Sacrilegious silliness

When a cartoon can make even Bart Simpson look like a saint, you know you’re dealing with some racy material.

Tune into Comedy Central’s “South Park” and you’ll find Jesus boxing Satan, while over on Fox’s “Family Guy,” you’ll find God as a white-robed, bearded creator setting off the world’s big bang by passing gas.

Writers for Fox’s “The Simpsons” long ago tapped into religion as a source of gentle jokes and story lines. In doing so, the show opened the way for hip, animated comedies like “South Park” and “Family Guy” to up the ante in joking about religion, often to the point of mockery.

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.

For better or worse, religion is a mainstay in the animated shows that dominate Fox’s Sunday night prime time lineup or that frequently run on irreverent cable channels.

But where Pinsky, a religion reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, views Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson depicted as “quintessentially weak, well-meaning sinners,” he says the other animated comedies take “a more harsh, less subtle, and largely unsympathetic approach to faith and organized religion.”

“Religion is a way to demonstrate edginess,” Pinsky said in an interview. “On Comedy Central or Cartoon Network’s `Adult Swim,’ it’s a tough racket there – if you’re not edgy, you’re ignored.”

Cartoons like “South Park” and “Family Guy,” which are popular among young adults for their biting satire and crude humor, have loyal followings because they are seen as smart or witty, Pinsky said.

Of the shows Pinsky analyzes – others include “King of the Hill,” “American Dad” and “Futurama” – none denounces religion outright. Pinsky even credited “South Park” for seeming to advocate spirituality even as it regularly pokes fun at organized religion.

Still, there are some strict lines that even the hippest of shows haven’t yet crossed.

“One is Islam,” said Pinsky. South Park’s writers tried to depict the Prophet Muhammad in an episode last year meant to spoof the worldwide riots over the infamous Dutch Muhammad cartoons. Comedy Central censored the images of Muhammad out of fear of potential Muslim backlash.

The Crucifixion and the Resurrection have been off-limits as well, he added.

For decades, Pinsky said sitcoms “steered clear” of religious jokes. “It was too divisive a subject,” he said. But when writers for “The Simpsons” “stumbled into religion, it was an unplowed field,” he added. “They made it work, and they made it safe for all these other shows to incorporate religion.”

That’s not to say they treat the subject the same way.

Shows like “Family Guy” and “South Park” are “more coarse and more sacrilegious,” Pinsky said. At the same time, he writes that the shows offer serious and intelligent questioning of society.

Not to mention that the shows are funny and enjoyable.

“Viewers will accept jokes and imagery about religion in a cartoon that they never would accept from live-action shows,” said Pinsky.