Are the Simpsons atheists? And how representative are they?

[Father Heathen]

Think what those people might be like if they didn't have religion to temper their hatred and malice.

Religion is what they use as an excuse and justification for it. It's what makes them the "good guys" in their minds.

 

[Estro Felino]

Religion is what they use as an excuse and justification for it. It's what makes them the "good guys" in their minds.

It is clear that an European who has never been in the United States, tries to figure out what American society is like from TV shows, and movies, of course.
Well...what I perceive is that atheists and Christians live a cultural divide in the US.
Which doesn't exist in Europe.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Religion is what they use as an excuse and justification for it. It's what makes them the "good guys" in their minds.

What religion teaches that it's okay to be full of hatred and malice? Don't they all teach love, compassion and forgiveness?

 

[RestlessSoul]

Unfortunately, I think for some here, it fuels their hatred and malice.

I think Neil Young wrote a song about that, did he not?

And Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote one in reply. Both great songs btw.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Keep forgetting I’m old, and not everyone will get my cultural references..,

 

[RestlessSoul]

 

[RestlessSoul]

.

 

[stvdv]

And a deeper analysis has shown that each and every character in Simpsons is gay.

That's only the old series. The new series they are trans, queer and bi too

 

[stvdv]

@Sirona

This clip should help

Yes, indeed it does

Just mocking religion

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

Think what those people might be like if they didn't have religion to temper their hatred and malice.

Imagine if they were humanists.

What religion teaches that it's okay to be full of hatred and malice?

You don't think Christianity teaches that? Maybe you are referring to scripture as teaching. People learn ethics from experience and example, not words on paper. If the pastor says now go and love one another just after demeaning whatever it is he felt he needed to attack from the secular world, they learn the latter.

The face of American Christianity as seen by the population at large is homophobia, atheophobia, misogyny, and church-state incursion. All of that is apparently OK with the church and many if not most of its adherents as rendered, whatever the words in the book say.

Just mocking religion

I point out to my wife every instance of Christianity shown in the media - movies, mini-series, television - and it is virtually all unflattering now. The priest is never the hero. The church never does good. The religious are fanatical. Check it out sometime. The priests in the Exorcist were favorable for the church. They were courageous, correct. and effective. How long has it been since we saw that in the entertainment media.

Believers will claim that that is an unfair depiction of real religion based in an irrational prejudice, but even if that were true, which I don't believe, it doesn't detract from the fact that Christianity is suffering from a huge PR problem based in the public perception of what it is derived from watching the news and reflected in entertainment media. In the Sopranos, the priest makes a move on Carmela. I just saw a Law & Order where a Christian denomination had one of its youth rape another to cure her of her lesbianism, although the character Carisi is shown as a decent Catholic. In Game of Thrones, the head priest, or High Sparrow, is a vicious man whose death is grounds for applause. Blue Bloods depicts a pious Catholic family, although the archbishop is a flawed man. But this has become rare.

Compare that to the mid-20th century, when the priest or pastor was depicted as a trusted family friend and advisor, always welcome at Sunday dinner, and who always had words of wisdom.

 

[paarsurrey]

paarsurrey said: ↑
I understand that Western Atheism is a part of the Christendom as when they say that they don't believe in god, they mean that "Jesus is not god", please. Right?
I mean they started in reaction to the Hellenist Pauline Christianity who believe in "dying, rising deity they name Jesus", please. Right?
The Western Atheists are not " Scientific Atheists people", I understand, please. Right?

In my part of the US, Atheism means they don't believe in Jesus(other than perhaps a historical figure), Yahweh, nor Zeus. (Or any of the other myriad of Gods you can think of.)

Most tend to be 'scientific Atheist people', though they may not all be overly involved in science.

" Modernist atheists, the largest subset of atheist scientists, are the most like the New Atheists. They do not identify as religious or spiritual, they do not interact with religious individuals or organizations, and they are more likely than other atheists to view the science-faith interface as a relationship of conflict. Nevertheless, while this group includes fierce critics of religion, many view it as having a positive role in society. And independent of these views, most modernist atheists believe that New Atheist discourse on the relationship between religion and science is damaging to public trust in science and scientists."
“I Am Not Like Richard”: Modernist Atheist Scientists

Right?

Regards
__________
Atheists in the West do not belong to Scientific Atheism: search
"~Many scientists have sought to explain the evolution of religion. But an equally relevant question is: How did atheism evolve in a religious species?
~One need not be a believer to appreciate the cultural richness and evolutionary usefulness of religion."
Atheism is not as rare or as rational as you think
Crossbreeding Atheism with Spirituality: Notes on Soviet and Western Attempts"
Secularism and Nonreligion

 

[paarsurrey]

paarsurrey said: ↑
I understand that Western Atheism is a part of the Christendom as when they say that they don't believe in god, they mean that "Jesus is not god", please. Right?
I mean they started in reaction to the Hellenist Pauline Christianity who believe in "dying, rising deity they name Jesus", please. Right?
The Western Atheists are not " Scientific Atheists people", I understand, please. Right?

Incorrect. Rejecting Christianity is not the same as rejecting the concept of god entirely.

They were critical of the " Jesus god " concept of Hellenist Paulines (all 45000+ shades of them including JWs and LDS ) and then generalized it to other religions, which is a totally unscientific approach, please. Right?

Regards
_____________
"~Many scientists have sought to explain the evolution of religion. But an equally relevant question is: How did atheism evolve in a religious species?
~One need not be a believer to appreciate the cultural richness and evolutionary usefulness of religion."
Atheism is not as rare or as rational as you think
Atheists in the West do not belong to Scientific Atheism: search
" Crossbreeding Atheism with Spirituality: Notes on Soviet and Western Attempts"
https://secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10.5334/snr.94/

 

[Truth in love]

As a European, I can only view the religious landscape in the United States through the lens of the media, but I watched another Simpsons vs. Flanders episode (when they take a trip to the Grand Canyon), and I noticed in that in The Simpsons, the Flanders family, as Christians/Protestants, are always made out to be "odd", while the Simpsons, who do go to church from time to time when an episode calls for it, but otherwise don't practice any religion regularly except for Lisa, are the "norm". According to what one hears in Germany from the media, it seems to be just the opposite in the United States, that a large number of people are Christians / Protestants, that it is proper to be a church member and atheists / agnostics are rather the exception. Would you say that the Simpsons are atheists? And how representative is their lifestyle for the U.S.A. ?

My condolences on trying to understand the US religious life that way.


There is a pretty strong divide.

urban areas tend to be more atheist and politically left.

less urban areas tend to be more right and religious.

Each group tends to view the other as odd