The Gospel According to The Simpsons
Mark Pinsky
Westminster John Knox Press
Rev. Lovejoy, the Protestant minister on The Simpsons, once comments that a small group of people split off from the Presbyterians to worship an Inanimate Carbon Rod. This is the motto of the Springfield Christian School: "We put the fun in Fundamental dogma."
Pinsky starts out by explaining that a lot of our Christian values and principles are made to look silly. Take the Simpsons' neighbour, Ned Flanders, who is an evangelical Christian. He believes doing good deeds will ensure that he has the necessary credits to get into heaven. The Simpsons, to varying degrees, reflects middle-class values.
My experience with the show is limited to the odd episode, which I watched with my sons during their teenage years. I was curious to see what the attraction was for young people. Let's review the characters. Lisa is a good starting point. She is the gifted eight-year-old daughter of Homer and Marge Simpson and is a strong proponent of social justice. Homer represents the views of many in the mainline churches; he attends church regularly but does not have a significant commitment to core beliefs. However, he wants his children to learn right from wrong. His wife, Marge, is a stay-at-home mom. Their son, Bart, is a 10-year-old with attitude. The baby, Maggie, does not play much of a role as she does not speak, preferring to suck on a pacifier. It is interesting that the Simpsons go to church regularly but are not labelled as religious fanatics.
The show's writers recognize that certain Christian topics are off limits. For example, they stay away from the cruxifiction and resurrection of Christ and indeed Christ's life is largely left untouched. Pinsky points out that maybe this is a little too close to home for many Americans and more importantly, there may not be a lot of laughs in poking fun at Christ. Not so with God, who is depicted in many of the episodes dealing with religion. Pinsky quotes Kenneth Briggs, a professor at Lafayette University, who defended The Simpsons' overall treatment of Christianity, saying "I don't see anybody taking any cheap shots. It gives mainline Protestants a fair shake."
