Frank Devine: God Makes A Comeback After Generation Of Neglect
A distinctive feature of 2005 is that it has been virtually impossible to get away from religion. There's been George W. Bush urging the Chinese to tolerate it, after rather noticeably attending a Sunday service in Beijing; an archbishop delivering the Boyer lecture; and Tony Abbott constantly accused of being a Catholic.
It is almost as if God has just noticed Time magazine's April 8, 1966, cover -- big red letters on a black background, asking: Is God Dead? -- and is responding with a Great Pshaw.
He has certainly taken his time about it but haste has never marked his mysterious ways.
Probably he anticipated eventual repentance by the media, which leapt over-eagerly to answer yes to Time's question and, in harmony with the zeitgeist, abandoned religion as a subject for serious coverage. For 40 years little allowance has been made for one era's zeitgeist being, unlike Cleopatra, subject to withering by age and having custom stale its infinite variety.
Only church scandals, feminist fury about aspects of Christian practice, the exotic sexiness of celibacy and Labor MP Julia Irwin saying the Bible is more bloodthirsty than the Koran attracted front-page attention.
Even an irresistible celeb pope, John Paul II, had to be transmuted into a political figure to make headlines.
In the past couple of years, however, religion has struggled back into the limelight. I'm not sure why. There seems to be no single trigger.
It may be a reluctant response to popular demand, reflected in the indignation caused by the mayors of Sydney and Melbourne when they attempted to celebrate an unadorned secular Christmas last year. Melbourne had a carol-singing street protest.
This year, the mayors are outdoing each other to deck their halls with fancy stuff. Sydney's Clover Moore, occasionally tempted by the florid, might throw in some incense.
It is almost as if God has just noticed Time magazine's April 8, 1966, cover -- big red letters on a black background, asking: Is God Dead? -- and is responding with a Great Pshaw.
He has certainly taken his time about it but haste has never marked his mysterious ways.
Probably he anticipated eventual repentance by the media, which leapt over-eagerly to answer yes to Time's question and, in harmony with the zeitgeist, abandoned religion as a subject for serious coverage. For 40 years little allowance has been made for one era's zeitgeist being, unlike Cleopatra, subject to withering by age and having custom stale its infinite variety.
Only church scandals, feminist fury about aspects of Christian practice, the exotic sexiness of celibacy and Labor MP Julia Irwin saying the Bible is more bloodthirsty than the Koran attracted front-page attention.
Even an irresistible celeb pope, John Paul II, had to be transmuted into a political figure to make headlines.
In the past couple of years, however, religion has struggled back into the limelight. I'm not sure why. There seems to be no single trigger.
It may be a reluctant response to popular demand, reflected in the indignation caused by the mayors of Sydney and Melbourne when they attempted to celebrate an unadorned secular Christmas last year. Melbourne had a carol-singing street protest.
This year, the mayors are outdoing each other to deck their halls with fancy stuff. Sydney's Clover Moore, occasionally tempted by the florid, might throw in some incense.