When it comes to faith issues, Mark Pinsky thinks the Simpsons are a pretty typical American family.They say grace at meals, attend church on Sundays, read and refer to the Bible, and pray – sometimes when it’s only absolutely necessary.”In these ways, according to all the polls I’ve read as a religion writer, they reflect the faith practices of most Americans,” Pinsky says.It’s safe to say that Pinsky watched a screening of “The Simpsons Movie” Thursday night through a different lens than most viewers. He’s a religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel and author of “The Gospel According to the Simpsons,” which came out in 2001 and was updated with a second edition last month.Pinsky (below) says many of the religious themes that have shown up in 18 years of the animated series play out in the movie, which is showing in theaters nationwide starting today.”It’s like the show,” he says. “It’s not a movie about religion, but it’s a movie in which religion plays a part.”!His take on some of the religious values of main characters:¢ “Homer, the dad, is a borderline pagan,” Pinsky says. “His Christianity is basically fear-based. Sometimes he confused God with Superman. He sometimes refers to Jesus as ‘Jebus’ – which he does in the movie, by the way.”¢ “Marge is sort of a more open-hearted, true believer,” Pinsky says. “She believes in angels and wants to believe the best about religion, both personalized religion and organized religion.” Pinsky notes that when the Rev. Lovejoy has a spiritual crisis, it’s Marge who comes to his aid.¢ Lisa, for most of the show, represents mainline Protestants – “she’s a skeptical believer, an adherent of the social gospel,” Pinsky says. But more recently, she converted to Buddhism because her church had become too commercial.¢ “Bart, arguably is the devil incarnate,” Pinsky says. “Even so, when Bart gets into deep trouble, he resorts to prayer, and sincere prayer. On one occasion he’s praying for relief from a test the next day. Lisa sees him praying and says, ‘Prayer – the last refuge of the scoundrel.'”Other characters also have religious overtones. Several episodes have dealt with Judaism through the eyes of Krusty the Clown, who Pinsky refers to as a “Hollywood Jew” and whose father is a rabbi. In other episodes, the writers touch on Hinduism through Apu, who owns the Kwik-E-Mart.And, of course, there’s Ned Flanders, the evangelical neighbor of the Simpsons. “On the surface,” Pinsky says, “he’s a doofus, but with a good heart. He’s a sincere believer. He’s never a hypocrite.”Pinsky says “Simpsons” writers tend to use religion more as a tool for comedy than any sort of evangelizing. After all, he says, sitcoms in the ’50s through early ’70s rarely dealt with religion, in part for fear of offending audiences.Now, “The Simpsons” opened up the issue for other animated series to tackle religious themes, as well.”I find ‘The Family Guy’ almost universally hostile to religion,” Pinsky says. “It’s funny and clever, but also mean and cruel and hostile to religion. Whereas a show like ‘South Park’ can be very rough on religion but also can be very, very deep.”Ultimately, the religious and moral themes presented in “The Simpsons” portray the main characters as having redeeming qualities, Pinsky says. “Evil, at its base, is never really rewarded,” he says. “And in the end, when large moral choices are presented, ‘Simpsons’ characters will always make the right decision. They may have human frailty, they may cut corners, they may commit small sins, but on the big ones, they tend to do the right thing.”_ – Faith Files, which examines issues of faith, spirituality, morals and ethics, is updated by features/faith reporter Terry Rombeck. Have an idea for the blog? Contact Terry at trombeck@ljworld.com, or 832-7145._