HUMANISM AT LARGE

toons are deliberate, but not so overt. The computer-generated,

Cartoon Religion proactive Veggie Tales franchise (a toss ed salad for God) is for tots whose Beth Birnbaum parents were scandalized by the sinful

elevision, today’s default substitute biblical knowledge; for relationships and community, is 2. Disgusted with all that multicul- One scholar described Talso a marketplace for offerings of tural crap the kids are fed on Sesame the sacred in the commercial, the profound Street; Lisa Simpson, who in the profane. Sermons, even prayers 3. Willing to shell out major bucks for once pitied her moth- and blessings, have moved be yond point- all the episodes, instead of dragging the of-purchase houses of worship. Televised kids to Vacation Bible School or church; er for versions of spiritual enlightenment for 4. Able to force their kids to watch having faith, as a every demographic and degree of religious them. piety abound, from “commitment-light” to Note: these cartoons are not to be stand-in for Jesus fundamentalist, feel-good, New Age psy- confused with the live-action Bible sto- ries sold by Charlton (“pry-my-gun- Christ. from-my-cold-dead-hands”) Heston for older children. Other car- homosexual orientation of Tinky Winky the Tele tubby. They act out biblical sto- ries and morality plays with asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes (a fruit?), and other assorted veggies. They’re even starring in their own major motion pic- ture. But the best way to reach the major- ity of our nation’s youth, who avoid overtly religious programming like the chological, to an entire station plague (unless they really like the clay- of that old-time religion (WORD mation technique on Davy and Go liath) Network). is covertly through the cartoons they From televangelist Benny Hinn’s already watch. healing the afflicted through their Religious references abound television sets to astrology or Feng in almost every past and cur- Shui home decorating, it’s enough rent cartoon series: from to make an otherwise rational the prehistoric Flint- person wear a protective tin- foil helmet when holding the remote. But television religion isn’t confined to programs with “An gel” in the title, “Touched” or otherwise, or commercials for toilet tissue and calling collect. Children, the youngest entertainment product consumers, begin their reli- gious education with cartoons. Some are deliberate and overt, like the Bible story cartoon series, sold through a tele- vision informercial offer, for parents: 1. Concerned about their children’s Beth Birnbaum is a freelance writer.

