Malcolm in the Middle and Atheism

Malcolm in the Middle has been on Netflix Instant for a few weeks now, and I have been working my way through the series.  I had previously seen a couple episodes here and there, mostly while it was airing and some in syndication.  While I always had a positive attitude toward the series, watching it from beginning to end has actually improved my opinion of the show a great deal.  I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone with any level of interest in situation comedy (it is certainly much, much better than the current season of The Office).  However, what really intrigues me about the show is its attitude towards religion.

What is often reported in the entertainment media is the shock that the Murdoch-owned FOX network has many shows that express very liberal sentiments.  The most cited examples of this "phenomenon" are The Simpsons and Family Guy.  Just so we are clear, the FOX network's programming should not be surprising to anyone; if Rupert Murdoch woke up tomorrow believing that he could make more money with a 24-hour liberal news and opinion network, then he would fire Mr. Hannity and Mr. O'Reilly the very next day.

However for all the talk about liberalism, most families in situational comedies are religious.  Even the aforementioned Simpsons and the Griffins attend church.  To be fair, both of those shows tend to use these situations to make jokes about organized religion.  But no matter how sarcastic the worship gets, I still hear religious people say the Simpsons are a good, spiritual family.

On the other hand Malcolm's family is almost completely areligious.  They never attend church and only make passing references to god.  Lois, Malcolm's mother, says that she does not believe in the afterlife.  When asked how do good people get rewarded and bad people punished, she calmly says that she tries to make sure that happens on Earth.  Furthermore, at no point in the show does either parent invoke god as an explanation of morals, which play a big part in the family.  Instead, both parents seem to be strong believers in a natural sense of morality based largely around the golden rule.

This style of parenting logically results in children who hardly ever refer to any religious ideas.  The absence of any religious wonder suggests that the show's writers believe that religious attitudes are somewhat inherited, and that the natural state is largely atheistic.

To be fair, there are a couple of counterpoints that I left out of the above discussion.  For one, Malcolm's father Hal does believe in heaven and some form of cosmic punishment.  But this seems to be more of an extension of his romanticism and superstition.  He wants nothing more than to be with Lois forever, and that is a really beautiful sentiment.  

Although he is by no means a Christian, he has a hard time painting over a portrait of Jesus.  However, a good portion of an entire episode is devoted to watching him unzip his fly, scratch his nose, and say bless you to no one in particular while trying to score a perfect bowling game.  Just because he did some of these things when scoring a strike in previous frames.  He is really just a goofball and the character is expertly played by Bryan Cranston.

The remaining counterpoint is that the kids are horrible, and this point would probably be seen as the strongest detraction from the show being a good family show.  But I think a lot of the pranks or random acts of vandalism are really just a comic mechanism.  There are no other reasons for their behavior.  However, the idea that children would start acting that way just because they saw it on television is asinine.

In conclusion, I reaffirm my earlier recommendation in the case that you are an atheist parent and are looking for a funny show to watch with your kids.  I cannot think of a single other modern sitcom with all the moral values and none of the religious ones.  Plus, how could you pass up an exchange like this:

Malcolm's family, in order to get free day care and other benefits, have joined a church (and find the deal to get worse and worse).  The kids have to attend a bible study.  Dewey, Malcom's younger brother, is complaining to Helen, the bible study teacher, about having to think about god and other religious issues.

Dewey:  I don't like this church. Ever since we came here all I do is think about stuff.  What kind of a god makes kids think about stuff when they're not even in school?

Helen:  Well now, that sure is a torment.  But I'm sure he has his reasons.

Dewey:  Yeah.  Like Pastor Roy said, how god is so much bigger and wiser than us, and trying to see what he's thinking would be like an ant trying to see what I'm thinking.

Helen:  Yes, exactly.  But we can trust in his wisdom, and have faith that he is watching over us.

Dewey:  Like me with the anthill in my backyard.  I spent days watching the ants, trying to figure out which ones were good and which ones were bad.  But they all just looked like ants, so I started smiting all of them.

Helen:  Well that's not -

Dewey:  I was smiting them with the garden hose, and with lighter fluid, and with the lawnmower.  And, to be perfectly honest, I think I went a little crazy with the shovel.  Those ants could have been praying to me all day, I wouldn't have heard them.

[Dewey ponders for a moment]

Dewey:  There was nothing they could do about it.

Helen:  But, I don't think that -

Dewey:  And, really, it's the same with us.  There's nothing we can do about anything either, so why worry about it?  Hey, this is making me feel better.

Helen:  Well, that's . . . good, but -

Dewey:  I guess all we can do is live our lives with as much kindness and decency as possible, and try not to dwell on God standing over us with giant shovel.  Bye!

[Helen looks up, fearfully, as Dewey leaves the classroom]