Zachary Hale Comstock. He looks just like Moses because he wants to ruin your life with rules. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Who knew Comstock was a real person?  It’s not something your average 20 year trip through our educational system is likely to reveal.  Well, you might encounter him as a term of derision, for his “excessive opposition to immorality in the arts; prudery”.  No, seriously, it is a term, Comstockery.  Named for Anthony Comstock who should be a hero.  Instead Bioshock Infinite gives us Zachary Comstock, fanatic extremist cult leader extraordinaire.  Instead of telling the true story that admires this man for his unwavering commitment to protect the eyes of innocent children, we create a world which we can blame him for all the ills of the planet.

This is a disturbing trend in our culture. Current historians spend most of their time on seek and destroy missions of historical heroes.  Current would-be heroes are nit picked by the media until putting a pet carrier on top of your car is the same thing as clubbing a baby seal.  Myths and legends of heroism are decried as not real and damaging to children.  I think much of this is just an attempt to justify the moral slide of our culture, as things get worse and words we don’t want to feel bad about it.  The worset people these days are those who have the audacity to judge us.  And even the dead judge us from the grave as their history is retold, so we rewrite that history.  This is such a tragedy, most cultures have had heroes, sure they weren’t perfect but their peers knew there was something special about them, something worth preserving and emulating.  They stood up to evil and defended the innocent, often against all odds.  Men like Robert E. Lee, George Washington, Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther,  and many more.  Anthony Comstock was just such a man.

Outlawed!: How Anthony Comstock Fought and Won the Purity of a Nation, by Charles Gallaudet Trumbull

Much of this story I learned by reading a book that was recently republished, Outlawed by one of Comstock’s friends Charles Trumbull .  He started out humbly as a shopkeeper in New York shortly after the Civil War.  At the time, photography was becoming prevalent, and so obscene photography was beginning to be spread widely.   Such material wasn’t technically illegal illegal, but a more sensible culture understood the damage it was to the fundamentals of society.  It exploits women, and objectifies them to all who partake it this filth.  These twisted views of women undermine  marriage relationships which are the building blocks of a healthy society.  As with most evils they get their talons into children at a young age and are difficult to remove.  Comstock understood this and so did the people selling the material illegally.  They knew there was huge profits to be had and had no qualms selling to children.  Comstock’s love of children is what first lead him to devote his live to stamping out all such filth. There are many stories of his going out of his way to trade stories or stamps with children. He saw the damage that feeding these lusts caused as men destroyed their lives chasing women instead of responsibly caring for their wives.  It was just such a friend that led Comstock to act.  He tracked down the seller of the material and had him arrested.

Today we have the same ideals but we are just too lazy to really fight for them.  We all believe that pornography should not be shown to children, but we plaster it everywhere.  We say it’s wrong and have some laws but we don’t really do anything about it. We have been lulled into believing that 12 foot posters of scantily clad females plastered over our malls and billboards isn’t pornography.  We have been lulled into thinking that catalogs of female underwear are completely ok. We think todays bikinis are fine.  Do we really think that these designers didn’t create these things to entice?  Do we really think that children won’t get a hold of them?  Do we really think that these are personal sins that don’t affect a whole culture? Obviously we don’t care.  But Comstock did, he risked is life day in and day out to fight this evil.

After a few of his early arrests he and his wife decided that this was to be his life’s calling. He got the YMCA and some other pastors involved to supply the support he needed.  He pushed for federal legislation which made all such material illegal.  The Comstock Act passed March 3, 1873 and Comstock was appointed as the first enforcer of the law under the Post Office.  Though it was a paid position later he worked without pay for over 30 years.  Over the course of his service he tracked down hundreds of publishers and brought them to justice.  From time to time this even involved bringing down corrupt policemen and judges.  He developed such a reputation for fairly executing the law that lawyers of those he arrested would simply ask him if he had a case.  If he did they would plead guilty and try to get the lightest sentence for their client.  Comstock always assured that those arrested were treated justly and advised them in their own best interest. I was surprised to learn of how he melted down the plates used to print obscene books and returned the money to the owner or his wife, so that he might have a fresh start.  What a difference from how we pursue criminals today seizing everything we can get our hands on, ruining their livelihood and forcing the public to supply their room and boar as they relax in prison.

Comstock was often in danger.  There was lots of money to be had in evil, as is often the case.  He received letters with infections, hate mail and even a letter bomb.  He was threatened, beaten and shot at. A large cut to his face was why he always wore large side burns from then on.  But that didn’t dissuade him.  He was bribed and pushed to compromise, but he never did.  He was a real hero.

Anthony Comstock (March 7, 1844 – September 21, 1915)

Stories like these were the stories you told to your children, it made them better people.    Just as often these were stories of the faithfulness of God.  God tells us time and again to remember what he has done.  Our lives are much easier when entering difficulties, if we remember how he has carries ourselves and other through.  Christianity is not a blind faith, God has proven himself faithful time and again, but we isolate ourselves when we don’t know history.  We think we are the first ones to ever go through such difficulties, and it seems impossible.  That’s why we need good stories.

Bioshock Infinite, like much of our post-Christian world tells a false story. They want to destroy people like Comstock, labeling him as a Puritans medeling in the private affairs of everyone and destroying their freedom because he is a fundamentalist fueled by religious hate.  In the end it turns out that the hero of the game, the part you play in Infinite, is the unbaptized version of Comstock.  So, get baptized and you end up destroying the world as a cult leader, don’t get baptized and you destroy it by being a murderer.  So, in the end the only solution is suicide, what a great message.  Instead of viewing the abilities of man as either potential for good or evil, Infinite says that some people are just beyond hope, if good is even possible, it’s just in the cards.  Have a nice day.

So, please, don’t let our increasingly Godless culture rob us of these great heroes of the past.  Don’t let them rob us of our faith.