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org 56 stones, whose characters “lived” before galaxy far, far away, well before Christ. of Religion in the USA (sic).” mono theism, all the way to the futuristic It’s no wonder some Brits listed their In The Gospel According to the Jetsons. From the very beginning of the religion as Jedi on the last census. Simpsons, author Mark I. Pinsky, the art form, cartoon plots were taken from Religious themes are also secular- Orlando Sentinel’s religion reporter, the Bible. It meant parents would allow ized for cartoons, like the cute, cud- uncovers (allegedly) religious lessons and their children to watch cartoons. The dly, cloud-based Care Bears, who came socially redeemable value in the cartoon. Bible is also a great free source of pop- to Earth whenever the “Care-o-Meter” There’s also The Gospel According to ular material, having spent centuries in dropped below a certain level, similar to the Simpsons: Leaders Guide for Group the public domain. the Jewish belief that the world will end Study, which Pinsky wrote with Samuel Early cartoon characters prayed, when the number of the righteous falls F. Parvin, who also wrote Weekend at the deliberated between good and evil with below seven. Movies: the Best Retreats from Reel to a tiny angel on one shoulder and a tiny The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Reel, which tells how to create movie-in- devil on the other, wore halos, died, and changed the mix. Although the four spired religious retreats for young people pizza-eating Turtles were named after and explains the religious lessons to be Renaissance painters, they were granted found in blockbusters like Big, Dave, and sentience by chemical mutation (science, Pleasantville. not God, was their creator) and fol- Relying on the aforementioned The “More people identi- lowed the teachings of a Sensei rat. They Gospel According to Peanuts and the helped establish an Asian influence in groundbreaking work of The Tao of fy Ned Flanders with American cartoons, paving the way for Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, perhaps The Christianity than ‘the Pokemons and other Japanese animé. Nickelodeon broke another barrier, the Pope, Mother Theresa, Rugrats celebration of Jewish holidays a or even Billy Graham.’” clear multicultural wake-up call. But, since even the minds of the blas- “From the . . . begin- phemous come from God, a new form of ning of the art form, scholarship was born. It looks not to the study of the Scriptures to find the Word cartoon plots were had souls rise to heaven or down to of God, but to popular cartoons. taken from the Bible hell—or got resurrected holding a lily. Charles Schultz deliberately built in The cartoon world boasts a vast popula- his religious messages, so the concept . . . a great free source tion of spirits, ghosts, and other super- behind The Gospel According to Peanuts of popular natural manifestations, from friendly by Robert Short (1965) wasn’t much of a ones like Casper to malevolent demons, stretch. He may have made his case for material, having spent with only the skeptical Scooby Doo team Lucy as a stand-in for Original Sin, but to expose the hoax. Snoopy as Jesus is probably a bit over centuries in the public The use of cartoons for propagan- the top for most theologians. domain.” da during World War II indicates that Matt Groening’s The Simpsons began cartoon makers know exactly what as a satire from the cartoonist who they’re doing—in spite of All Dogs Go wrote Life in Hell. The Simpsons has to Heaven. been accused of skewering every value Gospel According to the Simpsons is an When other cultures relate reli- that decent, God-fearing people hold attempt to wrest control from the more gious observance to animals, inanimate dear; it has been shunned, reviled, and scholarly and inclusive The Simpsons objects, or natural phenomena, they’re protested by religious leaders and par- and Philosopy: The D’oh! of Homer, edit- considered primitive, pagan, or even ents alike. Groening himself admitted ed by William Irwin, Mark T. Conard, worse. Their adherents are targeted for that he wouldn’t let his own kids watch and Aeon J. Skoble. conversion to monotheism—peacefully it. But many former critics are getting on The D’oh of Homer is comprised of by missionaries, or forcefully by the the show’s religious bandwagon, includ- eighteen essays by contemporary phi- army. In cartoons, however, Christianity ing the magazines Christian Century losophers, mostly college professors, is inherent in everything: the sun, the and Christianity Today. interpreting aspects of the show accord- ocean, dolls, toys, animals, trees, stars, According to sociologist John ing to Aristotle, Marx, Kant, epistemolo- foodstuffs, etc. Christmas ornament effi- Heeren, apparently a man with much gy, heuristic values, politics, sexual pol- gies of almost every imaginable cartoon free time on his hands, an analysis of itics (three-quarters of the characters character, cultural icon, and product seventy-one episodes of The Simpsons are male), ethics, etc. abound: Pepe Le Pew, Elvis, Marilyn for Christianity Today revealed that 69 All this attention to a cartoon says a Monroe, Speedy Alka-Seltzer, Chinese percent contained at least one religious lot about our contemporary intellectual Barbie (a Confucian convert), the Three reference, and 10 percent of the plots climate: if you don’t reference pop cul- Stooges (who were Jewish), even Darth directly concerned religion. He present- ture, even the intellectuals won’t read Vader, who was born long, long ago, in a ed his findings to “The Scientific Study your book.

