More Vintage Religious Objections to ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’
By Mark Pellegrini
I have this philosophy: “No matter what it is that you do or say, there will always, always be someone somewhere who will find it offensive.”
Bearing that in mind, I’d like to present a rather more controversial article than TMNT Entity is used to, as we explore a brief span of time between Spring of 1991 and September of 1992 when several Christians from around the United States thought that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were messengers of The Devil.
As a necessary disclaimer, I’d just like to state that I have no religious or atheist agenda going on here. I’m an apatheist if you absolutely have to label me (my philosophy on the afterlife or potential lack thereof: “I’ll find out when I die”) and I am well aware that not all Christians behave the way the ones highlighted in this article do. I’ll do my best to avoid blanket statements; my intention is only to point out a rather bizarre period of time in Turtle history when the brand was accused of promoting Satanism and “New Age” paganism.
Now back on track, the majority of complaints about the TMNT’s lack of Good Christian attitudes came in regards to the media geared toward children; such as the Fred Wolf animated series and, most notably, Archie’s TMNT Adventures comic book. A large number of Christian parents, and even children, found the non-Christian terminology such as “Zen” and non-Christian practices such as meditation to be offensive and accused the powers that be of trying to stray their offspring or siblings from the One True Path of Jesus Christ.
The first accusation that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were purveyors of sin that I can find came from the letters column of TMNT Meet Archie #1, published in Spring of 1991.
From Andy Parker in Healdton, OK:
“I used to be a big fan of your characters the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But when they started talking about New Age junk (like when Michaelangelo in the cartoon said, “…you gotta be totally zenned out.”) that really turned me off. As a responsible young Christian, I will not pollute mine or my 6 year old brother’s mind with this stuff. PS - Read your bible; it works wonders.”
Religious Anti-Ninja Turtle Propaganda from the Ancient World [Video]
By Andy Khouri
As it turns out, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are components of an evangelistic gospel of “outright Hinduism, occultism and humanism” that teaches children “ideals that are contrary to Christian beliefs” with subversive merchandise like “pepperoni sticks.” At least, that’s according to a group of curiously coiffed Canadian men in an early 1990s propaganda film decrying the original TMNT animated series, Vanilla Ice, Bart Simpson and other alleged evils of the ancient world.
“It’s witchcraft, pure and simple,” says one man in the film, which also objects to children’s candy in the shape of instruments used to create “rock music.” The clip was compiled by Four Four from an unearthed “VHS tape” of a propaganda film called Not Just Fun And Games which warned primitive man of the infernal dangers of children’s cartoons and assorted merchandise. It is a fascinating glimpse into an unremembered time in our distant past when humanity was first confronted with new and seemingly terrifying concepts like martial arts, anthropomorphized reptiles, and rap music.
They seem like cavemen to us but understand that these were good Canadian people, just frightened and unlearned, and they reacted without the benefit of the educational instruments we take for granted — things like YouTube, Wikipedia, and televisions with channels beyond the number 8.
When the dead man wearing a mullet and moustache said, “You heard it here first, folks, a Rat named Splinter is the hero of this cartoon,” he very likely believed that he was literally the first person to transmit that information to anyone in the world.
Read more.
‘WHAM! BAM! ISLAM!’ Documents Reaction To Islam-Inspired Superheros ‘The 99’ [Video]
The 99 is a comic book series about a group of multi-ethnic superheroes with a basis in Islamic culture and faith. An animated series based on the comic was meant to debut in the United States last year, but was interrupted amid prejudicial outrage on behalf of some of the American media who characterized the work as a scheme to endear American children to Sharia law and Muslim scripture. The superhero group, who appeared in a crossover series with DC Comics’ Justice League, was created by Muslim psychologist Naif Al-Mutawa not to promote radical Muslim values, but specifically to confront them, and to challenge the xenophobia preached by radical Imams.
The political and cultural climate of the world is such that an endeavor like Dr. Al Mutawa’s has been met with quite a lot of resistance as well as positivity, and that journey is the subject of a new documentary. WHAM! BAM! ISLAM! will debut October 13 on PBS. Directed by Isaac Solotaroff, the film follows Dr. Al Mutawa as he tries to introduce his characters to Muslim children as well as defend the reputation of Islam in the West. Check out the trailer after the cut.
Each of the heroes of The 99 represents one of the names or virtues of Allah, such as strength, mercy and wisdom, attributes that are valued by many faiths and cultures. Praised by U.S. President Barack Obama as embodying “the teachings of the tolerance of Islam,” the young heroes also demonstrate these values in their fantastical adventures without any one character praying or even mentioning explicit Muslim scripture nor the Prophet Mohammed.
WHAM! BAM! ISLAM! documents Dr. Al Mutawa’s struggles with reactions like that of The New York Post’s Andrea Peyser, who wrote last year, “Cancel The 99 before it starts.”
Hide your face and grab the kids. Coming soon to a TV in your child’s bedroom is a posse of righteous, Sharia-com pliant Muslim superheroes — including one who fights crime hidden head-to-toe by a burqa.
Additionally, the film will detail negative reaction to The 99 from people and institutions within Muslim culture.
These Islamic butt-kickers are ready to bring truth, justice and indoctrination to impressionable Western minds.
