Comments from the week of Dec 19, 2004

Ramblings for Wednesday-
Today's cartoon is a portion of a much larger piece I've been developing on and off for the past few years which I call 'The Shepherd of the Snows.' I've begun the process of scanning the drawing -it's so large it needs to be scanned in 10 segments, and I have a legal size scanbed, which says something about how carried away I got. I'll present the rest of the drawing in the weeks to come.

As an appendix to yesterday's cartoon; on Tuesday Chris and I were fortunate enough to meet the great, great, great, great (not sure about the number of greats) grandson of Charles Dickens, who performed an excellent one-man enactment of 'A Christmas Carol' at the St. Paul Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Following the show, Mr. Dickens was kind enough to sign my copy of his great great great (you get the idea) Grandfather's book 'The Life of Our Lord' with the following inscription-'To Dan & his faithmouse, Gerald Charles Dickens.' Not only that, but he drew a pretty nifty mouse as well.
A new character ducked his head into yesterday's cartoon; his name is Ferret Nietzsche.

Ramblings for Monday-
A great presentation of the operations in Fallujah from Techniguy's site. You'll need powerpoint and patience (large download) but very informative. I learned about this by way of the Hope4America Yahoo group I belong to. Hi, Mary!

Ramblings for Sunday-
Previous posts from the past week have been relocated as has been our recent vice to the blog.
I'm happy to retort that Men's News Daily has returned to form after a two day hijacking by Brazilian anti-war hooligans or vandals posing as such.

One of my recent cartoons is posted on this eloquent and thoughtful thread.

I write the Reverend Jackson

Dear Rainbow/Push Coalition,

Regarding the Reverend Jackson's recent comments-

"In the last budget, we cut housing again, and that was Jesus' dilemma. In Bethlehem, his family ended up homeless," Jackson told MSNBC's Campbell Brown. "Rome was a wealthy country that left Jesus and Mary and Joseph, in a sense, homeless," he complained. "He was born an at-risk baby."

No baby was born more 'at risk' than Christ, but His state wasn't due to a lack of governmental assistance. It was because man's sinful nature necessitated atonement.

Also, Jesus wasn't homeless, either 'in a sense' or 'not in a sense.' His parents couldn't find a hotel room. The holy family was on the road because of a census forced upon them for the purpose of tax collection.

I'm sure the Reverend will be supporting the coming overhaul of the tax system to spare current families similar unwanted burdens.



Merry Christmas!

Dan Lacey

New Market Township, Minnesota

Comments from the week of Dec 12 2004

Ramblings for Saturday-
I'd like to thank Janet Parshall
for including one of my recent cartoons in her current newsletter. Later tonight I should have the image posted in our Cafepress store (thanks also for the plug!) Stacy at E-involved is the culprit behind all of this....

Ramblings for Friday-
Men's News Daily has been hacked by Brazilian anarchists and is still on it's haunches. A few visits from friendlies once they return to form would be much appreciated by webmaster Mike. -Dan

Ramblings for Wednesday-
I'll be posting photographs of recent portraits later this evening (really truly) along with a cartoon I've drawn for Stacy Harp at e-involved. I've also moved the cartoons below this dialogue box to the 'past month' page (actually the past two months page) to save a little loading time. Those of you dialing in with a 28k modem probably won't mind a few less toons-Dan

Ramblings for Tuesday-
Today's cartoon is the first in a lengthy series addressing anti-Christian bigotry and repression in our public school system, which has become the dominant theme this holiday season. If you don't care for civil rights oriented Christmas cartoons, you may wish to return in a few weeks.

More Ramblings for Monday-
The assault against religious freedom continues this holiday season with even more cases of public schools pronouncing as illegal any form of Christian free expression. Most if not all of these cases (which have increased dramatically since the President's re-election last month) will be won by parents (as has been the history) but only after prolonged and expensive legal defenses waged by willing citizens. These battles fought over the rights of children to dress up in Christmas plays as angels, or to perform instrumental
music for their peers and parents, is forming a deep and wide foundation of support for a future 'Religious Freedom' amendment to the United States Constitution, which, written correctly, may
enjoy the broad based nonpartisan support which promoters of theTraditional Marriage Amendment found so elusive. Democrats would be wise to hop aboard this train, as it leads directly into the soul of the Middle American vote. Remember, you heard it here first, folks. Well, maybe not first.


Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' - banned by Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Washington.

