http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1492
Homosexuality Comes Out of the Cartoon Closet
| by | Kyle Butt, M.Div. |
The idea that cartoons are for children is quickly coming to an end. One of TV’s most “adult” cartoons for the past several years has been The Simpsons. The disrespectful youngster known as Bart Simpson has influenced his younger viewers for years to talk back to their parents, misbehave in school, and generally disregard basic rules of propriety and reverence toward God and family. Homer Simpson, Bart’s father, is exactly the model of selfish, rude, irreverent behavior that one might expect to find as Bart’s dad.
In one of the most recent episodes of The Simpsons, the town of Springfield, where the family lives, decided to make homosexual marriages legal. “Homer sees the chance to make some quick cash by getting a permit to conduct ceremonies. He writes the services, starting each with the words: ‘Queerly beloved, we are gathered here today’ ” (Austin, 2005). Homer is shocked to discover that his sister-in-law, Patty, wants to marry her girlfriend. The producers of the show have hinted at Patty’s homosexuality in past episodes, but they obviously felt that it was time for Patty to “come out of the closet,” enticed by the incentive of a legal “marriage” to her partner.
As we at Apologetics Press have done so many times before, we would like to point the reader’s attention to several facts regarding the idea of homosexuality—primarily that it is a sinful condition and is in no way genetic (see Harrub and Miller, 2004). The biblical writers repeatedly renounced the practice as one that, if not repented of, will doom its practitioners to eternal misery. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 the apostle Paul wrote: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites...will inherit the kingdom of God.”
That homosexuality is against God’s will is a fact. That is why it is so troubling to see the animated cartoon, the medium that once was considered one of the most innocent (and suitable even for our youngest viewers), being hijacked by our permissive culture and used to infect the minds of its viewers with such sinful and destructive ideas.
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul wrote that the Christian has the responsibility to “test all things; hold fast what is good” (5:21). Let us make sure that shows like The Simpsons do not pass the test of what is good in our homes.
REFERENCES
Harrub, Brad and Dave Miller (2004), “ ‘This is the Way God Made Me’—A Scientific Examination of Homosexuality and the ‘Gay Gene,’ ” and “An Investigation of the Biblical Evidence Against Homosexuality” [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2553; http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2577.