The Russian cartoon network “2x2” has decided not to air the latest episode of “The Simpsons,” following complaints by clergy in the Russian Orthodox Church, according to the news agency RBC. In the episode, titled “Looking for Mr. Goodbart,” Homer becomes obsessed with playing “Peekimon Get” (a play on Pokemon Go), and wanders into Sunday Church looking for “Peekimons,” as does Jeffrey "Comic Book Guy" Albertson. When Reverend Lovejoy asks the two to stop, Albertson responds, “Look, this game is — or at least was — bigger than Jesus. Okay?” Lovejoy then says, sighing, “Hmm. It’s a pretty low bar, these days.”

The scene bears certain similarities to the real-life case of Ruslan Sokolovsky, the young video blogger who filmed himself last summer playing Pokemon Go inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Yekaterinburg, and then uploaded the video to YouTube. Sokolovsky, an atheist, says he wished to challenge warnings in the news that such actions could be considered a crime against “religious sentiments.” Last September, he was arrested for the stunt, and he faces a 3.5-year criminal sentence, if convicted. The verdict is expected later this month.

news How Pokemon Go Led a Russian Blogger to Prison Read more