Q: What role has religion played in The Simpsons over the years?
A: The Simpsons is not a show about religion. It's about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it's really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion.
Q: In what way?
A: The Simpsons say grace at meals. They attend church on Sundays. They read and refer to the Bible, and they pray out loud, although sometimes only under desperate circumstances.
Q: How does that compare to other television programs?
A: It's really extraordinary. With the exception of shows that are built around a religious premise, like "Touched by an Angel" or "Seventh Heaven" or "Highway to Heaven," this is a show in which religion is just a part of people's lives. But it's a consistent part. In that way it's in marked contrast to most commercial television, where religion is almost wholly absent. For The Simpsons it's just part of what they do.
Q: And how is that reflective of American religion?
A: The pollsters tell us that most Americans go to church, most Americans read the Bible, many Americans say grace, and in those senses the Simpsons are what America is. They represent as a family, really, a spectrum of religion. You have Homer, who's sort of a borderline pagan. His Christianity is sort of fear-based. He often confuses God with Superman. His wife Marge is a really true believer, a sincere believer, willing to make that leap of faith. Daughter Lisa for many years, really, was the voice of mainline Protestantism -- a skeptical believer, the Social Gospel. And Bart -- some believe he was the devil incarnate, but even Bart when he was scared would resort to prayer. And of course their next-door neighbor, Ned Flanders, was an evangelical.
Q: Let's talk a little more about each character's personal faith. What do we learn about religion through Homer?
A: Homer says he's a Christian, but he's really vague on the concept and sometimes extremely vague on theology. He sometimes mispronounces Jesus' name and says "Jebus," for example. He's not really sure about how Christianity works, but he does try to believe, and he does his best, and he often fails. Like many Americans, he's confused between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. He says "God of anger? God of love? God of anger? God of love?," and it's a joke and it's funny, but in many ways it represents the kind of confusion theologically that many Americans have.
Q: What about Marge?
A: Marge is really the sincere believer. She wants to believe. She wants to believe in angels, she wants to believe in divine intervention, and she's willing to make that leap of faith. She's not a blind believer, but she's really -- she finds great comfort in religion. And in fact, when the pastor in the show, Reverend Lovejoy, falters, she comes in to kind of buck him up and volunteer for the church and help as much as she can.
Q: And Lisa is spiritually interesting.
A: Lisa has an interesting faith journey. For most of the show's run she was the voice of mainline Protestantism -- the Social Gospel, a skeptical believer but a believer. And finally, when her church became sort of too seeker-sensitive, too commercial, she went on a faith journey, and she ended up being a Buddhist with the help, of course, of the actor Richard Gere.
Q: But she still goes to church.
A: She does. It's an inclusive kind of Buddhism. At Gere's suggestion, you don't have to choose between them, so she's kind of a Buddhist-Christian, actually.
Q: And Bart? What does he demonstrate about religion?
A: Bart is interesting. When Bart gets in trouble, and deep trouble, he prays and he prays sincerely. It's not fake, although once Lisa goes by his doorway when he's praying desperately and she says "Prayer, the last refuge of a scoundrel."
Q: What about some of the other more minor characters? There is a lot of religious diversity in the show.
A: Apu is an Indian immigrant. He's a Hindu, he runs the convenience store, and through him much about Hinduism is explained to people who might not know Hindus. On the surface it's funny, like everything in The Simpsons, but underneath it's very respectful, I think. Then you have Krusty the TV clown, who's kind of a reprobate Jew, what we call a Hollywood Jew essentially, more ethnically involved than religiously involved. But even so, there are two wonderful episodes around him which really talk about dialogue between tradition and modernity in American Jewish life, which were written with the assistance of rabbis. Ned Flanders, who's the evangelical next door, on the surface is kind of a dufus guy. He's overzealous, but underneath his heart is really good, and as much scorn and disrespect that Homer heaps on him, Ned always returns it with love. And Ned lives his faith, and so however silly he may appear, his heart is good, and I think he's really a good exemplar of Christianity, so much so that younger evangelicals around the country, I'm told, have adopted Ned as kind of an unofficial mascot, because if you ask someone who's not an evangelical to name an evangelical who's not a country music star or an athlete, chances are they'll say Ned Flanders.
Q: Talk about Reverend Lovejoy and the church.
A: For narrative purposes, almost everybody in The Simpsons goes to one church, and it's a Protestant church, it's a mainline church. It's not strictly defined, but it's sort of "Presbylutheran," as they say in The Simpsons. And in many ways it's a church that most Christian mainline denominations would love to have. It's a dream for mainline Christianity because the pews are always full. There are rich people and poor people, there are black people and white people, and that would be something that any mainline Protestant church would love to have. At the same time, the preacher has suffered from time to time from preacher burnout. His sermons are boring, he's in a difficult marriage, he has a child who's a typical preacher's kid, a demon seed, and he in many ways exemplifies the problems of the preacher in the church.
Q: It's actually a rather sophisticated discussion of various theological and spiritual themes, isn't it?
A: Extremely so. Sometimes the critics say that The Simpsons is a show that rewards intelligence. It's written on many levels, and the more you pay attention, and frankly the more intelligent you are, the more jokes you'll get. And one needs to remember that the people who write the show are mostly from Harvard or from the Harvard Lampoon, and although they may not be believers themselves, at the present time they know the stuff that they are making light of in some ways, and it's a very knowing, insiders' satire.
