Homer is catholic - Official!

While the Church of the Latter Day Saints cheerfully claims the dead retrospectively by baptising them into their church, I’ not sure that it has ever gone as far as claiming a cartoon character as on of its own.

But it would seem that the Catholic Church considers Homer Simpson to be a good catholic boy… According to the Telegraph the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily paper, caries an article headlined "Homer and Bart are Catholics:

"The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes," according to the article."The family "recites prayers before meals and, in their own peculiar way, believes in the life thereafter".

It quoted an analysis by a Jesuit priest, Father Francesco Occhetta, of a 2005 episode of The Simpsons, The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star, which revolved around Catholicism and was aired a few weeks after the death of Pope John Paul II.

The episode starts with Bart being expelled from Springfield Elementary School and being enrolled in a Catholic school where he meets a sympathetic priest, voiced by the actor Liam Neeson, who draws him into Catholicism with his kindness.

Well there you go. I shudder to think what Fr Occhetta would have thought if he had seen the episode where Marge and Homer get addicted to sex in public places!

The Simpsons may be past their best but it is still enjoyable......or at least it was the last time I was able to watch new episodes before Sky pulled Sky One from Virgin Cable. Sky’s action was all about naked greed – it certainly has nothing to do with the Simpsons being unsuitable for children.

The USA’s most functional dysfunctional family has been dropped by Caracas TV station Televen from its morning schedule after being deemed unsuitable for children by the country's television authorities...... and has been replaced by Baywatch of all things!

The country's TV regulator said the saga of Homer Simpson, wife Marge and their three children flouted regulations that prohibit "messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents".

Baywatch has the dubious distinction of being voted the worst import of all time by British TV executives.

Pagans up in arms over the Cerne Abbas Lardo

For the second time in a month pagans have been enraged by what they see as defacement of one of their sacred sites. Some have pledged to perform "rain magic" (as if that’s been necessary this summer) to wash away an image of Homer Simpson that has been painted next to the Cerne Abbas giant.

Painted in water-based biodegradable paint the image of Homer Simpson holding aloft a sacred doughnut is intended to promote the release of the new Simpsons film. Ann Bryn-Evans, joint Wessex district manager for The Pagan Federation, said: "We'll be doing some rain magic to bring the rain and wash it away. I'm amazed they got permission to do something so ridiculous. It's an area of scientific interest."

Pagans have co-opted the Cerne Abbas giant as a sacred site when in all probability it is not of great antiquity and has no pagan connection at all. Although some theories date the giant to the roman era (relating either to a fertility cult or intended as a representation of the emperor Commodus who reigned from 180-193 and who usually portrayed himself as Hercules) the prevailing theory is that it dates back to the time of the Commonwealth (see this post from last July).

The generally accepted theory is that the Giant was made by servants of the local Lord of the Manor, Denzil Holles as a parody of Oliver Cromwell. While Holles was a leading Parliamentary figure during the Civil War – he was one of the five MPs Charles I attempted to arrest in 1642 - he hated Cromwell with a passion. Cromwell was also sometimes referred to as "England's Hercules" by his enemies. The theory is given further weight by the fact that the very first reference to the giant dates back to just 1694 where the local churchwarden’s accounts show a payment of 3 shillings was made towards the re-cutting of the giant. In addition, John Hutchins wrote in 1751 in his Guide to Dorset that the carving had only been done the previous century.

While the true date my never be resolved it does seem that pagans have no more call on the giant than anyone else. They might as well have co-opted Westminster Abbey as a sacred site. Personally I’m not bothered by the image of Homer Simpson. It does not harm to the site and it will be gone in a few weeks anyway, rain spell or none.