History Recap / TheSimpsonsS13E6SheOfLittleFaith

** Marge refuses to accept Lisa not wanting to go to church anymore because they've commercialized and trying to find another faith. Once Lisa converts to Buddhism, Marge spends the entire episode trying to force her to convert back to Christianity through guilt-tripping and being an all-around intolerant bitch.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is a ''non-theistic'' religion that all but explicitly rejects the existence of a higher being like God[[note]]Most schools do accept the existence, and even worship, of minor deities and other divine beings like Bodhisattvas, but nearly all of them are agnostic at best regarding a God with a capital G like the Abrahamic religions[[/note]] to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's motives would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading entity named ''Brahman'', which is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than a little TruthInTelevision though, as Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last (particularly western) Buddhist to adapt it to their own personal views of religion and spirituality.

* CallBack: Benjamin, Doug and Gary from the episode "Homer Goes to College" have a cameo.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is a ''non-theistic'' religion that all but explicitly rejects the existence of a higher being like God[[note]]Most schools do accept the existence, and even worship, of minor deities and other divine beings like the Bodhisattva, but nearly all of them are agnostic at best regarding a God with a capital G like the Abrahamic religions[[/note]] to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's motives would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading entity named ''Brahman'', which is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than a little TruthInTelevision though, as Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last (particularly western) Buddhist to adapt it to their own personal views of religion and spirituality.

* BlasphemousBoast: Not that boastful but extremely blasphemous is the money changer saying that you can change money in the house of God; this is a reference to the Bible where Jesus's BerserkButton was pushed when he found out they made his Father's house a house of commerce and kicked out the money changers.

** Burns also fits this trope; after all he did help rebuild the church, even if the advertisements inside were in bad taste. Subverted in that he actually wanted to make a run for it with the profit the church made but when he failed he ended up being a GracefulLoser.

* NoMoreForMe: Upon seeing the Simpsons' rocket in the sky, a bum decides to stop drinking and throws away his bottle. A businessman subsequently catches it and promptly sits in the gutter and tosses his briefcase away to drink it.

** Lisa herself also acts out of character here. In ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E3HomerTheHeretic Homer the Heretic]]'' Homer felt going to church was a waste of time, but raised some thought provoking points about it, and despite that, Lisa shunned him for doing so. In this episode, meanwhile, Lisa is the one having good reasons to leave the increasingly commercialized Church of Springfield and not wanting to go to church anymore.

* RecognitionFailure: Despite being a Buddhist Lenny astonishingly has no idea who the Dalai Lama is, nor Buddha.

* CrisisOfFaith: The plot of the episode is that this happens to Lisa.

* PetTheDog: Even though he opts for commercialism, Mr. Burns does live up to his promise to help rebuild for the church. Granted his plan was to prostitute the church and run with the money it made but he didn't fight hard when his escape failed.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is a ''non-theistic'' religion that all but explicitly rejects the existence of a higher being like God[[note]]Most schools do accept the existence and even worship, of minor deities and other similar beings like the Bodhisattva, but nearly all are agnostic at-best regarding a God with a capital G like the Abrahamic religions[[/note]] to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's motives would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading entity named ''Brahman'', which is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than a little TruthInTelevision though, as Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last (particularly western) Buddhist to adapt it to their own personal views of religion and spirituality.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is a ''non-theistic'' religion that all but explicitly rejects the existence of a higher being like God[[note]]Most schools do accept the existence and even worship, of minor deities and other similar beings like the Bodhisattva, but nearly all are agnostic at-best regarding a God with a capital G like the Abrahamic religions[[/note]] to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's motives would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading entity named ''Brahman'', which is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than a little TruthInTelevision though, as Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last (particularly western) Buddhist to adapt it to their own personal views and cultural attitude regarding religion.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is a ''non-theistic'' religion that all but explicitly rejects the existence of a higher God [[note]]Most schools do accept the existence, and even worship, of minors deities and otherworldly beings, but none a God with a capital G like the Abrahamic religions[[/note]] to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's motives would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading entity named ''Brahman'' that is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than a little TruthInTelevision though, as Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last (particularly western) Buddhist to adapt it to their own personal views and cultural attitude regarding religion.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is eminently a non-theistic religion and all but explicitly rejects the existence of a higher God (Most of its schools do acknowledge the existence, and even worship, of spirits and lesser divine beings but none a a God with capital G as in Abrahamic religions), to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's reasoning would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading entity named ''Brahman'' that is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than TruthInTelevision, though - Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last western Buddhist to freely adapt it to their own personal view of religion.

* JerkassBall: Marge gets very militant about Lisa renouncing Christianity and becoming a Buddhist, with the implication that she will kick Lisa out of the house if she doesn't change and in the final part of the episode celebrating Christmas and explicitly saying that if Lisa isn't part of the family's religion, she can't get presents.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is eminently a non-theistic religion and explicitly rejects the existence of a higher God (some of its schools do contemplate minor deities and divine beings, but not a God with capital G as in Abrahamic religions), to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's reasoning would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, a sister religion of Buddhism, which affirms an all-pervading continuum named ''Brahman'' that is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than TruthInTelevision, though - Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last western Buddhist to freely adapt it to their own personal view of religion.

** The bullies' response when Bart asks who cares about Lisa dumping Christianity.

** Why exactly does Gunnar care if Lisa's not a Christian?

* BlasphemousBoast: Not that boastful but extremely blasphemous is the money changer saying that you can change money in the house of God; this is a reference to the Bible where Jesus's BerserkButton was pushed when he found out they made his Father's house a house of commerce and kicked out the money changers.

* JerkassBall: Marge gets very militant about Lisa renouncing Christianity and becoming a Buddhist, with the implication that she will kick Lisa out of the house if she doesn't change and in the final part of the episode celebrating Christmas and explicitly saying that if Lisa isn't part of the family's religion, she can't get presents. She also throws good cookies that Bart makes it obvious he wants in the bin! Wasteful!

** Kearney, a known bully and petty thug, is right to point out what has to be done about the church, making it a priority.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is eminently a non-theistic religion and explicitly rejects the existence of a higher God (some of its schools do contemplate minor deities and divine beings, but not a God with capital G as in Abrahamic religions), to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. The show itself lampshades it, even: "no creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment." Lisa's reasoning would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, the umbrella religion from which Buddhism descends, whose main difference is its afirmation of an all-pervading continuum named ''Brahman'' that is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than TruthInTelevision, though - Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last western Buddhist to freely adapt it to their own personal view of religion.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is eminently a non-theistic religion and explicitly rejects the existence of a higher God (some of its schools oo contemplate minor deities and divine beings, but not a God with capital G as in Abrahamic religions), to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. Lisa's reasoning would make it much more fitting for her to adopt UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, the umbrella religion from which Buddhism descends, whose main difference is its afirmation of an all-pervading continuum named ''Brahman'' that is similar to the idea of God. This is not more than TruthInTelevision, though - Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last western Buddhist to freely adapt it to their own personal approach to religion.
** Lampshaded in the episode: "No creator gods, just the pursuit of enlightenment."

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In her search of a better way to be close to God, Lisa converts to Buddhism, a strange choice given that Buddhism is an eminently non-theistic religion and explicitly rejects the existence of a God with capital G (some of its schools contemplate deities and divine beings, but not an omniscient, omnipotent god as in Abrahamic religions), to the point that such belief is explicitly considered to be ''acinteyya'' or detrimental to enlightenment. This is not more than TruthInTelevision, though - Buddhism has been a quite syncretic religion through all of its history, and Lisa wouldn't be the first nor the last western Buddhist to freely adapt their beliefs to their own approach to religion.