{"id":7177,"date":"2007-07-27T18:12:17","date_gmt":"2007-07-27T23:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=7177"},"modified":"2014-03-05T16:59:10","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T21:59:10","slug":"july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/","title":{"rendered":" Religion and the Simpsons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the years, The Simpsons has become known for its sharp-edged satire. But, as Kim Lawton reports, there&#8217;s also a surprising focus on spirituality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,&#8221; says Mark Pinsky, author of &#8220;The Gospel According to The Simpsons.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/\" class=\"more\">More <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":22368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[814,2805,5851,10361,4209,10360],"class_list":["post-7177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-film","tag-humor","tag-mark-pinsky","tag-pop-culture","tag-television","tag-the-simpsons","topics-literature-and-the-arts","faith-christian"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>July 27, 2007 ~ Religion and the Simpsons | July 27, 2007 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,&quot; says Mark Pinsky, author of &quot;The Gospel According to The Simpsons.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"July 27, 2007 ~ Religion and the Simpsons | July 27, 2007 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,&quot; says Mark Pinsky, author of &quot;The Gospel According to The Simpsons.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-27T23:12:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-05T21:59:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2007\/07\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fred Yi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fred Yi\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fred Yi\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47\"},\"headline\":\"Religion and the Simpsons\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-07-27T23:12:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-05T21:59:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":30,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Film\",\"humor\",\"Mark Pinsky\",\"pop culture\",\"television\",\"The Simpsons\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/\",\"name\":\"July 27, 2007 ~ Religion and the Simpsons | July 27, 2007 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-07-27T23:12:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-05T21:59:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47\"},\"description\":\"\\\"The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,\\\" says Mark Pinsky, author of \\\"The Gospel According to The Simpsons.\\\"\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/27\\\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\\\/7177\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2007\\\/07\\\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly\",\"description\":\"An examination of religion&#039;s role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/search-results\\\/?q={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47\",\"name\":\"Fred Yi\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/author\\\/yif\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"July 27, 2007 ~ Religion and the Simpsons | July 27, 2007 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS","description":"\"The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,\" says Mark Pinsky, author of \"The Gospel According to The Simpsons.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"July 27, 2007 ~ Religion and the Simpsons | July 27, 2007 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS","og_description":"\"The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,\" says Mark Pinsky, author of \"The Gospel According to The Simpsons.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/","og_site_name":"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/","article_published_time":"2007-07-27T23:12:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-05T21:59:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2007\/07\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fred Yi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionEthics","twitter_site":"@ReligionEthics","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fred Yi"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/"},"author":{"name":"Fred Yi","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47"},"headline":"Religion and the Simpsons","datePublished":"2007-07-27T23:12:17+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-05T21:59:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/"},"wordCount":30,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2007\/07\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg","keywords":["Film","humor","Mark Pinsky","pop culture","television","The Simpsons"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/","name":"July 27, 2007 ~ Religion and the Simpsons | July 27, 2007 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2007\/07\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg","datePublished":"2007-07-27T23:12:17+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-05T21:59:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47"},"description":"\"The Simpsons is not a show about religion, but it\u2019s about a family in which religion plays a part, and in that sense it\u2019s really reflective of what most Americans do and feel about religion,\" says Mark Pinsky, author of \"The Gospel According to The Simpsons.\"","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2007\/07\/27\/july-27-2007-religion-and-the-simpsons\/7177\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2007\/07\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2007\/07\/feat-religion-simpsons-800.jpg","width":800,"height":450},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/","name":"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly","description":"An examination of religion&#039;s role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47","name":"Fred Yi","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/author\/yif\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}