Faithmouse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| faithmouse | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Dan Lacey |
| Website | http://faithmouse.com |
| Launch date | 2000 |
| Genre | Religion, Editorial cartoon |
Faithmouse appears and/or is linked on a large number of Christian and conservative news sites, including Newsmax, Alan Keyes' Renew America, and Mens News Daily. It is regularly discussed in a number of online forums, such as the forum at Portal Of Evil, where the cartoon has received over 1300 comments.
Faithmouse was begun in 1997 as a cartoon called Timothy and Armando. An article featuring the cartoon first appeared in a 1998 issue of the magazine Saludos Hispanos. The first website was begun as a Geocities page in 2000, with an independent site soon following.
Contents |
[edit] History
The cartoon was started in 1997 as an interfaith apologetic, and the present main character, Faith (then known as Song), was a minor character. After the failure of Timothy and Armando, Faith was given her own cartoon which soon developed a large cast of characters.
After September 11, a site called Faithmice was created. It was intended to be an interfaith dialogue. It ran for a year or two before becoming defunct.
[edit] Characters
Faithmouse major characters include:
- Timothy A. Bear: A wishy-washy blackjack-dealing teddy bear.
- Augustine the Cat: An intellectual feline, named for Saint Augustine.
- Ms. StarMole: An adamant atheist, feminist, and liberal, often portrayed as a judge or abortion advocate.
- Gaybear: A Christian, Bible-believing homosexual bear. Lacey states that Gaybear is aware that he is in a state of sin, and that this aspect of his character has been introduced slowly into the cartoon. Recently he was "cured" of his homosexuality when he fell in love with a woman, and changed his name back to his birth name, Francis.
- Professor Ferret: A ferret portrayed variously as a professor, principal, or an ACLU lawyer.
- Neverborn: The soul of an aborted fetus.
Some minor characters are:
- Swoopy: A baby bald eagle.
- Flim-Flam Flamingo: A Hollywood director flamingo.
- Fraud Fits: a Water Buffalo and a parody of Fred Phelps, known for his position that "God hates fags."
- Camy: Timothy A. Bear's webcam.
- Watchee: An ever-present surveillance device.
- Reverend Rhino: A Protestant minister.
- Chaplain Catodanno: A cat modeled on Vietnam War chaplain Vincent Capodanno.
- Black Bear: A Baptist bear meant to be Faith's future husband and possibly a source of interfaith conflict.
[edit] Praise and criticism
Both Christians and non-Christians alike have praised Faithmouse. Christians and Conservatives enjoy the cartoon's message, while those with different beliefs have given it praise for artistic reasons.
Many, however, have criticized the cartoon, often calling it "preachy," "fascist," and "pseudo-Christian." Most of this criticism seems spurred by the cartoonist's caricature of Democratic political figures and support of President George W. Bush.