Ramblings for Monday Dec 13-
Today's cartoon is a revision of yesterday's toon. Things change quickly around here. The design is a take off on Mel Brook's High
Anxiety, which was itself a homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Mel Brooks, one of my heroes. I forgive him for the Spanish Inquisition bit in History of The World, Part II. Mel served as a Corporal in the Army during World War II, and while in France he and his comrades accidentally severed communications for the ninth army when they discovered a hidden German arms cache and used the white insulation caps on nearby telephones poles for target practice. Mel once said that the best way to deal with a bully was to make fun of him. Of course, the very best thing to do is to forgive him...right after you're done making fun. Second to beer, humor is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Ramblings for Sunday Dec 12-
I'm painting, painting, painting.......

Of Christ and Hitler Redux

For those still propagating the falsehood that Hitler was a Christian, and Nazism some insidious extension of the Christian faith-

The Confession of Faith of the Reichsarbeitsführer-
"Once your heart is branded with the swastika,
You hate any other cross!
If you identify yourself with your nation,
You laugh at redeemer cranks.
Beware anyone one who demands:
'Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself'
What the Nazarine demands is our demise..."

A song of the 'Reichsjugendführer
"Before thee, my Fuehrer
though thousands may stand before thee,
each feels thy eye on himself alone
and thinks, his own hour has come,
when thou sees the depths of his soul.
In those few minutes in thy presence,
we would open every door to thee,
all thoughts we lift to thee, that thou correct and improve.
So good art thou and so great; so strong and infinitely pure
To thee we reveal without deceit our hearts’ innocence.
None depart from thee with empty hands,
if thine eyes have touched him with their steely gaze.
We know that thou proclaimeth constantly:
I am with you and you belong to me!"

Another widely used song of the Reichsjugendführer:
"How often we heard the sound of thy voice
and listened silently, folding our hands,
as every word pierced the depth of our souls.
We know it, one day the end will come,
and free us from force and from need.
What is a year when the era shall turn?!
Where is a law that will stifle our faith,
the pure faith you have bestowed,
that beats as our hearts and guides our existence.
My Fuhrer, thou alone art the way and the goal!

The official song of the Hitlerjugend (Youth of Hitler) at the Reichsparteitag 1934:
"We are Hitlers joyous youth,
What need we Christian virtue!,
Our Fuehrer Adolf Hitler is always our redeemer!
No wicked priest can hinder us,
To sense that we are Hitlers children;
We follow not Christ but Horst Wessel,
Away with incense and holy water!"

Instructions for the central memorial ceremony at the Munich Field Marshal Hall:
"National Socialist Worship
On these steps to the Hall of the Field Marshals,
to which we make pilgrimage, once stood a sacrament of battle,
In this, its only cathedral, Germany,
may stand only those who carve their motivation deep into their deeds.
You are pilgrims, if you honor the glory of your nation
above the revelations of any religion.
You sense the holiness of the Hall of Field Marshals.
What value have prayers and hymns,
The swinging of incense bowls
in comparison with the muffled rhythm of our drums
when our Fuehrer ascends the steps?
The sighs of the watchers extinguish the earth,
still trembling under our approach.
Gray clamour huddles at the end of the world.
The Fuehrer arises! He raises his hand to eternal salute.
His heart beats the heartbeat of his people
His step is our prayer ...
He arises and stands shrouded in miracles?
He burns with the faith of his comrades.
No priestly ordination has more power than the silent, stonelike prayer of the man
in whose being the nation is moved
The vow we make here is our prayer to the creator!
May our banner wave! Let it be hoisted, for it is our German high altar!
The standard bearers rejoice:
What is death, when you command us to live, O Germany!

From National Socialism as Religion, Global Journal of Classical Theology, Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary

Comments from the week of November 28, 2004

Ramblings for Friday-
Today's cartoon promotes spiritual love for Christ, which easily trumps the carnal. Radical lifestyle oriented activism places the actual person second to their stated sexual preference; there is no respect in a militant universe for the homosexual who consciously turns his back upon what he perceives to be his own nature and follows a calling which supersedes the temporal. This intolerant posture allows the monsterous Fraud Fits' (and his Boptist Church of Bunnies) of today to operate with 'seeming' moral approval. Most homosexuals dedicated to the church are there because God calls them to a lifestyle of selflessness and sacrifice - this cartoon is for them.

