"The Joy of Sect" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 8, 1998. In the episode, a cult called the "Movementarians" takes over Springfield, and Homer and the rest of the Simpson family become members. Homer and Bart are initially introduced to a pair of young Movementarian recruiters in an airport. Homer becomes brainwashed, and moves his family into the cult compound. David Mirkin had the initial idea for the episode, Steve O'Donnell was the lead writer, and Steven Dean Moore directed. The writers drew on many groups to develop the Movementarians, but were principally influenced by Scientology, Heaven's Gate, the Unification Church and Peoples Temple. The episode was later analyzed from religious, philosophical and psychological perspectives, and books on The Simpsons compared the Movementarians to many of the same groups that the writers had drawn influences from. The show contains many references to popular culture, including the title reference to The Joy of Sex and a gag involving Rover from the television program The Prisoner. USA Today and The A.V. Club featured "The Joy of Sect" in lists of important episodes of The Simpsons.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_of_Sect

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1006:

SN 1006, the brightest supernova in history, first appeared in the constellation Lupus, and was then seen by observers in Switzerland, Egypt, China, Japan, and possibly North America within the next day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006

1789:

George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States at Federal Hall in New York City. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington

1945:

World War II: As Allied forces were closing in on Berlin, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in the Führerbunker after being married for one day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Adolf_Hitler

1948:

Twenty-one countries signed a charter in Bogotá, Colombia, establishing the Organization of American States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States

1975:

North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon shortly after American forces ended its helicopter evacuation of U.S. citizens, South Vietnamese civilians and third country nationals from the city, ending the Vietnam War with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Frequent_Wind

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

lebensraum (n): Hitherto unoccupied “living space” claimed as one’s rightful domain http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lebensraum

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance — embracing all opposites. --Taisen Deshimaru http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Taisen_Deshimaru