The theology of the Simpsons

July 1, 4:31 PMMethodist ExaminerJames-Michael Smith

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Twenty years ago, no one would've imagined that the cartoon on FOX about the yellow-skinned dysfunctional family would be on the air for two decades to come. 

Even more unimaginable would've been the notion that this show, boycotted and bemoaned by many Christians on the Religious Right would end up being one of the most religiously-informed shows in TV history.  Yet that is precisely what The Simpsons has turned out to be over the past 20 years. 

Religion Journalist Mark Pinsky's book "The Gospel According to the Simpsons" served to introduce the Evangelical Christian subculture to the spiritual themes in the show that many within their ranks decried so vehemently.  In his introduction, Pinsky notes:

The show has made the cover of TV Guide a dozen times. During the same two-week period in early 2001, the Simpsons appeared on the covers of both Christianity Today and The Christian Century, two magazines at opposite ends of the Christian theological spectrum. Life magazine, in a cover story titled “The Shows That Changed America: 60 Years of Network Television,” called The Simpsons the “millennium family unite: struggling, skeptical, disrespectful, ironic, hopeful…The Simpsons verify our country’s strength: If they can make it in today’s America, who can’t?” In the words of cultural guru Kurt Andersen, it is “smarter, sharper and more allusive than any other show on television.” Robert Thompson, founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said in a newspaper interview that the series “doesn’t compare just with other television programs, but with the best of American humor. Will Rogers, Mark Twain and The Simpsons can happily occupy the same stratosphere of respect in the annals of American humor.”

Pinsky chronicles many of the shows dealings with religion and interviews various teachers and religous leaders, including professors at seminaries and Christian colleges.  To longtime fans of the show, the following comes as no suprise:

“The satiric Simpsons program takes religion’s place in society seriously enough to do it the honor of making fun of it... As satires go, these criticisms are not overly harsh and indeed most Christians would find much truth in them…If this is a show with attractive Christian characters, where good usually triumphs, where family virtues are always affirmed in the end, why are Christians put off by it? It’s a case of where if you’re a mature Christian and you get all the jokes, you could watch it.”
Gerry Bowler, professor of philosophy at Canadian Nazarene College:

"Religion was more prominent in the show in the jaded, decadent decade of the 1990s than in any other programs in the more religious 1950s." John Heeren of California State University

“Statistically speaking, there is more prayer on The Simpsons than on any other sitcom in broadcast history.”
David Dark, writing in the Christian monthly PRISM

“This is not the be-all and end-all of theology on TV, but the most consistent and intelligent treatment of religion on TV is on The Simpsons,” he told a newspaper interviewer."
David Landry, theologian and New Testament scholar, University of St. Thomas

Of course, being satire, the religious lessons are often found in the opposite of what the characters--especially Homer!--express.  The following is a collection of quotes that fans, both Christian and non-Christian alike, consider classic examples of the theology of the Simpsons:

[Disclaimer: Those with no sense of humor in matters of faith and religion need not read any further!]

"Dear Lord: The gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here's the deal: You freeze everything the way it is, and I won't ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. OK, deal. In gratitude, I present you this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, give me no sign. Thy will be done." --Homer

“I don’t even believe in Jebus,”
[Homer - trapped on a Christian relief flight heading for a remote Pacific island. He runs to the cockpit and begs the pilots to stop the plane and let him off] [the plane takes off]
“Save me, Jebus!”

“Dear Lord, thank you for this microwave bounty, even though we don’t deserve it. I mean…our kids are uncontrollable hellions. Pardon my French, but they act like savages! Did you see them at the picnic? Of course you did; you’re everywhere, you’re omnivorous, O Lord! Why did you spite me with this family?”  --Homer’s dinner prayer

[Homer defends his Evangelical neighbor, Ned Flanders, as a kind, wonderful, caring man who has “turned every cheek on his body” in the face of Homer’s insults.]

[Homer confesses at a church-sponsored alcohol abuse meeting that he was so desperate for beer that he ate the dirt under the bleachers at the football stadium]
“I cast thee out!”  --Rev. Lovejoy

[A Sunday School teacher tells Bart and Lisa that animals don’t go to Heaven. This thought literally dumbfounds Homer on the way home from church]  “I can understand how they wouldn’t want to let in those wild jungle apes, but what about those really smart ones who live among us, who roller skate and smoke cigars?” 

[Marge] “but doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me’?”
[Homer] “Yes, but doesn’t the Bible also say, ‘Thou shalt not take moochers into…thy…uh… hut?’”

"Suppose we've chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to church we're just making him madder and madder."  --Homer

[Homer]  “God Himself told me I should seek a new path.”
[Rev. Lovejoy, suspicious]  “Oh, really...”
[Homer]  “Yeah.  He appeared before me in a dream, and I knew that was special because I usually dream about naked...” [sees Marge's glare] “…Marge.”

“Perfect teeth.  Nice smell.  A class act, all the way.”  --Homer, describing God

“Kids, let me tell you about another so-called [makes air-quotes] ‘wicked' guy. He had long hair and some wild ideas.  He didn't always do what other people thought was right.  And that man's name was...I forget.  But the point is... I forget that, too.  Marge, you know what I'm talking about.  He used to drive that blue car?”  --Homer, defending his actions
  
[Marge] “Homer, please don't make me choose between my man and my God, because you just can't win."
[Homer] “There you go again, always taking someone else's side. Flanders, the water department, God...”

“I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman.”  --Homer

[Marge] “Homer, you don't have to pray out loud.”
[Homer] “But he's way the hell up there!”

[Homer, to Hindu Kwik-E-Mart clerk, Apu after Apu tells him about a Hindu god] “No offense Apu, but when they're handing out religions you must be out taking a whizz.”
[Apu] “Mr. Simpson, pay for your purchases and get out...and come again.”

“I'm not a bad guy! I work hard, and I love my kids. So why should I spend half my Sunday hearing about how I'm going to Hell?”  --Homer telling God why he stopped going to church

“Christmas is a time when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ.”  --Bart

“Aren't we forgeting the true meaning of Christmas? You know, the birth of Santa.”  --Bart

“Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such and such.”  --Homer trying to convince Lisa of gender roles

[Homer] “Your mother has this crazy idea that gambling is wrong. Even though they say it's okay in the Bible.”
[Lisa] “Really? Where?”
[Homer] “Eh, somewhere in the back.”

“The lesson is: Our God is vengeful! O spiteful one, show me who to smite and they shall be smoten.”  --Homer, expounding on God’s wrath

“Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.”  --Homer, on perseverance

“Old people don't need companionship. They need to be isolated and studied so it can be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use.”  --Homer, on care for one’s elders

“Stealing? How could you?! Haven’t you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain what’s-his-name? We live in a society of laws. Why do you think I took you to all those Police Academy movies? For fun? Well, I didn’t hear anybody laughin’, did you?”  --Homer

"I remember another gentle visitor from the heavens, he came in peace and then died, only to come back to life, and his name was E.T., the extra terestrial. I loved that little guy."  --Rev. Lovejoy

"And as we pass the collection plate, please give as if the person next to you was watching."
-Rev. Lovejoy

[Rev. Lovejoy, counseling Marge] "Get a divorce."
[Marge] "But isn't that a sin?"
[Lovejoy] "Marge, just about everything is a sin. Y'ever sat down and read this thing? echnically, we're not allowed to go to the bathroom."

"This so-called new religion is nothing but a pack of weird rituals and chants designed to take away the money of fools. Now let us say the lord's prayer 40 times, but first let's pass the collection plate."   --Rev. Lovejoy