NEWS: Bad Atheist Vol. 2 OUT NOW!
Good morning you beautiful people!
I’m dropping into your inbox to let you know that I have a BRAND NEW ZINE out today!
She is called BAD ATHEIST VOLUME 2, you can buy her on Etsy, and look how heavenly she is!
Like its predecessor, BAD ATHEIST VOLUME 1, this zine collects three short autobiographical comics tackling different issues relating to religion and spirituality as it applies to my life.
I’m going to give you all an overview of these three comics, so you know what to expect when you buy BAD ATHEIST VOLUME 2…
Comic One: This Could Be You
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The first comic in the zine is probably one of my favorite comics I’ve ever made, ever. It is fun and spooky and I think it says something very profound at the same time.
In evangelical world, October is not spooky season. It is a time to turn the other cheek at any temptation to “celebrate” what is, in actuality, pure evil and from the devil.
However, since evangelicalism needs to be palatable to the masses in order to, you know, evangelize and save the souls of our peers from hell, evangelicals have found a way to bridge the gap between the Halloween is Evil mentality and the Halloween is Harmless Fun mentality.
That solution? Hell houses.
These incredibly weird attractions are set up very similarly to haunted houses, except they take you on a journey from a life of sin to an eternity in hell. At the end, you are asked to choose whether or not you want to commit your life to Christ in order to avoid the horrors you just saw.
It’s weird and manipulative and downright fucked up, honestly!
My experience with hell houses as a teenager, however, has been painted with sorrow. You see, the first person in my life to die after I became an atheist was in that hell house with me during those years.
When I learned about this person’s death, all I could think about was the hell house, my new views on the afterlife or lack thereof, and that person’s cruelly short life.
In This Could Be You, I completely make fun of hell house culture, but I also ruminate for the first time about how it felt to experience death for the first time as an atheist who no longer believes in an afterlife.
(And in case you missed it, I actually posted a preview of this comic to Substack already! You can view it here.)
Comic Two: In Defense of the Tradwife
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I honestly might ruffle some feathers with this one.
In this comic, I address the rise of the tradwife on social media. If you are unaware of the tradwife, she is essentially a rebirthing of the 1950’s housewife, but for the Internet age.
She is often (but not always) married to a man who makes the bulk of the income, allowing her to spend her days playing housewife for Instagram. She is often (but not always) a mother. She is often (or at least claims to be) very skilled at cooking, cleaning, rearing children, and making the home a peaceful, loving place.
Evangelicals love the tradwife. She is an example of the gender essentialism and gender roles that are necessary to operate a godly home, and to raise the next generation of God-fearing soldiers.
Liberal feminists hate the tradwife, pretty much for all of the same reasons. Not only is she regressive, she is often a literal alt-right dogwhistle!
As someone who is neither evangelical nor a liberal feminist, I come to this subject in a much more balanced way. I see the tradwife, and the people who enjoy her content, not as a symbol of any agenda, good or bad, but rather, as a full human responding to very real circumstances happening in our world.
But that’s all I’m gonna say publicly. You wanna hear all my thoughts on the tradwife, you’re gonna have to read my zine 😉
Comic Three: Barnum Shmarnum
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That’s right, I’m finally going to address astrology.
Due to having an older sister who is almost a decade older than me and who is very spiritual, I’ve been familiar with astrology my entire life.
And I’m not gonna lie to you. Through being Catholic, through being evangelical, through being an atheist, through being a sympathetic (read: bad!) atheist… I have always thought astrology was kind of dumb.
I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry. Just being honest here.
I knew that, when I moved to Portland, I would meet a lot of, as I call them, astrology hoes. What I didn’t expect was for astrology, and other New Age stuff like gemstones and tarot, to carve out such a significant part of my life.
As a result, I’ve been challenged in a lot of ways. Not by the purported legitimacy of astrology, which I still completely believe is nonsense, but by the role it plays in the lives of people I love.
How can I, upon seeing how happy it makes my loved ones, continue to be such a hater?
Overall, I had such a wonderful time writing this zine, and I cannot wait to hear what you guys think of it.
To order your copy, click here!
That is all for now, folks.
For now… 😈👀
xoxo,
cooklin