Ramblings for Thursday-
A preview of Friday's new Gaybear cartoon (I know, promised two weeks ago..) is posted.

I just realized one can stretch an empty table in order to fill a vacuum rather than just typing a bracketed P over and over again. I'm a genius!

Greetings to our many visitors from Polipundit.I've traded a few emails over the past year or so with Vincent Newstead at Religion Related Injuries, a respectful although adamant critic of this cartoon and far more so of the philosophy behind it. Today's cartoon springs from a recent e-conversation. American history is a fine musical instrument and it's maestros are our saints. Looking at the cartoon again this morning I wish I had added rich wood grain to the column instead of red and blue, so, I'll put it on the block for a rework. I'll mosey around to it sometime over the weekend.

Ramblings for Wednesday-
A hearty welcome to visitors discovering faithmouse courtesy of Men's News Daily. Today's cartoon references the controversy concerning the fifth grade teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino, California who's been forbidden to teach to students not only from the Declaration of Independence but from documents such as George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams "The Rights of the Colonists" (great beer, by the way) and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania." My observation is this-how can some reconcile the competing arguments that (a) America does not have a Judeo-Christian foundation, against (b) our founding documents need to be suppressed because of their Judeo-Christian foundation? Reuters News story -Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School

A few posts old and new have been added to the emails I've been displaying for the past few weeks. The list has grown a bit long, so I'll be relocating the lot of them to the blog soon. Timothy has changed this week, and now Faithmouse herself will be 'macro-evolving'; a bit of this transformation can be cleaved from today's toon.

Ramblings for Monday-
The Reverend Martin Luther King cartoon is completed and posted as today's cartoon. This is in response to the continuation of racist attacks in the form of cartoons and commentaries which have greeted black politicians over the course of the past decade. History is slowly forgetting that the man who's name is synonymous with the Civil Rights movement found his strength through Christ. 'Reverend', his earned title, is rarely associated with his memory. We remember Gandhi as a Hindu, but not Martin Luther King as a minister. This cartoon was my answer to the dearth of responses in my medium to the rash of attacks upon a very capable civil servant.

Ramblings for Saturday-
Timothy A. Bear (teddy bear) appears in today's toon in his true colors; a ragtag assortment of secondhand textile patterns. Wishy-washy Christian that he is, he still has trouble believing the obvious, that he was made by a creator, and he is his handiwork. Faithmouse topped 200 affiliates with the Spare Change link added yesterday, with roughly half hosting the actual updating cartoon. Thanks guys!

Godspeed, Christpilot

Faithmouse is blessed to have a fan in Christpilot, who flies large sky vehicles with mounted weaponry for the United States Army (nuff said). Whether or not you believe that defending our friends from enemies does or doesn't violate Matthew 5:39 is beside the point: I'm glad he's there and doing his best to honor Matthew 7:4.

Christpilot returns to Iraq next month and promises to send photos of the countryside. These photos are sure to make their way into the backgrounds of future cartoons, and subsequently a home in our Pro-Military gallery.

Ramblings for Wednesday, Nov 24

I spend a lot of time researching stories on the internet (in other words, just poking around), staying abreast on the news and starting and abandoning cartoons I have the good sense never to post on the cartoon web site. I'm amazed by both the richness of the material to be had and the fact that so few cartoonists cover the same ground I'm happy to tread. If faith-the purpose and motivation of most of human life-is mentioned at all, you can bet hands down it will be in a disparaging if not outright bigoted manner. This is why the cartoon site grows steadily in popularity and support. It's not outrageous for a cartoon to be centered around faith in God, in fact, faithmouse occupies the great American middle ground. However, I'm resigned to have the cartoon categorized by some as a sort of crazed though obscure icon of the vast right wing conspiracy, seeing that the word of mouth of my outrageousness (huh?) contributes to raised page rankings and helps to bring new fans to the site. As a cartoon still searching for print distribution, faithmouse can use all the friends it can get.

Ramblings for Tuesday, Nov 23

The unfinished 'email' cartoon from last week has been posted as today's toon. Mentioned are two good friends of faithmouse-Stacy Harp of E-Involved, and Joshua O of Hello Infidels. If they serve you lemons....

Maximilian Kolbe, blogsaint

Greatly in arrears am I in postings for this blog, therefore I request Saint Maximilian Kolbe to be protector of this cyber realm during any extended future absence. I don't believe he'll mind the job; after all, Maximilian was sent to Auschwitz as a result of both his media savy and extreme political incorrectness.







