If God is back . . . he is returning in podcasts not pews, chatbots not chasubles
Matthew D’Ancona, The New World, 14 August
On the digital beach, I stay alert for rationality, humanism and secularism wherever they may be. But — for now, at least — all I hear is their melancholy, long, withdrawing roar
Ibid.
At all the churches I visit there is certainly a sense of a professional army’s commitment and identity. Nobody is there out of duty. People want, I am repeatedly told, “full fat faith”, whether in the form of ritual, Bible study or strict moral codes. Freed from the responsibilities and compromises of a national religion, Christianity is rediscovering the vibrancy and energy of a subculture.
James Marriott, The Times, 16 August
I too can testify to a growing interest in religion and the demise of “new atheism”, which was reductionist and narrow. Pupils are more willing to explore serious questions, and Christianity is back on the table
Christine Crossley, letter to The Times, in response to the above article, 18 August
Church provides people with a place to meet and make friends across generations. This is like gold in a world where anything that looks like fun is shut down by HR busybodies
Marcus Walker, Rector of St Bartholomew the Great, London, quoted in The Sunday Telegraph, 17 August
It is noticeable that if you break down the increase in religious belief by class, it is the affluent and the fashionable — ABC1s — who have become more susceptible to faith. The working-class CDE have not budged, and remain stubbornly sceptical. Maybe we have here the ultimate in luxury beliefs: when you run out of sourdough ideas, you consider your soul
Sean Thomas, Spectator Life, 18 August
Twenty years ago, at the high noon of the new atheism, all the sociologists assured us that as the world gets more rational, wealthier, democratic, religious belief would wither. And they were all wrong
James Orr, associate professor of the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University, interview with Robert Crampton in The Times, 16 August
It may be an inconvenient truth for their critics to stomach, but many radically right-wing types (the Tory MP Danny Kruger is one such, as was Orr’s hero [Roger] Scruton) are, like many voraciously plutocratic Americans, admirably philanthropic, their generosity often motivated by religious conviction. They take the notion of Christian charity seriously
Robert Crampton, ibid.
Each of the live gigs I’ve been at in recent months have made me appreciate that, while the focus is often on the soloist or lead singer, there are so many people who, together, make music happen — and that includes the audience
Helen Ann-Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle, Pause for Thought, Radio 2, 18 August
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