Ned Flanders is voiced by Harry Shearer. Ned is an extremely devout Christian, who is often used to satirize organized religion. The Flanders family lives next door to the Simpsons. They are often held up as a caricature of the "perfect family", in contrast to the Simpsons. Homer's envy of Ned and his family is a recurring subtext. Ned has the habit of attaching "diddly" and other nonsense phrases to sentences (Maude-diddly). He owns a store in the mall called The Leftorium, which specializes in products for left-handed people. Ned presumably named his sons Rod and Todd because both names rhyme with God.
Maude Flanders was a devout Christian who attended Bible camp to learn to be more judgmental. She died in a tragic sporting accident--she was knocked off a grandstand when a volley of gift T-shirts shot from compressed-air cannons struck her while Homer was distracted from catching the shirts, finding a bobby-pin. Her dream of opening a Christian-themed amusement park was posthumously realized by the grieving Ned, who memorialized her with the motto: "She taught us the joy of shame and the shame of joy." It is rumored that Maude was killed off because her voice actress demanded more money, and was denied; other sources say the actress was tired of multi-state commutes for only occasional work.
Rod Flanders is voiced by Nancy Cartwright, while Todd Flanders is voiced by Pamela Hayden.
The Greenbelt Christian arts festival sometimes runs a Ned Flanders lookalike contest in tribute to TV's best-known Christian.
See also: List of characters from The Simpsons, The Simpsons