For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 06, 2008

Congratulations for this strip. It’s the Right thing to do.

Loraine in MO

The purpose of Comics is humor. This is another political editorial. It’s time to retire.

Thank God for For Better or For Worse!!! Real people; real families; real lives. Please keep it up and may Lynn Johnston draw forever. Her characters are my family, my friends, my neighbors, my community. It is the best strip ever, and I’ve been reading comics for 60 years!! Thank you Lynn; never change.

This was a good comic. I’m not so sure now. I think i’m going to be sick. BBLLLAAAAAAAAAAHHHHkkkk!!!!!!

Many comics make political and social points. This comic in particular is not always humorous, showing the sad moments, the moving ones, and also the funny. If Irpete doesn’t like that, there are plenty of other comics to read.

So the “alternate lifestyle” makes its entry into the comic strips…they are “comic” strips, arent’t they. As in light-hearted, amusing, family oriented. Now that we’ved broached that subject, how about we get Lynn to start a thread where April gets pregnant and they all agonize over when to go to the clinic to “dispose” of the “problem”. This much I can say, I will never look at FBoFW in the same light…thanks, Lynn.

Thanks, Lynn, for speaking for the silent majority in Canada!

i love this strip. i recently checked out the strip that ran the day i was born: michael in grade school trying to silently open a candy bar. this strip has been excellent my entire life. congatulations!

Hooray for Canada! Still waiting for my brothers to have the right in the USA. Thanks for bringing it up once again Lynn. Don’t let the small minded people get you down!

Amen!! I am 63, heterosexual,married and living in the state of Ohio in the USA. Be nice to see us as advanced as Canada! Love your strip. Keep up the good work!

Thanks to Lynn for always being real! Have always loved this strip, and always will.

Thank you for keeping it real, and not judging.

A Fan, age 61, who prefers not to live in the dark ages.

Great strip, Lynn! I enjoy checking in everyday!

Why is it that when I think her beliefs on the subject are wrong, I am “small minded,” not “as advanced,” and “judging,” but it’s perfectly OK for others to say how bad my beliefs on the subject are? Perhaps intolerance is found in more places than people think.

Thank you, Lynn Johnston. If you are really retiring, I will miss this strip so much. We are in the home stretch, I think. Every character’s arc is satisfying. ! The grand-dad strips and now this. It is awesome. Bigots beware, there’s a lovely human being at work here; let her work open your hearts! Brooke in CA

Ms. Johnston –

I feel a bit funny thanking you for recognizing that I am a human being with pretty much the same desires and aims as anyone else, and just as entitled to the same rights. We really should be able to take that for granted. I nearly cried when I first saw this strip.

The above comments are a bit amazing. Acknowledging that we are part of the family, that we are equally entitled to rights and respect (no more, no less) seems so basic, and yet it seems still beyond so many people.

No, I shouldn’t have to thank you for this, but seeing what some of your readers have to say, I thank you all the more for standing up for simple, common decency.

Hey, all y’all haters (principally lrpete and etighe), do you even read this strip? Lawrence has been out for about 10 years now, and half of the punchlines these days are like this one: more poignant than funny. This is a perfectly normal FBoFW strip!

AWESOME This strip has been the first in many significant ways. I applaud Ms Johnston (again) for her quiet yet thoughtful statement.

As a Canadian citizen, I find it uplifting to know that the majority of the people commenting on this strip are positive and accepting. There’s enough hatred, damage and dislike in the world today, you need not be sarcastic about what is or can be found in a comic strip. For Better or For Worse has every right to comment on the rights of homosexual men and women, and bravo to Lynn Johnston for taking the time to remind us that it wasn’t always so! I’ve turned to Better or For Worse my whole life for a good laugh, however it has also made me think and question events and change that occur in reality. Those of us who are unable or unwilling to see past our own narrow minded opinions should be respectful enough not to insult or harrass those who are. Once again, congratulations to those people taking the time to push for acceptance! Bravo to you all!

The strip is OK, though not the best. It is interesting to see how little love or knowledge some people show. Eddie; On your personal Judgement Day, when Jesus asks you why you would curse some one like that, what will you say? Will you be as flip and disrespectful in His presence? As for “all the diseases that homosexuals carry”, I am not aware of any that we straights can’t get, also. Promiscuity is not limited to bleeep, and it is difficult to see how preventing them from marrying fights promiscuity. Your opinion as to whether or not bleeep love is uninformed, and therefore of no account. And there is indeed a reason you call them “perverts”: Your mind isn’t large enough to entertain other possibilities. When you die, remember to ask Jesus to be kinder and more understanding of you than you have been of others.

Yes, respect and open-mindedness are important, but it has to go both ways! Can anyone explain to me why labelling everyone who objects to homosexuality as a narrow-minded hater is any different than labelling everyone who practices homosexuality with an offensive name? We have the right to push for our beliefs, too.

