Had Mike & Jud made a disclaimer like, “Due to the conflict that arose from Deadly Viper Character Assassins we have decided to take down the offensive content and come back with a new look and new name.” That would have gone miles to help avoid speculation and fuel prejudices and slanderous comments.

I agree that communication from both sides of the issue was less-than ideal, but throwing up a snippet like that and then retreating really doesn’t help the cause of reconciliation. Mike & jud are taking the road that most people (such as Matt Payne) have thought Zondervan would take. Zondervan has taken the high road and left the door open. Mike & Jud have shut down everything and are looking to resurrect themselves under something new hoping the issue will just go away.

If Mike wants to step back and deal with some pain, I totally understand that. He had no obligation to reply to my inquiry. However, had the letter on deadlyviper.org been worded better, I wouldn’t have been compelled to ask his position and if he really meant what I read from the words of the letter.

Lastly, Mike & jud (and you) can assume that the book being pulled was a personal attack against them, but in essence it really wasn’t. Most of us in the Asian community have rallied support for Mike & Jud and honored their integrity and ministry throughout the whole ordeal. Even Zondervan has disclosed that they will work towards the future, which indicates they aren’t shutting down the book. I truly believe it will be re-packaged if the authors approve of the new presentation. However, my suspicion is that it will get scrapped in lieu of doing something under the People Of The Second Chance branding.

The worst thing to come out of all of this, regardless of what your position is, is that when you don’t share much on how or why the material could be viewed as offensive or insensitive as a preface to your comments on your personal blog, then it kind of lends credibility to other views and aids the hostility towards Asians. I don’t want to go there, but for example if some African-American guys are bantering back and forth and using the n-word, then we who are not African-American feel it should give us license to use the same word. When we get slammed for using it when they used it first, we get confused.

I know that through th resurrection of Mike & Jud under the new campaign of People Of The Second Chance, a lot of support will be shown and positive forms of grace will be revealed. However, the issue has always been deeper than what came out from the Deadly Viper issue and that is the core of the problem that needs to be reconciled. In honor of those that have walked before me, especially my mom who experienced hatred and racism because of her appearance and broken English, I just can’t side with those that think expressing stereotypes for the sake of humor should be accepted culture, especially within the Asian-American community.

Thanks for taking the time to share your perspective and for your grace towards Mike & Jud :)

“Due to an unfortunate conflict that arose around our use of Asian American themes, we have decided to close this chapter of Deadly Viper Character Assassins.”

i can sort of see why you can read into that… but (IMO) that’s reading a LOT into it. what they wrote was fact. the book was ultimately pulled because of zondervan (no speculation here)… not the AA community OR the DV team… but it WAS because of THEIR use (which they take ownership of) of AA themes. i am choosing to assume the best out of everyone in the situation.

as to mike not getting back to you, have you thought maybe it’s just time for them to lay low? their ‘baby’ just got pulled off the shelves. yes… we didn’t ‘attack’ jud or mike, but we sure did put their ‘baby’ on trial. whether we purposely chose to attack them or not, don’t you think they felt attacked?

i HAVE had some contact with them and all i can say is that things are not always as they seem. they needed to grieve, and they needed to NOT say anything more because no matter what they say/write, people are reading INTO what they were saying… just like this instance.

in their quietness, DV fans came to their defense. you are right… some of how they defended was more like an attack on the AA community. but can’t you say that happened in BOTH camps?

this whole thing is just sad. and though everyone DESIRES reconciliation and conversation, i’m not sure it can happen so soon in the aftermath.

my prayer is that it WILL happen though.

As I learned from Steven Furtick, it’s not the making mistakes that’s a problem, but it’s how one moves forward that becomes the issue. It seems like mistakes are being repeated in this process and it is continuing the conflict rather than the resolution. Hoping that through all of the positives we have already witnessed, that the ultimate goal of sitting at the same table and communicating openly in the direction of reconciliation and unity can emerge. Thanks again Pastor Josh!

I too was disheartened by the first sentence of the DV closing statement–primarily for the use of the phrase “unfortunate conflict.” Although I do not believe this phrase was specifically targeted at the Asian-American community, I do believe it has the potential to cause additional hurt.

My concern is that I do not believe this conflict was/is “unfortunate.” Implying that it was, places blame on others; not cool and gives the impression that Mike and Jud (or Zondervan) are not taking responsibility for the hurt.

A lot of people tend to think that “conflict is bad, thus conflict is unfortunate.” This is simply not true. I came across a Canadian study (link below) that argues where conflict is managed properly, it can actually benefit an organization and be a catalyst for better solutions, innovations, increased motivation and other workplace benefits.

As much heartache as this conflict has caused, it has brought about the following positive results, of which I am confident there is a great potential for more:

• Forgiveness (may we all continue to strive for and live here)
• Eased the hurt and begun the healing process for our Asian-American brothers and sisters
• Educated many in the Body of Christ on the pain of Orientalism
• Brought about a leadership change at Zondervan to help avoid future ethnic and cultural insensitivity

Anytime conflict can help us remove insensitive material and language from our culture, it’s a good thing. Growth can be difficult and filled with pain, but if it leads us towards true reconciliation, it is a very fortunate thing.

May the Spirit of Christ continue to unite his people.

Link to Canadian Study: http://www.prlog.org/10177343-warring-egos-toxic-individuals-feeble-leadership.html

Even if Zondervan shut down deadlyviper.org, knowing that there were other ministries such as The People of The Second Chance connected there, Mike has the resources and opportunity at Plain Joe Studios to revamp and still operate the other stuff. Choosing to shut everything down has caused a negative backlash that now has people resenting Asian-Americans as the cause and nothing is being done by Mike & Jud to set the record straight.

If you read into the language, you clearly see that it is a conflict Asian-Americans that caused the shutdown. If they can blame Asian-Americans they could have easily added a statement including Zondervan forcing them to shut down too.

The intent (from Asian-Americans) was never to see deadlyviper.org shutdown. It’s as if Mike & Jud have simply said, “If you don’t like the way we play we’ll take our toys to another sandbox.” when we were simply asking them to engage in some dialog and move toward reconciliation of the matter and subsequent unity.

As for Zondervan, while their moments in silence were a bit disconcerting for many, they came out with a reasonable response. You stated that big companies just want to shut things down and hope they die quietly, Zondervan has changed it’s leadership and informed the public that it has added channels to help avoid issues like this from happening in the future. Initially they reacted, but now they seem to be very proactive. Zondervan’s closing letter left little doubt and communicated their position clearly. They are taking the lead in this matter and it seems to be a very satisfactory resolution with eyes to the future. If you haven’t read their letter, you can do so by clicking here.

Don’t you think Zondervan shut it down? My guess is that they own the rights. Big companies just cut their losses and hope the criticism goes away.

Hoping to add some more clarity to the majority position of the Asian-American community as it relates to Mike & Jud and the Deadly Viper Character Assassins book, which are two wholly independent issues that should stand apart.

Hooray for The People Of The Second Chance and for people like you that operate under grace and continue to reach out an open hand!