12/5/06 at 6:55pm

as a kid i used to play ping-pong with him at his home in sebastopol on coffee lane (called 'coffee grounds')...knew one of his kids. very nice , soft-spoken, kind man. very cool.

often you'd find him at his skating rink in santa rosa behind the counter handing out the skates (or playing broom ice hockey)...many people not recognizing him....