Don't have a sacred cow, man!

Sojourners Magazine, Sep/Oct 2001 by Beiler, Ryan

We smile at Marge, by far the most faithful of the Simpson family, when she tells her kids that they need to go to church "to learn morals and decency and how to love your fellow man." But we laugh-and wince-as the scene cuts to Rev. Lovejoy reading from the pulpit: "With flaming swords the Aramites did pierce the eyes of their fellow men, and did feast on what flowed forth.... The scripture is bogus, but you and I and Matt Groening know there's worse stuff that really is in the Bible.

"Your moral authorities don't always have your best interests in mind," said Groening in a Mother Jones interview. "Teachers, principals, clergymen, politicians-for the Simpsons, they're all goofballs, and I think that's a great message for kids."

It's a great message for adults, too, especially those that may find themselves offended in the best possible ways by The Simpsons. For whether we're laughing at nerdy Ned, the lukewarm Gawd-tawk of Rev. Lovejoy, or the comic prayers (which rarely go unanswered) of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa, we'll eventually be laughing at ourselves. Maybe that's why the original controversy over the show has given way to praise-because Christians began to recognize themselves in the yellow-tinted funhouse mirror. Even though it makes their butts look big and their heads too small, it makes them laugh.

Ryan Beiler is the Web editor for Sojourners. He has every single episode of The Simpsons on video tape, commercialfree. Some people think his dad looks like Ned Flanders.