Sunday, August 17, 2008
In the “refulgent summer” of 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson gave an address to the seminary students of Harvard Divinity School. The distinguished lecturer, essayist, and Unitarian minister told the assembled Unitarian young men (for they were, then, all both young men and Unitarian) that in his opinion, cold formulaic intellectual preaching had come to dominate Unitarian pulpits, and he urged the future ministers to draw their inspiration from nature as well as from their own hearts and lives. 170 years ago last month, Emerson decried the idea that the divine will could only be disclosed in one translation of one collection of ancient books, saying, in part:
…Men have come to speak of the revelation as somewhat long ago given and done, as if God were dead…It is the office of a true teacher to show us that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake…
Long before Emerson’s Divinity School Address, it is was a tenet of liberal religion stemming from the radical left wing of the Protestant Reformation that revelation is not sealed, that inspiration and direction for a good and useful life can be found in places outside of those books designated as Holy Scripture – that God, or the Ultimate, speaks through art and science, in poetry and prose, and in the lived experience of women and men throughout history. This month, we’re exploring what we’re calling “Uncommon Gospels” to see what revelations might be contained in some rather unusual places. In the first sermon of the series 2 weeks ago, we looked at the gospel according to Harry Potter. Last Sunday, ministerial aspirant Deanna Vandiver gave us the wisdom of life found in Winnie the Pooh. Next Sunday, we’ll journey to Middle Earth to discover the spiritual insights in Tolkein’s "Lord of the Rings."
While Ralph Waldo Emerson wanted Unitarian preachers to have the freedom to preach revelation wherever they found it, I’m not entirely convinced that the austere sage from Concord would approve of this morning’s topic. Today we tackle the hidden gospel in the hit television animated satire. “The Simpsons.” As Homer Simpson would say, “D'OH!” I’m pretty sure that the revered Emerson is spinning in his grave.
If you are not a regular viewer of “The Simpsons,” you too may be finding it hard to countenance a Unitarian Universalist sermon geared to the spiritual content of that show. But if you, like myself, often find yourself tuning in to catch the antics of Homer and Marge, their children Lisa, Bart, and baby Maggie, their neighbor Ned Flanders and his family, Apu the convenience store man, Moe the bartender, and all their other relatives, friends, and co-workers, then you already know how often “The Simpsons” features an ethical or moral dilemma or showcases religious values.
The show’s creator, Matt Groening, obviously has some familiarity with Unitarian Universalism, which gets a mention every now and then – not always positively. But Groening admits that his show does have a particular point of view, and it is one that resonates with many UUs. In an interview with Mother Jones magazine back in 1999, Groening said:
…”The Simpsons’” message over and over again is that your moral authorities don’t always have your best interests in mind. Teachers, principals, clergy, politicians – for the Simpsons, they are all goofballs, and I think that’s a great message for kids.
Many UUs would agree that it’s a great message for adults as well.
Skepticism is regularly shown as a positive value on “The Simpsons,” not only doubt toward authority figures, but also doubt in the realm of religion. In the episode entitle “Lisa the Skeptic,” what appears to be a human skeleton with wings attached is found on a mall construction site. Homer sets it up in his garage and the neighbors flock to venerate it as an angelic relic. Only Lisa, alone of all the characters – natural little humanist that she is – seeks a rational scientific explanation. The issues in the episode lead to discussions between different characters about whether matters of religion must be proved or disproved by science, and whether it’s fair or respectful to cast aspersions on other people’s religious beliefs. These are all questions of current interest in many UU congregations today, including this one. What is or ought to be the relationship between religion and science? Must all religious claims be provable by the scientific method? In spiritually inclusive UU congregations, is all right to insult beliefs you don’t share?
Unlike almost all other television programs – except the explicitly Christian or spiritual ones – talk of God and morality and actual church-going behavior are regular features of “The Simpsons.” Groening points out that
…right-wingers complain that there’s no God and religion on TV. Not only do the Simpsons go to church every Sunday and pray, they actually speak to God from time to time.
