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Van Jensen Asks "Would Jesus Punch A Nazi?" (With Added America #1 Spoiler)

Published Thu, 02 Mar 2017 10:30:20 -0600

Pancakes have been eaten, Lent has begun and I'm going on a sugar-free forty days. The biggest girl is giving up gaming. It's quite a thing. And comic book writer Van Jensen is giving up punching nazis. Or at least that's what I first thought when I read a piece he'd written for Medium.

But instead it's a look at the recent debate regarding the punches of Nazis. We've heard from Warren Ellis. We've heard from Nick Spencer. Kate Leth, Marguerite Bennet, Tess Fowler, Lexi Alexander, Gerry Duggan and many more. We've heard from JM DeMatteis in 1982 and Jack Kirby in 1939.

And Van Jensen, familiar from Flash, Green Lantern, Cryptocracy and Pinocchio The Vampire Slayer, took a Christian approach.

I'll admit, I watched the videos of Spencer being punched with a sort of visceral fervor. He advocates the injury—psychological and physical—of entire groups of people, then revels as it comes to fruition. His viewpoints make me sick to my stomach, sick with rage and hurt. Sick with confusion over how any human could grow to be so fueled by hate. Watching him take a beating, seeing him scared, it felt righteous.

But, as the internet debated whether it is okay to punch a Nazi, I wondered, for me as a Christian, how should I respond to a Nazi, or to anyone who advocates the destruction of others? How could I be a righteous man?

It turns out (spoilers) that no, Jesus wouldn't punch a Nazi. Pics (or lack of them) at 11.

But for those of you denied, it turns out that America would.

Or rather Ms America Chavez, from America #1 by Gabby Rivera, Joe Quinones, Joe Rivera, Paolo Rivera, Jose Villarrubia and Travis Lanham, published by Marvel yesterday.