I trust former prisoner 16670 will perform his duties admirably.

Judge StarMole wins one for George Bush

Although I shall always wear the shame of miscalculating Minnesota for Bush2004 (alongside the good company of Powerline and Karl Rove) I'm willing to put forth the premise that, without the help of of Judge StarMole, John Kerry would currently be President elect.

On February 4th of this year, Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall and three other judges of the state's Supreme Judicial Court put forth an earthshaking ruling which contained this statement-



"For no rational reason the marriage laws of the Commonwealth discriminate against a defined class; no amount of tinkering with language will eradicate that stain."



Last spring, our fearful Minnesota liberal Borg prevented a definition of Marriage amendment from going before the voters. Democratic lawmakers knew that such an amendment would act like a magnet to draw Christian voters regardless of party affiliation to the polls. If their efforts to limit free speech had been unsuccessful, Minnesota might today be the 12th state to resounding add an amendment to it's State constitution defining marriage as being between one man and one woman.

Without the issue of Gay marriage, George Bush might not have been able to solidify and expand upon his base. The wreath of morality might have been more easily worn by John Kerry, preaching a deceptive message of anti-war against the enemies of our own nation and a war against poverty and the creators of wealth here in our own.

Curt shilling

Yes, it's true. After years of selfless altruism the faithmouse site will soon be engaged in curt shilling; I may even post a link to the new haberdashery on this blog as well. The first faithmouse book (an anthology of 2004 cartoons) is also in the works. I've even discovered that this blog is newly listed as a share on a fantasy blogsharing site. The current value of the share is $0, but, if my financial instincts prove correct the price is likely to double before year's end. My advice-get in on the ground floor now, a task best accomplished through a window.

What has doubled over the course of the past two months are visitors to the cartoon site. This is delightful news, however, jpeg and gifs images are far more expensive to display in mass quantities than piddling buckets of text, therefore because I fancy myself clever I am inventing a way to pay for the ever increasing bandwidth. Hence, a store. My product comes highly recommended by me; it's clean and positive, it fights a good fight in a way I hope is entertaining to those outside of it's base demographic (which is anything but base.)

Nadir of Minnesota

Ten thousand reflections of the North Star comprise the nadir of Minnesota, land of Lutefisk and Hot Dish, where come this Tuesday Ralph Nader may chip in George Bush's short put and propel him into the back nine.

Many are the reasons the President has matched par with Mr. Kerry here in the former bastion of Lutheranism, a state currently welcoming an influx of newly plaid attired Somali and Hmong refugees.

They are-

A Republican governor who has tamed a 5 billion deficit without raising taxes, mainly through government attrition.

A refusal this spring by Democratic lawmakers to allow a traditional marriage amendment on this month's ballot, which has infuriated rural voters in conservative and still very Lutheran Democratic districts.

The recent trashing by a State Judge of a popular conceal and carry gun amendment.

Burgeoning suburbs full of new homeowners.

Growth of the evangelical voting block, many living in those new homes yet unpaid for.

A poorly advised recent Kerry commercial extolling the virtues of stem cell research, a subject which has solicited the attention of evangelical suburb families living next door to Dem farmers still hopping mad about being denied a vote on a State marriage amendment.

Lastly, besides the no nonsense Minnesotan attitude on National Security, there is the impossible-to-argue-with Minnesotan resolve to stand on principle. This time around the wreath of principle falls upon the head of the Independent, hithero shut out of the debates and largely of the discussion, still well known and respected throughout the state and dodged by hysterical Democrats trying to upset his canoe wherever he tries to launch it.

The Democrats haven't played fair with public servant Ralph, a fact exacerbated by the fact that their candidate of one of rare privilege. After the still mourned Paul Wellstone and the scandal of a wake turned pep rally, voters passed over a condescending Walter Mondale and voted in Norm from New York, who by proxy had earned the vote through sheer hard work. George works hard too, and so has Ralph. John has inherited a billion dollars. He'll inherit the Loon State's hard line liberal voting base and no one else. Here in the critical second tier, we have nothing if not elses.

Republicans helped elect that giant fake action doll Jesse Ventura last time around, who realized his second fifteen minutes of fame were up when the post September 11th budget limped in. We won't help prop up the Independent this time around, but the Independents and some Democrats will, which may be enough to upset the national golf cart once again.