If he were alive today, Homer would really irritate Pat Robertson.

Seriously, Homer should be glad he’s dead. Pat Robertson can leg-press 2,000 pounds. His Web site says so.

It’s because all he drinks is Pat Robertson’s Age Defying Shake.

And I must admit, I wouldn’t guess he’s a day older than 342.

In any event, if Homer were alive today, he’d probably be writing stories about God that Pat would find offensive.

I’ve decided I like Homer.

In The Iliad, the gods have become characters. Instead of sacred deities, they are presented as interesting, even quirky co-stars.

Homer, and others no doubt, went around telling these poems even as people still worshipped the aforementioned deities.

In some ways, Homer’s poem could be considered a satire of the religious beliefs of the day. A satire is, of course, presenting something that people take seriously in a not-so-serious light.

Modern authors and filmmakers have carried on Homer’s grand tradition. Monty Python took on the New Testament in “Life of Brian.” This is a very funny movie, and, honestly, pretty tame. But some folks threw a fit about it anyway. It must have been the “blessed are the cheesemakers” part that set them off.

Several years later, Martin Scorsese directed “The Last Temptation of Christ,” which was based on the book by Nikos Kazantzakis. Unlike “Life of Brian,” Scorsese’s film is decidedly unfunny. It also veers from the biblical texts, fleshing out Jesus as a human character.

It is this focus on the human aspect of Christ that drew some folks’ ire. I find it odd that Christians would get upset about this, when it is the human side of the Christian God that supposedly makes him special.

Recently, some cartoons were printed in a Danish newspaper that depicted the prophet Muhammad.

In one of the cartoons, Muhammad has a stick of dynamite sticking out of his turban.

I find these cartoons ignorant. Some Muslims in the Middle East found them not merely ignorant, not merely offensive, but so ignorant and offensive that they rioted over them. People died over cartoons. People should never die over cartoons. Frankly, it seems to me that this should go without saying.

The TV series “South Park,” in an episode that aired not too long ago, took aim at Scientology. The episode aired once. It was supposed to be rerun, but was mysteriously pulled from the rotation.

The Church of Scientology, which is notoriously litigious, is thought to have applied pressure to Viacom, Comedy Central’s parent company, all because the episode had the nerve to depict characters central to the Scientology myth in a less than serious light.

In response to this act of censorship and the above-mentioned Muhammad cartoons, “South Park” aired a two-part episode called “Cartoon Wars.” In a fit of almost hysterical irony, Comedy Central censored parts of the episode.

The point of all this is that people get very touchy when their gods become characters in creative works. I imagine that Homer, and other poets of his ilk, probably faced a similar opposition at times.

Personally, I think people should lighten up.

But if Pat Robertson comes around asking about me, I never said that. You just don’t mess with Pat Robertson. The man’s a beast.

Justin Fowler of Bangor is a student at University College of Bangor. He may be reached via bdnreligion@bangordailynews.net. Voices is a weekly commentary by Maine people who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.