Cultural Influence
He has been described as "The United States' most well-known evangelical." According to Christianity Today, "today on American college and high school campuses, the name most associated with the word Christian—other than Jesus—is not the Pope or Mother Teresa or even Billy Graham. Instead, it's a goofy-looking guy named Ned Flanders on the animated sitcom known as The Simpsons. The mustache, thick glasses, green sweater, and irrepressibly cheerful demeanor of Ned Flanders, Homer Simpson's next-door neighbor, have made him an indelible figure, the evangelical known most intimately to nonevangelicals". Montreal Canadiens goaltender Peter Budaj has an image of Ned Flanders painted on the back of his helmet.
In 2001 and 2002, the Greenbelt festival, a British Christian music and arts fest, held a special "Ned Flanders Night". The 2001 event featured a look-alike contest, as well as the tribute band "Ned Zeppelin". It was held in a 500 seat venue that was filled to capacity, and an extra 1500 people were turned away at the door. A second event was held in 2002, with Ned Zeppelin reappearing.
Read more about this topic: Ned Flanders
Famous quotes containing the words cultural and/or influence:
“Somehow we have been taught to believe that the experiences of girls and women are not important in the study and understanding of human behavior. If we know men, then we know all of humankind. These prevalent cultural attitudes totally deny the uniqueness of the female experience, limiting the development of girls and women and depriving a needy world of the gifts, talents, and resources our daughters have to offer.”
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“Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.”
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