Religion in the comi-x guest column [View all]
I defer greatly to the expertise of Cartoonist in the subject of history of comics, but apparently I have more knowledge in a certain sub section. So the following is a not nearly as great a column on the X-Men graphic novel known as 'God Loves, Man Kills'.
As most people know, X-Men is a (sometimes not very) subtle metaphor for the outsider in society. It started as a stand in for racism, given the time frame of its genesis. The 1960's. It has more recently been a metaphor for gay rights, and has also revealed a new/old gay character. Yes, this is confusing because multiple universes plus time travel = new/old characters. If you ask, you may get more than you have bargained for, because I WILL answer! 
God Loves, Man Kills is the graphic novel that X2 X-Men United (the movie) was loosely based on. It was released in the 1980's.
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The premise of the story is that William Styker, a religious zealot of the worst sort has decided that mutants are contrary to god's law and should be exterminated (x-terminated?) (**!!3X73RM1N473D!!**? <---this is my Dalek impression, and I have now truly revealed the depths of my geekery) He even goes so far as to murder his own wife and newborn son when the son is born a mutant. He leads a group called the purifiers. You can guess their goal from their name. [As an interesting sidebar, the producer of the xmovies at the time is an outspoken Christian. He changed the character of Stryker from a preacher to a military man. This changes the premise from the dangers of religious extremism vis-a-vis genocide to the dangers of an out of control general convincing the public genocide is a good idea. But time frame wise, pre 9-11, pre politics of fox/fear it doesn't make quite as much sense plot-wise, in my opinion]
The graphic novel opens with probably Magneto's first sympathetic moment in all of the x-men universe. He is mourning the death of two children who were executed only because they are mutants.
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Xavier and Stryker have a television debate, and afterward, Stryker manages to kidnap Xavier and a couple of other Xmen. He tortures and brainwashes Xavier into believing that mutants are evil and should be eradicated. His plan is to use Xavier's prodigious mental powers to find and kill all the mutants. The X-Men team up with Magneto to find and rescue Xavier.
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After a period of days of the torture, Xavier is hooked up to a machine similar to his computer Cerebro (which helps him to identify and locate mutants by amplifying his telepathy) this will allow him to kill all mutants by frying their brains, basically. Stryker is preaching at a big to-do in a stadium, when our intrepid team arrive. Magneto gets to be super dramatic, and Shadowcat and Nightcrawler manage to goad Stryker to admit his nefarious doings in front of the crowd, which includes a closeted, popular US Senator. Stryker is shot in the chest by a security guard when he tries to kill Shadowcat in front of the crowd.
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Magneto and Xavier almost decide to join forces, but the more idealistic Cyclops makes a pretty speech and that doesn't pan out in the end. Because Magneto is a bad guy and could never be part of the good guy team. Oh wait.... 
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This book is an indictment of religious EXTREMISM, not religion per se. Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner is a devout Catholic (well, debatable right now, since he died and was brought back, but doesn't have a soul at least for now) Kitty Pride/Shadowcat is Jewish, Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine is atheist though he has been to both heaven and hell. You might just say that X-Men is the interfaith of the comics universe. Check it out. Considered by a whole lot of geekier people than I am to be a definitive X-book. http://www.amazon.com/X-Men-Loves-Marvel-Graphic-Novels/dp/0939766221
Also check out this podcast - Rachel and Miles xplain the X-men. Here's the episode where they talk about this issue http://www.rachelandmiles.com/xmen/?p=2334
I will now return you to your regularly scheduled religion in the comics column.
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