Well, widjibeaker, I can think of a couple of reasons. The first is that the evidence is pretty strong that people have very little control over who they are sexually attracted to, but people have a great deal of control over whether or not they choose to hate. Yes, I know that peope have a great deal of control over whether of not they act on that attraction, but the strong concensus in modern Western society is that what consenting adults do in private is mostly their business, so long as they do not harm other parties. Another reason is that there are a fair number of us Christians out here, and we find it embarrassing and annoying that people who often claim to be one of us, or worse speaking for us, display so little of what Jesus wants from His followers. And thirdly, I find it embarassing and annoying that people make such poor argruments. For example, “We have the right to push for our beliefs, too.” implies that you feel bleeep are pushing for something that you, and you are entitled to push for a similar thing. Well, the bleeep are pushing to be treated as people who have the right to love who they love, form families, and be free from people who would try to harm or intimidate them. I think you pretty much have all of that, already. If the thing you wish to push for is to publicly act like a narrow minded person full of hate, you also have that right. I should think you would be glad when someone notices and acknowledges your efforts.

I like this comic. I’m glad that Canada was smart enough to allow bleeep marriages. It’s just something that’s out there now, and people need to accept it, like it or not.

Please read carefully widjibeaker… You have a valid point about labelling those with a different point of view. Every individual has the right to their own personal opinion on homosexuality and heterosexuality. What they do not have the right to do is to insult, harrass or name call. If you read carefully through some of these comments, you can see narrow-mindedness in such words as “perverts, deviance and disgusting.” I did happen to notice that none of these were said by you. Perhaps you share their opinion, but you have enough of an open mind and respect to know that insulting others is beyond your right. I understand and respect your point of view, and you have every right to it, but no one has the right to push for their beliefs by insulting, hurting or discriminating against others.

Widjibeaker, please read jackfertig’s comments. See how unacceptance hurts a fellow human being. WWJD? He’d look at his soul, and not his sexual choices.

Anyone else notice that Gocomics censors the word ‘gay’? (But not ‘homosexual’, or ‘pervert’.) I find that pretty insulting, frankly.

(Also it seems that you need two instances before it kicks in.)

widjibeaker: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, etc. Opposing the rights of ANYONE to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness IS hatred, pure and simple. Saying so isn’t hatred–it’s an observation.

Thank you, Ms. Johnston, for speaking out for tolerance and human rights. It’s sad to be reminded that bigotry is still very much alive in the US, but it’s heartening to know, as most of the above comments suggest, that there are plenty of Americans willing to drag the rest of the country, kicking and screaming, into the Age of Enlightenment.

Interesting that IrishEddieOhara knows all about the disgusting things homosexuals do in bed…personal experience perhaps Ed? Pretty sad that you label two consenting adults in a loving exclusive relationship as promiscuous and perverted… pick up your newspaper and read about those who use innocent children for sexual gratification. These people are perverts (and about 95 percent of them are heterosexual males I might add).

Keep up the good work Lynn. Hopefully we’ll see more of Lawrence and Nick in future comics.

Dear Bigots, And just how does something two adults do in private affect you? It’s none of your GD business! “Judge not lest ye be judged.” Whatever happened to “Live and Let Live”? There are a lot of things in this world that I don’t particularly care for, but if they don’t harm anyone, I don’t worry about it, and certainly wouldn’t try to outlaw something just because it wasn’t my cup of tea! If you didn’t care for vanilla ice cream, would you try to wipe it off the face of the earth? Sadly, some would. Personally, I would just not buy that flavor, since it doesn’t bother me that others have different tastes. And that’s all this really is about, just some people trying to impose their tastes on the world, using pseudoscience and the Bible to justify their bigotry. However you label yourself, it’s just hatefulness to fear a form of love that you don’t understand. All that bleeep about diseases, etc. is just that, BS. I remember talking at work one day years ago and this guy was ranting about perverts, and he didn’t seem to know that there is a difference between a pedophile (person who molests children) and a homosexual (someone who has relations with a person of their own gender). When I pointed out to him that most child molesters were grown men molesting little girls, he refused to believe, even when later in the week, I brought in one of my Dad’s psychology journals (he was a psychologist) proving my point. Talk about a closed mind! I guess if you really want something to be true, you don’t let a little thing like facts interfere. It’s sad that in this day and age there is still so much fear and hate directed toward minority groups, including sexual minorities. I thought we had grown up and put those childish things aside. Oh well, I still love the strip, no matter how narrow-minded some of it’s readers are; that’s certainly not Lynn Johnston’s fault. My best wishes to her in her future endeavors.

Dr. Gary in NC, USA

Sexual orientation is a genetic trait. Getting upset about the existence of homosexuality is as futile and foolish as getting upset because the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west; that’s just the way things are in nature. Canada is congratulated for finally accepting gay people as first class citizens. The USA’s “equal protection of the laws” protocol is meant to be inclusive, not discriminatory, and people who object to that protocol will probably be happier living in Iran or North Korea. Lynn Johnston’s FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE is informed and distinguished by Lynn’s humanity. Lynn doesn’t preach her beliefs, she celebrates the differences that make people unique.

Yes, thank you Lynn for this wonderful strip that I have read since the very beginning. I could not ask for a better strip. These strips have been funny, but also so real and close to home. I love the way you point out the reality and tackle everyday problems in this comic such as relationship cheating, animal loyalty, and death of loved ones. This comic has given me so much joy to read, you don’t even know how wonderful it’s been for me to read something like this. Sincerely, Faith

I’ still amazed that this had 33 comments! (34 now) Considering the one after this has 3 comments. Either way this strip brings people together, and I like that. Thank you lynn

I realize Lawrence has some South American genes, but he is inconsistently drawn as white vs a person of color.

I love this. Thank you, Lynn.