57 http://www.secularhumanism.org Dec. 2003/Jan. 2004 REVIEWS

In one essay, David Vessey explains ed by the burnt out Reverend Lovejoy a poll, more people identify Ned with that Simpsons character Ned Flanders doesn’t exactly indicate religious zeal Christianity than “the Pope, Mother is “only that which Matt Groening and on Homer’s part, especially since he Teresa, or even Billy Graham.” (Apol- his staff make him to be . . . because corrupts an innocent tribe as the story ogies to John Lennon, who once precip- quite obviously, Ned has no beliefs and unfolds. itated outrage when he compared the does not actually act.” He explains his Prior to the fairly recent episode in which she became a Richard Gere Buddhist, shown after Pinsky’s book was published, Lisa Simpson came across “All this attention to an atheist, or at least an agnostic. An acartoon says “Cartoon makers intellectual most of the time (see “Lisa and the American Anti-intellectualism” a lot about our know exactly what by Aeon J. Skoble in The Simpsons and contemporary they’re doing — in Philosophy), possessing a strong pro- gressive, pro-reason, antisuperstition, intellectual climate: spite of All Dogs Go antipollution, pro-animal rights, pro- if you don’t to Heaven.” feminist, and prohumanist agenda, Lisa remains a (somewhat) innocent child. reference pop Therefore, Pinsky describes Lisa, who once pitied her mother for having faith, culture, even the as a stand-in for Jesus Christ. She’s intellectuals won’t probably a better match than Snoopy. methodology of treating Ned and the The Simpsons are basically equal read your book.” other characters as if they are real, opportunity satirists, skewering any while acknowledging the role of dozens and all religions except Islam, which of writers. they never found funny. They’ve driven In contrast, Pinsky, who is Jewish, the Catholic Church apoplectic. The Beatles’ popularity to that of Jesus, are admittedly takes the cartoon family at show has sometimes been called upon long overdue.) face value, placing them firmly into the to apologize to their targets, notably the Pinsky’s The Gospel According Judeo-Christian camp, though touching entire city of Rio de Janeiro. to Disney will be published shortly, upon other influences in the diverse Krusty the Clown, Springfield’s sole al though The Gospel According to Dis- Springfield community. Interviewing Jewish (you should pardon the expres- ney: Christian Values in the Early Ani- the real, live, unanimated writers, he’s sion) role model, reconciled with his mated Classics by Philip Longfellow forced to admit that the two believing father, an Orthodox rabbi, in an episode An derson was published in 1999, mostly Protestants on the staff are a rarity. Pinsky deems significant. Convenience sticking with the early, Walt Disney him- The vast number of Simpsons writers store manager Apu, his wife, Manjula, self, pre-Michael Eisner (the man who are former Catholic and Jewish avowed their octuplets, and the Kwik-i-Mart guru brought us Mickey Mouse menorahs) atheists, or at least agnostics, mostly who dwells high atop the Himalayas in a classics. It explores, among other par- Harvard- or Ivy League-educated. twenty-four-hour market, have caused ables, the role of the apple in both the Pinsky feels the show upholds moral great mental anguish to Hindus every- Garden of Eden and in precipitating family values because Marge hasn’t where. Snow White’s coma. divorced Homer in spite of his knock- But not everyone takes offense. The It may be a book series and major ing her up before their marriage, child main religious character The Simpsons motion picture series and not a cartoon, abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, bigamy, offers is Ned Flanders—Homer’s next- but there’s also The Gospel According public sex, bootlegging, conning old peo- door neighbor, nemesis, and sometimes to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the ple, murderous Halloween stunts, sell- friend, the ultimate Christian nerd, a Stories of the World’s Most Famous ing his soul to the Devil, breaking most guy so obsessed with godliness that even Seeker by Connie Neal, which pains- of the Ten Commandments, world-class his minister runs from him. Ned and his takingly compares Potter to the Bible, gluttony, and myriad assorted other dearly departed wife, Maude, and their looking for spiritual enlightenment in venal and mortal sins. two sons have become heroes to Christ- the series Christians love to ban and In the episode where Homer acciden- ians, at least to some Christians who burn. She’s developed a career explain- tally becomes a missionary, Pinsky, who have trouble separating fantasy from ing Potter, having also published What’s academically (almost biblically), cites reality. In the United Kingdom last year, a Christian to Do with Harry Potter? chapter and verse of these episodes (as a Ned Flanders look-alike contest had so Neal has also collaborated with Pinsky’s did the philosophers in D’oh), sees reaf- many participants that many had to be partner Parvin in writing the soon-to-be- firmation of faith as Homer repeatedly turned away. released The Gospel Accord ing to Harry hollers, “Help me, Jeebus.” Not knowing This identification is deliberate, Potter: Leader’s Guide for Group Study. his Lord and Savior’s name is spite of at least on the part of Christianity As Thomas Aquinas rolls his regular attendance at a church head- Today, which notes that, according to in his grave, somewhere

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