A Charlie Brown Religion

November 1, 2015

Charlie Brown and Peanuts are deeply ingrained in the American psyche and culture. The comic strip, beginning in 1950 and still in reruns, along with related television specials have influenced generations. Charles Schulz offered entertainment, provocative ideas, and spiritual insights in deceptively simple drawings and scripts. Lind (business communication, Washington and Lee Univ.) examines the complex role religion and spirituality played in Schulz's life and work. The artist is not easy to categorize: he grew up in a nominally Lutheran household and was deeply involved in the Church of God as a young man until he moved to California in 1958, where he taught Sunday school at the United Methodist Church for many years. In Schulz's later life, he stopped going to church and described himself as a secular humanist. Lind explores how the cartoonist's interaction with various faith traditions, personal reading of the Bible, and engagement with religious scholars, family, and friends influenced the development of his spirituality. Drawing on archival materials, interviews, and content analysis of the comic strips and animated specials, Lind shows how his subject's faith developed and was expressed. VERDICT This engaging biography will be of interest to scholars as well as fans of Schulz and Peanuts.--Judy Solberg, Sacramento, CA

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