ABOUT US
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...
About Us ⇑ ⇓
Boolean Union is a long-running site that permits participation of all who are interested in what we do. Everyone at the Boolean Union is a volunteer, and everyone who does volunteer does their part. Would you like to know more?
Mission Statement ⇑ ⇓
We at the Boolean Union are dedicated to the analysis, archiving, research and critique of illustrated hate material (religious or otherwise). As part of our efforts, we engage in the extensive cataloging, research and analysis of these materials (such as those of the eponymous Chick Publications). To that end, we also engage in critiques of such literature, often by way of 'dissections', which are an elegant hybrid of snark and information.
On the Subject of Fair Use ⇑ ⇓
Here at Boolean Union, we treat Chick tracts the way they were meant to be treated: passed around freely, laughed over, puzzled at, and sometimes side-eyed in disbelief. Chick Publications has long encouraged people to distribute their comics at no cost, and our work here takes them at their word. We aren’t selling tracts or competing with them, rather we’re holding them up to the light, poking fun, and inviting others to think about them in new ways. That is the essence of Fair Use: taking an existing work and transforming it into something new. We need to show entire pages because a cropped corner or one-liner wouldn’t let readers identify the tract or allow us to highlight the quirks of the storytelling. Courts have recognized that when you must use the whole work to make your point (or your joke), that’s still Fair Use.
Finally, let’s be honest: no one is choosing between our dissections and a box of fresh Chick tracts. The entire business model of Chick Publications is for people to spread their comics as far and wide as is possible. Since its inception, Chick's goal has been to achieve the maximum amount of cultural saturation with his works, and it can be argued that (in our own way) even we are helping to fulfill that mission. Our work here does not harm Chick Publications’ market in any meaningful way. If anything, it might drive our curious visitors to track down the originals and possibly even purchase the physical tracts directly from Chick for themselves. That lack of financial damage, combined with our transformative, comedic approach, firmly places what we do under the protective umbrella of Fair Use.
Frequently Asked Questions ⇑ ⇓
How can I contribute or help out?
The Union is all about cooperation. If you are looking to get in on what it is we do here, a good place to start would be to check out our page on how to Join the Union which provides plenty of information on the various positions that currently need to be filled. Many hands do make light work. If you don't have a lot of time, but instead have a ton of cash just burning a hole in your pocket, you can make a generous monetary donation by tossing a few tuppence into our Collection Plate (it's good enough for the church, and running a website is expensive). If you happen to be both busy AND broke, perhaps you should consider reevaluating your life choices? Beyond that, "word of mouth" is one of our greatest resources, and we would greatly appreciate you boosting our work by telling all of your friends, posting about us on social media, or linking to us from your own website or other avenues of online presence. Follow us on BlueSky, check out our YouTube channel, or join our Discord server and meet other like-minded individuals and have your opinions heard.
Why did the visual style of dissections change?
To reflect and celebrate the rebirth of the Boolean Union in March of 2023, it was decreed that a new style would be required, but while still retaining homage to the earlier dissections. To that end, it was decided that rather than using text names for each dissector, avatars of each dissector for a given dissection would be used, along with the colour scheme maintaining consistency with the older style. The 'Chick Yellow' background colour is also part of this homage.
Why are you always referencing from the King James version of the Bible? Isn't it kind of archaic and difficult to understand?
We grant about as much credence to the "KJV Only movement" as we do to most other, fringe Christian theories. However, the sad truth is that Jack Chick (as well as many of his employees and other spiritual "brethren") consider all but the King James Bible to be inaccurate translations of the so-called Word of God at best, and deliberate Satanic counterfeits designed and disseminated for the expressed purpose of leading millions into the conflagrated gates of Hell at worst. He was such an ardent believer in this idea that, during the early 1980's, he actually went back and revised dozens of his previously published tracts to replace instances of the term "Savior" with the more appropriate, KJV-approved variation "Saviour". To the vast majority of mainstream Christianity, the specific translation of the Bible one uses is of little consequence. However, to this specific pocket of rabid Evangelicals it matters a great deal and so to potentially minimize the number of angry people attempting to rebut our arguments with claims that we are not quoting from "the real Bible", our integration of the Bible Gateway Reference Tagging tool on this site as well as any manual references we make to Christian scripture refer to the King James Version exclusively.
Why do you hate God?
Why do you hate the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Are you so debased and mired in your own transgression that you cannot abide the cleansing touch of His divine, Noodly Appendage?
In all seriousness, though... while the Union is comprised of a wide variety of individuals who possess a vast array of both belief and un-belief, the official position of the Union is that as no concrete, certifiable proof has yet to be presented confirming the existence of any instances of divine entities or phenomena, the non-existence of said entities must be held to be the null hypothesis until such evidence actually presents itself. Given this, wouldn't it be rather difficult to hold animosity for something which (for all intents and purposes) isn't even there?
Despite this, it is still important to note that A) to allow a "good faith" critique of the various materials we cover, we are sometimes willing to engage with subject of God/the supernatural as if they actually were real; and B) while the actions of a god or gods exhibit no tangible, measurable effects on the physical world, the actions of those who claim to believe in those gods are VERY real, and have a profound impact on how we all live our lives. Due to this, even those members of the Union that share in such beliefs often experience disgust with the almost daily atrocities that are so frequently committed in the name of those gods, real or otherwise. We don't hate god and/or his (her, their) believers... we just don't agree with their "lifestyle".