Indeed, not only do they speak to God, occasionally He answers back – although, as you might expect, their prayers are not always answered in the manner that they hoped or wanted. The “Homer the Heretic” episode has already been mentioned, and there’s also the time that Bart, facing a history test for which he is utterly unprepared, prays hard for God to close the school the next day. Lo and behold, the next day it snows and school is cancelled. Bart studies diligently and ekes out a D- the following day, thus passing (barely) the 4th grade. Accepting his grade, Bart says modestly, “Part of this D- belongs to God.”
Speaking of Bart’s prayers, while it may not be the kind of prayer one would learn in a conventional Sunday School – Bart starts off by addressing God as “old timer” – it does follow, in its own way, the classic structure of a prayer. It first acknowledges God as the Power of the universe (Bart prays, “If any one can do it, you can”); it reflects a personal relationship with God (Bart signs off with, “your pal, Bart Simpson”); it expresses both confession of personal shortcomings (Bart admits, “I know I haven’t always been a good kid”) and gratitude (the last phrase before the sign-off is, “Thanking you in advance”). Finally, the prayer, as good prayers must, leaves the eventual outcome in God’s hands. For any of us who pray, this is, in its Bart Simpson-way, a good outline for what a prayer ought to be.
Personal ethics turns up quite a bit in “The Simpsons.” There was the time Bart was wrongly accused of stealing the collection from the church, and the time that Homer was receiving cable television illegally – it was clear in both episodes that a distinction was being drawn being right and wrong. Lisa, often the show’s little moralist, confronts her mother for eating grapes she hasn’t paid for while grocery shopping. On yet another episode, long-suffering Marge, whose marriage with Homer definitely seems like it is often unsatisfying and at times unfulfilling, is mightily tempted to have an affair with another man. But always, in the end, despite an hour’s worth of hilarious vacillating, Simpsons characters decide to do the right thing, if not always for what many viewers might consider the right reasons.
A particularly moving episode of “The Simpsons” had Homer convinced he had only 24 hours to live. (He thought he had eaten improperly prepared blowfish, which is lethal.) At Marge’s urging, Homer draws up to a “to do” list of things he wants to accomplish on his last day on earth. Many of the 12 items on Homer’s list might well appear on yours, should you be moved to list the things you’d want to do on your last day, and they work out to be a shorthand expression of the things that are most important in anyone’s life: spending meaningful time with your family, reconciling with an estranged loved one, letting your closest friends know how much they mean to you, making a difference in the world for the better, and doing something special you’ve always wanted to do but have kept putting off for another day. (That the things Homer has always wanted to do turn out to be “telling off the boss” and “going hang gliding” do not take away from the importance of that list item.) And when Homer bursts into tears on hearing Lisa play the saxophone for what he thinks is the last time, it is surprisingly touching; perhaps I was not the only one with tears in my eyes.
Another surprisingly emotional episode concerns that old reprobate Krusty the Clown. At dinner one night at the Simpsons’, Homer’s favorite television show host reveals that his is Jewish, long estranged from his rabbi father, who had wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Amazingly, Krusty expresses his deep love for clowning and his desire to make people laugh in terms of vocation, as a life calling he feels so strongly drawn to that he is willing to defy his father and face his rejection. And yet, in his evident reluctance to leave the Simpson house after dinner, Krusty shows his longing to be a part once again of a loving family. Struck by the clown’s grief at the loss of his father’s love, Bart and Lisa resolve to do something about it. At the end of the episode, Krusty manages to effect a reconciliation with his father – with a little conniving help from Lisa and Bart. (Tellingly, to convince Krusty’s father of the goodness of a life in show business, Bart quotes Jewish convert Sammy Davis, Jr.: “The Jews are a swinging bunch of people.”
To be sure, religion comes in for its share of skewering on “The Simpsons” (it is, after all, a satire), but the barbs are usually aimed at pompous or meaningless religion that well deserves its puncturing. It’s also true that there is an underlying faith position on the show, and it turns out to be a gospel that any UU could agree with and subscribe to, an affirmation of the values of integrity and honesty, the enduring power of relationships of family and diverse community, the need for forgiveness and reconciliation when relationships are broken, the inclusion of people who are different from yourself, the importance of selfless giving and making the world a better place, the bedrock of compassionate, all-embracing love. May these be the values we embody in our own lives. AMEN – ASHE – SHALOM – SALAAM – NAMESTE – BLESSED BE!
