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Author Topic:   Ned Flanders, of "The Simpsons" TV program
pink sasquatch
Member (Idle past 6052 days)
Posts: 1567
Joined: 06-10-2004


Message 8 of 37 (190979)
03-10-2005 6:07 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Minnemooseus
03-10-2005 2:38 PM


Flanders and proof against God
Rather, I am aiming for a discussion of my view that Ned Flanders is a good representation of what a "good Christian" is.
The first thing that came to my mind is an episode where Homer gets a crayon removed from his brain, and becomes a genius.
Homer proves that God does not exist, and hands the proof to Flanders - who after reading over it and realizing it is correct, says something like "better not let this get out" and burns the proof.
I lost a lot of respect for Flander's faith in that moment - it showed he was more interested in maintaining the Christian "agenda" and "lifestyle" than maintaining faith.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Minnemooseus, posted 03-10-2005 2:38 PM Minnemooseus has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 9 by Minnemooseus, posted 03-10-2005 6:59 PM pink sasquatch has replied

  
pink sasquatch
Member (Idle past 6052 days)
Posts: 1567
Joined: 06-10-2004


Message 21 of 37 (191080)
03-11-2005 1:20 PM
Reply to: Message 9 by Minnemooseus
03-10-2005 6:59 PM


Re: Flanders and proof against God
Actually, the crayon in the brain caused the genius - Homer lost it when the crayon was removed.
Nope, other way around. Homer pushed a bunch of crayons up his nose when he was six and sneezed out all but one. Homer has it removed when he is working as a human guinea pig at a lab. Moe returns the crayon to Homer's brain at the end of the episode when Homer can no longer stand being a genius in a dumb-man's world.
If the situation were to have been explored in greater detail, I think Flanders response might actually have been "This looks right, but it can't be true. Still, I better not let this out." Then he burns the paper.
There was plenty of time for the detail you suggest, instead, Flanders calls the proof "airtight."
Homer: Hey, Flanders, heading for church? Well, I thought I
could save you a little time.
Ned: Oooh, found a new shortcut.
Homer: Better. I was working on a flat tax proposal and I
accidentally proved there's no God. [shows Flanders a
sheet of paper with complex figuring on it]
Ned: [flustered] We'll just see about that. [reads the paper]
Uh-oh. Well, maybe he made a mistake. [checks it again]
Nope, it's airtight. Can't let this little doozy get out.
[uses a lighter to burn the "proof"]
[in the background, Homer puts more copies of his no-God
paper on the windshields of nearby cars]
on-line script
I think his Christian faith in itself would convince him that the "proof" couldn't be correct.
Bottom line - I can't hold that this little incident makes Flanders a hypocrite.
I think it is a defining moment for his character. He does it while he is alone, and importantly, doesn't speak directly to God about it as he does with so many other things in his life - such as the time he yells "God, it's me Ned!" after knocking over nine bowling pins (with the tenth following his plea).
He didn't respond to the proof with his faith as you "think" he should; he responded by attempting to hide the proof from the rest of the world.
This is the moment Flanders' faith is shown to be superficial.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 9 by Minnemooseus, posted 03-10-2005 6:59 PM Minnemooseus has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 24 by Minnemooseus, posted 03-12-2005 2:31 PM pink sasquatch has not replied

  
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