Cartoonist puts the punch in 'Pontius'

A comic-strip frog named Pontius enthusiastically addresses readers: "We creatures have come a long way since we worshipped the golden calf!"

In the next frame, Pontius is hefting a barbell. "Now we worship both calves, our thighs, biceps, not to mention the abdomen," he concludes.

Pontius, the creation of cartoonist Joel Kauffmann and star of "Pontius' Puddle" (which appears regularly in The Evangelist), recently became the star of a book: "The Peaceable Kingdom and Other Fallacies of Faith."

Amalgamated frog

The collection of "Pontius' Puddle" strips assembles the best of Mr. Kauffmann's 15-year career drawing Pontius and his fellow pond-dwellers, who critique religion and society with a dry wit aimed at readers' consciences.

Pontius takes as his creed, "If it doesn't happen to me, how important can it be?" adding: "After all, why was the earth created three-quarters water if God didn't expect us to wash our hands of responsibility?"

The stumblings in faith of the characters in Pontius' world reflect Mr. Kauffmann's upbringing as the son of a Mennonite pastor. Drawing was one activity allowed him during church services as a child, which eventually led to an interest in editorial cartoons.

Making connections

"I try to connect faith issues to other in the world -- hunger, poverty, peace -- what I call `pew humor,'" he told The Evangelist. "I've always felt that humor is one thing the church is really missing. I came from a very religious family, but we kind of left humor home when we went to church."

Pontius takes humor everywhere. He gently pokes fun at pastors, parishes and the people in the pews. "It's a thrill to gather together each Sunday morning with a community of believers who share the most important thing in all of life: a common faith," reads one strip. Then a teary-eyed Pontius adds: "Sniff, sometimes I get so overwhelmed, I wish that I knew their names."

Mr. Kauffmann stated that he operates under two principles when drawing the strip: Never make fun of God, and never criticize another person's point of view. Pontius does not place one religion over another but depicts people's common struggle to follow God.

Pond of life

The comic strip is set in a pond because of Mr. Kauffmann's memories of several nearby ponds in his childhood hometown. "Each had their own collection of frogs and fish, their own collection of reality," he explained.

Like those ponds, today's religious congregations "exist in small, shallow puddles, each of which view the world in a totally different way. Sometimes, we get too parochial: We question God when our child is sick, but why don't we question God when it's somebody else's child?"

The most popular "Pontius" strip deals with just such a question. Gazing heavenward, Pontius says, "Sometimes I'd like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine and injustice when He could do something about it." Another character asks, "What's stopping you?"

Pontius replies, "I'm afraid God might ask me the same question."

World-wide toad

Mr. Kauffmann, his wife and their two college-aged sons make their home in Indiana, but "Pontius' Puddle" appears in 200 publications around the world, from the Church of England's newspaper to Methodist and Mormon publications. The U.S. and Canada account for 80 percent of the strip's audience, but it is also seen as far away as Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand.

Still, the comic strip is only a "quarter-time" job for Mr. Kauffmann. Of late, he has been trying to create a visitors' center and first-century village in Nazareth for tourists in the year 2000. Spokespersons for the project include Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter.

"I sent a copy of the [`Peaceable Kingdom'] book to him, and he wrote a letter back," Mr. Kauffmann said. "He said, `You have an impressive ability to get to the heart of profound theology. I'm sure God looks with favor on your work.'"

Objections

Only occasionally has the rest of the world not looked with favor on Pontius. Mr. Kauffmann said that some religious denominations are offended that his "pastor" character is portrayed in a clerical collar and will not print the strip. Others were upset when a "hip" Pontius addressed God in one strip as "Jehovah dude," asking God to "gimme five." God responded by offering five commandments.

"A lot of older people have had a hard time with the humor in general," the cartoonist said. "They don't fully understand what you're doing."

Although he is influenced by his own Mennonite faith, Mr. Kauffmann added that he reads other denominations' publications to get a feel for the important issues in their churches.

"I don't tend to see cartoons as things people really talk about, but sometimes people say [the strip] stimulated discussion and thought," he said. "I address a difficult issue and allow people to look at it in a fresh way."

"Peaceable Kingdom" groups Pontius' adventures into chapters on various topics, from children to holidays. Each is introduced with a wry sermon from Pontius, known for his irresponsibility. For example, the chapter titled, "I Was Hungry and You Fed Me" adds Pontius' retort: "Like we really have a choice. In Matthew 25, God makes it abundantly clear that those who fail to follow this simple directive will be cast into the fiery pits of hell."

Two issues have yet to appear in "Pontius' Puddle": abortion and homosexuality. "They're tremendously important debates in the Church, but I have never found anything [to draw] that doesn't make everybody angry," Mr. Kauffmann said. "I tend to shy away from that."

Instead, each monthly packet of Pontius cartoons includes some strips addressing tough concepts, and others on the lighter side. One of the latter strips jokes about parish youth group activities' always serving pizza: "Faith may move mountains, but it also moves a lot of mozzarella!"

Through its 15-year history, Mr. Kauffmann said that "Pontius' Puddle" has become both better-drawn and more ambitious, handling delicate issues. But despite the strip's success, the cartoonist resisted collecting his work into a book for many years for a simple reason: "It's easy for people to start Xeroxing things!"

"Peaceable Kingdom" contains warnings of dire curses on those who try -- including, says Pontius, unsightly warts.

("The Peaceable Kingdom and Other Fallacies of Faith" is available from Abingdon Press, PO Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202-0801. E-mail [email protected].)

(12-04-97) [[In-content Ad]]