I watched an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer gets an illegal hookup. Lisa gets advice from Rev. Lovejoy and decides to silently protest her father’s thievery. She says she want to go to heaven and that her soul is more important than watching cable T.V.
In a later episode of The Simpsons, Lisa discovers what appears to be the skeletal remains of an angel. She doesn’t understand why everyone believes in angels and, I think, God. In fact, I think she calls the believers idiots. Later, we find out that the ‘angel’ remains are a promotional stunt for the grand opening of the Heavenly Hills Mall.
So when did she convert? Was it gradual? Why didn’t I get a memo, dammit?
Lisa is a hard-headed skeptic. However, unlike us, she lives in a universe where God definitely exists, and occasionally performs a blatant miracle, such as rescuing Tod Flanders. Under those circumstances, I guess it would be illogical to be an atheist.
I think she looks at many christian beliefs as superstitions, but I feel she believes in God (well, as much as a cartoon is able). If you remember, at the end of the angel episode, when the angel rises, she grabs her mother’s hand. Marge took this as a sign of belief.
There is the mentioned stolen cable episode, and the one were Bart sells his soul, and I’m sure numerous others that show she believes.
Matt Groening once stated that The Simpsons were one of the only TV families that are shown attending church regularly. Go figure.
Did you all miss the episode (I think it was in the last season) where Lisa became a Buddhist? She was frustrated with the money-changers in the church – no, really.
I think that it fits her character to do that, but I certainly don’t like her any better.
I think that her religious beliefs change depending on who she’s trying to feel superior to. When she’s trying to feel superior to Bart or her dad or whoever, she’s a Christian. When she’s trying to feel superior to her mom, she’s an atheist. (Of course, most of the time she doesn’t bother tying religion into her superiority complex, instead relying on her intellect to stoke her arrogance.)
I’m not sure that atheist and Buddhist are mutually exclusive.
The basic Buddhist belief is that we are all doomed to repeat the endless cycle of suffering through life, and rebirth, until we free ourselves from that cycle by attaining enlightenment, at which point we will not be reborn, but simply vanish. The Buddha was asked, in fact, what happens to an enlightened person after death, and he replied by asking what happens to a candle flame when the candle is extinguished.
The atheist merely denies the existence of a God or gods. The two belief systems are not incompatible.
Yeah, I was confused, too, but then Lisa can evolve. She’s NOT just a cartoon, damnit, she’s a living breathing changing evolving- <puts hands over ears> la la la, I can’t hear you!!
Okay yeah, I think she’s evolved and that whatever she does, she does it with fresh zeal. Like when she bought into Christianity, she wouldn’t even let her mom eat a grape without paying for it. And as an atheist, she was pretty into not believing in God. And as a Buddhist…well, she resisted a pony for her faith! (Well, maybe two ponies later, she smartened up.)
Personally I liked hard core atheist Lisa, and I really enjoyed the skeleton episode, so I’ll stick with that one.
(So is she still a Buddhist?)
The Lisa character has become the intellectual/moral focus of that show, mostly by default (the two sweetest words in the English language). Whenever the writers want to introduce some moral or intellectual issue, they make Lisa the focus. As a result, a whole mess of inconsistancies have grown, including fear of hell vs. atheism vs. Buddhism vs. secular humanism etc. If the writers decide to discuss Islam in a future episode, you can bet the Lisa will be discussing the positive aspects of that religion (and such aspects do exist) while Homer and Bart will be spouting reactionary garbage.
A friend of mine has declared that all Lisa episodes suck, and I’m half-inclined to agree. Whenever Lisa is the focus, you can bet there will sanctimony thrown in somewhere along the line.
She’s agnostic. She’s not willing to fully subscribe to any specific belief, but will not do what she knows offends a certain deity because, like a good agnostic, she also is not willing to fully dismiss any specific belief as possibly being real.
Wouldn’t you agree that all of these beliefs can live together in such a complex person as Lisa? It’s interesting to consider how harmoniously they co-exist in somebody who without question believes in peace and human rights.
Re: the hand-holding thing at the sight of an angel… wouldn’t you do the same thing no matter what you believed, if confronted by a convincing angel? That’s a human response to awe. Not faith.
No, Lisa is not an atheist. Even in the “angel skeleton” ep she admitted she had a spiritual side. And, while we’re on the subject of the “angel” ep, did it ever occur to anybody that the angel skeleton’s being real would be far more problematic to a true believer than it being fake? Angels are supposed to be immortal beings. The discovery of an angel’s skeleton would mean that angel’s die. (Which, in turn, would raise the question of where do angels go after they die?)
Lisa never said she didn’t believe in God in that episode, only that she was skeptical about the angel.
I think Lisa is an evolving character, searching for answers. Atheism would run counter to her personality because it would close off spiritual investigation.
Doesn’t she describe her view of God in an early episode? Something like, whoever he is, he’s more powerful than Mom and Dad put together. Great line.
And boo to all the Lisa haters. Yeah she’s often too smart for her own good and she sometimes comes off as sanctimonius. but look at it this way. Most smart people get this way after a semester and a half at college. Lisa’s this way in the second grade. She’s just way ahead of her time.
It’s a middle-child thing, you wouldn’t understand.
And Thread, I got that book for Christmas. It’s an interesting take on things, but the author is in a bit of denial about the importance of religion in the show. But that’s another thread perhaps.
Oh, I just saw that ep a couple of days ago! It’s the one where Bart is in danger of failing the fourth grade, and he prays for a snowstorm so he’ll have more time to study for a big test. The quote, as best I can remember it, is –
“I heard you last night. You prayed for this. I’m no theologian – I don’t know who or what God is, exactly. All I know is, He’s a force more powerful than Mom and Dad put together, and you owe Him big.”
Lisa rocks, btw. They’ve made her kind of obnoxious in the most recent years but that’s true of all the characters…
I don’t think that I would ever call Lisa an athiest at this point. She is portrayed as an 8 year old girl, and this leaves much room for change and thoughts on belief. She has been raised as a christian, therefore, her belief foundation is christian. She also has a very inquisitive mind into everything, and has looked into buddhism, and she will probably subscribe to other beliefs as the show continues. I don’t think this is a sign of inconsistancy as much as portraying an inquisitive mind of a child.
