Wonder Woman (specifically Linda Carter as Wonder Woman) made me gay. Little did I know, that was the plan all along.
But the truth about all of your comic heroes is finally coming out thanks to the new documentary “Marvel & DC’s War on God — The Antichrist Agenda” by Good Fight Ministries.
The movie’s trailer promises, well, a lot…
“You are about to see mind blowing evidence that many of the writers that stand behind many of the superheroes are admittedly involved in Satanism and the occult. Countless parents are clueless as to how their children are being indoctrinated,” says the narrator, Pastor Joe Schimmel. According to the press release, the documentary will be released in seven parts and is 150 minutes long, which is the same length as “Wonder Woman 1984.”
According to the press release, “Pastor Schimmel is perhaps best known for his 2004 documentary ‘They Sold Their Souls for Rock and Roll,’ which delved into the hidden agendas of popular musical artists such as Elvis, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, U2, Creed, Britney Spears, and DMX.”
In a video on the Good Fight Ministries YouTube page, Schimmel claims that “a ton of people got saved through” his rock and roll exposé, and he thinks “Marvel & DC’s War on God” will have the same impact.
Schimmel’s “take down” of comic heroes includes arguments like, Venom “desensitizes the public” to demon possession and “actually makes demonic possession look cool.” Schimmel also links Superman to the Holocaust.
In October 2021, Schimmel participated in a livestream with Chad Davidson called “Satan’s Gay Agenda for Your Children,” and it’s basically everything you think will be. Satan wants to make your kids gay or trans or something other than cis-gender and heterosexual.
Look, I don’t believe in Satan, so being called a literal agent of Satan doesn’t ruffle my feathers.
But for LGBTQ+ kids growing up in Christian households? Especially those who don’t feel safe coming out to their parents? Telling them, “Hey, the worst thing in the world is Satan, and everything bad comes from Satan including who and what you are,” is a really horrible message. Just awful.
But don’t call Schimmel intolerant. “Red, brown, yellow, black or white, we’re for everybody, and we’re for anybody who’s caught in sin to repent and get right with Jesus,” he says.
Get right with Jesus, of course, means “fixing” your queerness.
I’ll spare you more quotes from this guy. Because honestly, you’re already hearing the same talking points from Republicans across the country, points like public school teachers are “groomers,” and Democrats want to make your child transgender, and that there’s a war on children.
But actually, there IS a war on children. On LGBTQ+ children and their parents and families. Take the Republican frenzy to ban transgender students from participating in school sports. The specific number of children this ban applies to is so low. This is such a small group of children for an entire political party to openly and gleefully hate. That’s sick and shameful. Grown ass adults looking around at a world in turmoil and deciding that a handful of kids trying to play a game is our biggest problem.
Of course, these lawmakers are using these transgender kids as a scare tactic. Stirring up anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment has always worked for the Republicans in the past.
Right-wing conservatives are seizing this moment when the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade, something they’ve long dreamed of. And they don’t want to stop there. Marriage equality is on their hit list, make no mistake.
And considering the screaming and shouting from conservative, white parents that teaching their kids about slavery is worse than, well, slavery, do you think these folks consider Brown v. Board of Education settled law?
We’re not, shall we say, in a good place in this country. There are a lot of really terrifying and overwhelming issues we’re staring down (global warming, racism, war, gun violence, the next deadly virus). And, yes, one of the ways people cope with this kind of stuff is through religion. But another way is through superheroes. Through comic books and movies that depict larger than life characters who, unlike us, are all powerful and strong and kick major ass. The purpose of comic heroes isn’t to bring people to Jesus. But it isn’t to “indoctrinate” them for Satan, either. It’s entertainment. A little escape from the daily grind.
If Schimmel is worried that superheroes are more popular than his version of Christianity, maybe his version of Christianity is trash. Hate isn’t something Jesus was cool with. I know a lot of Christians, after all, and most of them don’t hate me. Hatred isn’t a superpower. Love, though? Love is.
D’Anne Witkowski is a writer living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBTQ+ politics for nearly two decades. Follow her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.