The
Faith of Flanders
By Mark I. Pinsky
No one would mistake Ned Flanders, the goofy next-door neighbor in "The
Simpsons," for a polished televangelist like Joel Osteen. But over
the past two decades the zealous cartoon character has become one of the
best-known evangelicals on America's small screen. With Americans spending
exponentially more time on their sofas watching television than in pews
listening to sermons, this is no insignificant matter.
[read
more]
Lifeline
for mainliners
By Mark I. Pinsky
These once-dominant liberal Protestant denominations have been drained
by demographic realities and eclipsed by conservative religious voices.
[read
more]
The
Golden Rolodex
By Mark I. Pinsky
Imagine a time before the Internet and the explosion of cable television
news and opinion shows. In those days, journalists looking for academic
authorities for their stories relied on something called the “Golden
Rolodex.” This was an informal list of easily reachable and articulate
professors, experts and authors whom we could call. Only death or disgrace
could dislodge those on it to make room for others.
[read
more]
The
gospel of money
Megachurch pastors and broadcast ministries are drawing
renewed scrutiny for living lavishly off
the faithful’s funds.
Fortunately, a divide is emerging in the
world of evangelicals:
the ‘haves’ and the ‘will
have none of it.’
By Mark I. Pinsky
[click to start/stop audio]
Do
You Know This Family?
You only think you do. The Simpsons have skeletons in their closet. And
they’re shaped like menorahs...
By
Mark I. Pinsky
Mark
Pinsky chats with Jay Kelly from Wired Parish
Author
ponders ‘What would Flanders do?’
By CHRISTOPHER QUINN/Staff
What would Ned Flanders, the earnest, endlessly cheery evangelical Christian
of ‘The
Simpsons’ TV show, think of ‘The Simpsons Movie’?
WHAT'S
“D’OH” IN HEBREW?
By LONA O'CONNOR
Palm Beach Post Religion Writer
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Reading a transcript from The Simpsons television show,
Rabbi Howard Shapiro murmurs,
“Whoever
authored this, they knew what they were doing.”This professional
compliment, from the head of Temple Israel in West Palm Beach,
refers
toan episode in which Bart and Lisa Simpson use a discussion technique
from the Talmud,
the
collection of Jewish laws.Their goal is to persuade a rabbi to reconcile
with his son, Krusty the Klown.
Animating
Religion:
Cartoons,
Faith and Values
By
Mark I. Pinsky
On
the heels of a worldwide opening-weekend box-office take of 168 million
dollars, as well as great reviews,
it’s
clear that The Simpsons Movie is reaching well beyond the long-running
TV show’s fan base.
Like
the small-screen version, the movie incorporates many elements of faith,
spirituality and divine intervention.
And
this is just the latest manifestation of the impact The Simpsons and other
animated comedies are having
on
the way young Americans are encountering religion.
SPRINGFIELD'S
SAINTS
Today’s ‘Simpsons Movie’ Allows a Look at
Our
Favorite TV Clan’s Faith, Morals
By
Cary McMullen
Ledger Religion Editor
The Simpsons enjoy a family outing far from their Springfield
home in “The Simpsons Movie.”
Saturday,
July 21, 2007
BY CHARITA M. GOSHAY
Is
Bart Simpson a godsend to religion?
Talkback
with Mark Pinsky
Once
denounced for its irreverence, after it's 400th episode,
The
Simpsons still grapple with many of the same religious and moral issues
facing the rest of us in non-cartoon society —
Gay marriage; a child's conversion to Buddhism; socially awkward and weird
Christian neighbours!
The
Simpsons have paved the way for other envelope pushing animated sitcoms,
which also address the theme of religion,
like
South Park, Family Guy & King of The Hill. However, theologians from
across denominations agree that
The
Simpsons is “the most consistent and intelligent treatment of religion
on TV.”
Mark
joins us to chat about the real and surreal aspects of The Gospel According
To The Simpsons.
FEATURE:
Religion and the Simpsons
July 27, 2007 | Episode no. 1048
Click
here to listen to the interview
D’Oh!
Top Ten (Plus One) Religious Episodes on ‘The Simpsons’
By Mark I. Pinsky
Bart Simpson once asked his father about the family’s
religious identity.
Homer
classically replied, “You know, the one with all the well-meaning
rules that don't work in real life.
Uh,
Christianity.” In 18 seasons of ‘The Simpsons,’ nearly
20 episodes of the award-winning animated series have focused almost exclusively
on faith,
religion,
and spirituality, while similar subplots, jokes, and images are scattered
throughout 150 other episodes.
The
Simpsons Movie
Does Springfield Get Religion?
By Mark I. Pinsky
In a recent print “interview” with USA Today, Homer Simpson
explains his theology this way:
“Every
time I see my sweet girl Lisa, I believe in God. Every time I see Bart,
I believe in the devil.”
Now,
those of us who have seen the movie – contributing to a worldwide
openingweekend
box office of $168 million – know what he meant.
—
its 400th episode, its first feature movie and, less prominently,
the
reissue of a book that demonstrated how this wacky cartoon
is
actually home to some of the best explorations
of
religious themes on television.
The Simpsons: It’s Funny ’Cause It’s
True
By Mark I. Pinsky
Flying into Orlando in a 2003 episode of
The Simpsons, patriarch Homer peers down at a theme parkand sees a large,
distinctive Future Sphere like the one
at Disney’s Epcot,and takes a decidedly dim view. “It’s
even boring to fly over,” he whines.
Thus begins a typically madcap set of misadventures
and missteps familiar to any family that has dragged itself
to Florida for a vacation it couldn’t
afford,
including a run-in with a fascist-sounding
mouseand grossly overpriced food.
Is The Simpsons still subversive?
By Martin Rosenbaum
Producer, Whose side is Bart Simpson on?, BBC Radio
4
“I will not instigate revolution.”
That's what Bart has to write out repeatedly
in an early episode of The Simpsons,
which traditionally begins with him chalking
up punishment lines on the class blackboard.
•
Saturday
30 June 2007 10:30-11:00 (Radio 4 FM)
Phill Jupitus looks at the enduring popularity of The Simpsons and asks
whether the show's message is a subversive
one or an endorsement of conservative values.
The
Gospel According to The Simpsons was recently released with a new afterword
exploring South Park,
Family
Guy and others. Frank Johnson explores the spiritual life of TV animation
with author Mark Pinsky..
•
May
/ June 2007:
The Gospel According to the Simpsons
An AJL Exclusive Book Excerpt
By Mark I. Pinsky | Illustrations by Matt Groening
•
613
Words: The summer of ’67
Forty
years after the Six Day War, memories of my time as
a
volunteer in the Israeli army that fateful summer are flooding back.
By
Mark I. Pinsky
Racy Cartoons
Make Bart Simpson Look Like a, Um, Saint
By PHILIP TURNER
The treatment of religion on these uber-popular shows is the subject
of an updated version of author Mark Pinsky's runaway
hit, "The Gospel According to the Simpsons."
The new edition, set to be released this month,
also discusses how the Simpsons are dealing with issues
like
same-sex marriage and daughter Lisa's recent conversion
to Buddhism.
Cartoons
(seriously) can teach us about faith
By Mark I. Pinsky
It’s
a Simpsons Summer
by Juli Cragg Hilliard, Religion BookLine
—
Publishers Weekly, 5/16/2007
RadioWest/KUER
FM 90 (NPR affiliate)
Rebroadcast
of Mormonism and Popular Culture
(Originally recorded in August 2006)
To order call 1-800-227-2872 or
[click to buy the book]
|
