Teaching the Gospel according to 'The Simpsons'
by Gloria LaBounty, Sun Chronicle Staff

It's Sunday morning and Homer Simpson refuses to get out of bed and go to church, no matter what his wife says. "It's church. You have to go," says Marge. So he gets up and gets dressed, but rips his  "church pants," giving him the excuse he sought.

He stays home, and the family goes off to worship, but ends up shivering through the service because the church's furnace broke down. Homer, on the other hand, is toasty at home, making waffles, walking around in his underwear, watching football, and even winning a call-in contest. "This is the best day of my life," he declares. "I'm never going to church again.''

Even God reinforces his choice when he appears to Homer in a dream, then sits down for a chat and admits that "sometimes even I would rather be watching football." God even agrees to let Homer worship him in his own way.

But, after being rescued from a house fire he accidentally set, Homer reconsiders and ends up in church one Sunday, sleeping in the pew and dreaming about God, who won't answer his questions on the meaning of life.

That's one of hundreds of episodes in the life of "The Simpsons," the long-running cartoon on the Fox Network saturated with satire that spares no aspect of American life, including religion. The show's faith-based plots have been explored in such books as  "The Gospel According to the Simpsons" by journalist Mark Pinsky, which in turn spawned a study guide that has been picked up by discussion groups nationwide.

It's now in use at Murray Unitarian Universalist Church in Attleboro in a series of weekly discussions that explore the religious issues raised by one of television's most unlikely moral figures. One media analyst found that about 70 percent of the episodes contain at least one reference to religion, and at least 10 percent had plots that center on faith. Initially decried by various religious leaders when it debuted more than 15 years ago, the show has since been getting a second look from church groups, who now see select episodes as tools for moral teaching, or at least for soul-searching.

"I didn't know it could be so deep," said Nan Loggains, director of religious education at Murray who ran a five-week series on the Simpsons last fall, and is now doing another five. She thought the study program would be perfect for Murray, a church that welcomes spiritual seekers from all religious backgrounds. All are touched by The Simpsons, a show that plays fair when it comes to faith. Every religion is subject to its lampooning, said Eric Mazur, professor of religion at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, who co-authored the book, "Homer the Heretic and Charlie Church." He calls the show groundbreaking. "For years, it was probably the most religious program on television," Mazur said in a telephone interview.  "It was the only show where people actually went to church." Although it criticizes institutional religion, he said, the show upholds the moral values that are the basis of those religions. And while religious stereotypes abound, they are used to mirror American society, Mazur said.

He likens Homer to Archie Bunker of "All in the Family," who also made offensive statements that people recognized as ludicrous, but that often reflected their own prejudices. "If you look at the show, you get a good idea of how religion is treated and understood in contemporary American society," he said.

Lisle Dalton, professor of religion at Hartwick College in New York, who co-authored the book on the Simpsons with Mazur, said the show uses stereotypes not to reinforce them, but "to hold the general social impulse to stereotype up to a critical lens." The show artfully mocks faith while affirming its value, Dalton said. Although the family turns to religion for guidance, Dalton said, "the catch is that these activities are often satirized or developed in ironic ways that don't exactly conform to what religious traditions teach." In the late 1980s, before " The Simpsons" first aired, religion was not a common topic on television, especially in sitcoms, she said. But "The Simpsons" bucked that trend, and now religious themes are much more commonplace. " `The Simpsons,' " she said, "helped open the door to more religious content in prime time.'' Religion-based episodes such as  "Homer the Heretic'' ended up becoming one of the all-time favorites with many fans, she said, and is perfect for a study group.

It was that episode that the Murray group of more than a dozen adults and teens dissected this past week. There was Homer, refusing to go to Sunday service with his family, and there was the group at Murray, asking each other if going to church should be a duty. Stephanie Paquette of Attleboro said she used to think so while growing up Catholic, but no longer. But is being part of a church community a necessary aspect of faith, Nan Loggains asked in guiding the group? Some agreed with Homer, who wondered why it was such a big deal to go to a building every Sunday. "Isn't God everywhere?'' Homer asked.

Vanessa Wade of Plainville and a member of Murray said faith continues with or without a building to house it. Wade said she felt forced to go to church during her Catholic years, but now  "it's a choice on Sunday, and I look forward to it.'' "Faith is everywhere,'' said Debra Fobert of North Attleboro, who attends a Congregational church. Yet she said as she gets older, she feels the need for the support of friends who believe as she does. Jim Loggains of Murray said church sometimes fills a social need, but 12-year-old Hunter Parent-Wetmore said if that's the case, then people could just skip the service and go to the coffee hour. Loggains said church offers more. "It's a time to think about religion,'' he said.

Yet Robert Armour of North Attleboro said if he had to listen to the Rev. Lovejoy's boring sermons as Homer had to, `` I probably would be in bed, too.''

But what about Homer's other argument?

`` What if we picked the wrong religion? Every week we're just making God madder and madder,'' Homer argues to Marge.

Loggains said few people seem concerned that they may be backing the wrong church.

`` No one acts afraid that they may be wrong,'' he said. `` There's no self-doubt,''

Except, of course, among Unitarians, who continue to doubt year after year, said Greg Wehmeyer of Plainville. But he said, `` we have a lot of faith in that doubt.''

Yet following the certain and safer path may be easier, he said, because then, `` you spend a lot less time worrying about being wrong.''

Armour said if he were God, he would want diversity.

`` I would not want everyone praying and saying the same thing to me,'' he said. `` That's so boring. I would want many different voices.''

Maybe, he said, `` God is a Baskin-Robbins kind of guy.''

Homer, however, sees the vengeful side of God, and thinks that God responds out of anger.

Stephanie Paquette said some religions preach that view so people will fear God and go to church. Once there, they hear how sinful they are, she said, rather than positive advice on how they can live a better life.

Homer understands. He hates boring sermons, and in his dream, God agrees with him, and says Rev. Lovejoy displeases him so much that he may even give the minister a canker sore. Unitarians especially need good sermons, Armour said, because without them, there would be no reason to go to church, since there is no threat that they have to go. Yet when Homer resists going to church, God agrees to let Homer worship in his own way. For Homer, that means staying home and falling asleep on the sofa with a cigar in his mouth that falls onto the floor.

Jeremy Paquette of Attleboro noted that Homer's way ends up nearly burning his house down. Then, he said, the very people Homer shut out of his life, namely his neighbors of other faiths, end up saving his life.

Why then, in the end, does Homer give church another try?

Stephanie Paquette had this thought: ``So all can go back to normal at the end of `The Simpsons.' ''