Jolimont

I've been watching Simpsons re-runs for many years and my sense was that the show is quite cynical towards religion. Today I heard about a book by Mark Pinsky that presents the opposing view. The book is called The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family. The author postulates that the show is overall favorable to religion, always respectfull of religion, and that religionists often use bits from the Simpsons to promote their views.

Have you read the book? What do you think? I think I'll read it eventually, but I'm interested in your perception of the show.

seebs

Both, like any good satire. In the one in 2nd season where Homer starts stealing cable, and Lisa learns about "Thou shalt not steal", religion is portrayed mostly sympathetically. In many shows, Ned Flanders is depicted as a fair bit of a kook.

Shake

Like seebs said, it's a little of both. The Flanders' are the neighborhood fundies, and so they get picked on for their extreme views. I've even seen people on this board imply that Rev. Lovejoy is actually an agnostic, due to his views which are sometimes apathetic to religion. It seems like for the most part, the Simpsons actually uses characters that are somewhat realistic, i.e. you'll find people like them in real life, but they've emphasized certain characteristics or traits for greater humor. I have long held that The Simpsons as well as other cartoons in general are more for adults than children. Being able to watch cartoons that you saw as a child later on in life, you find all sorts of little puns and other jokes that you never even picked up on before.

So, um, er, what was the question again? Oh, no, I haven't read the book. It does sound interesting though. By the way, I would have to say that Lisa is probably agnostic at least. I'd generally agree with Pinsky. They poke fun at religion without being too offensive for Joe Average. The fundies probably get pissed off about it and don't allow their kids to watch it for a host of reasons, not the least of which is their occasional attacks of Xianity.

THE_LEGENDARY_HQB

The Simpsons poke a lot of fun at fundies, and sometimes Christianity in general.
Paraphrasing Homer:
"...you that religion, that has all these good ideas, that doesn't work in real life?
You know, Christianity!"

I don't see them as being too sympathetic towards atheists, however.
Remember the "Angels" episode, where the whole town believes in a stone angel Lisa found? There is a definite not so subtle critique of the creationist mindset in the way Reverend Lovejoy whips up the whole town against scientists. However, Lisa's scepticism is also viewed unfavorably. She come across as being too dogmatic, too close minded, at least IMO. In the end, she's made to acknowledge the possibility of something "higher".

Still love the show, though.
HQB

fando

Yeah, what's up with that Angel's episode? I cringe whenever I watch it. Maybe the writers felt that some form of balance was needed, but it seems to have backfired and made them seem unfair towards or at least unfamiliar with skepticism. Skepticism gets such a bad rap in the media, probably as an indirect consequence of the "balanced perspective" policy.

Corgan Sow

Simpsons DID promote stupid superstition of some kind. Remember where Bart sold his soul to Milhouse for...10 bucks? That was dumb, especially in the end where Bart prayed a.k.a to like a Christian God to get his soul back. I don't know what is the point creating such a ridiculous episode.

Cretinist

One has to take into consideration the fact that in The Simpsons' universe, God is a real being. This is also the case in the more overtly anti-religion show South Park, and in the Towing Jehovah book series.

Once this is taken into consideration, I think any analysis will show that The Simpsons never portrays religion favorably. In the episode with Lisa and the angels, the angel is a marketing ploy: it is a hoax to get money. Homer even uses it to sell some cheap spiritual kicks. I think the obvious overall message is "religion = scam".

In the episode where Bart loses his soul, the episode is filled with absurdities like Milhouse insisting that sneezing blows out your soul, and that saying "God bless you" crams it back in.

Just because a work of fiction portrays something as a fact does not mean it also doesn't ridicule it. Of course in a universe where God is real being, skepticism about his existence will never be vindicated in any episode. That doesn't mean God can't be made fun of, as the concept almost always is. Take for instance, the episode with Lisa playing Joan of Arc.

One must keep in mind that the creator of The Simpsons is a self-proclaimed agnostic.

Opera Nut

And last Sunday's new episode: The sign outside the church said
WELCOME PISSED-OFF CATHOLICS

LOL!

Brahma's atheist

I started a thread last year about something similar to this. Infidels wrote in quotes from various adult cartoons. You can't believe they got away with some of the things they put in the shows.
I got annoyed with the 'Angel' episode as well and with Lisa generally because she is rational in one episode and a god-fearer in another.
South Park is fanatastically irreverent but I caught a tiny bit of an episode with some of the townsfolk becoming atheist and literally spouting shit, into a waste-paper basket.

viscousmemories

One of my favorites was after a natural disaster (hurricane or tornado, I can't remember) and the sign outside the church read something like: "God Welcomes His Victims".