God on Telly

I'm pleased to say that the installation of a TV card in our computer has not (yet) turned us into screen addicts. There's just not much on, and not much time to watch it! However I am going to make time for John Safran's latest offering, Speaking in Tongues John Safran is a very funny guy, with possibly the most annoying voice on TV, and a genuinely original take on reporting religion. What I loved about his earlier program, John Safran Vs. God, was that he really took religious people seriously. While pointing out how hilarious we are. Unlike most religious reporting, which treats religion as a weird minority interest to be handled with kid gloves, Safran starts from the assumption that most people, in most places, are religious. As he repeatedly points out to his audience, it is the cosmopolitan agnosticism of rich Australians that is unusual. In John Safran Vs. God he therefore plunges into the middle of the most diverse religious communities (fundamentalist Muslims, Mormons, Hindu gurus, Buddhist monks, Christian exorcists, gun-toting rabbis, the Klu Klux Klan) on the assumption that however odd someone's beliefs seem to you, they are probably not that different from you. Which means you can probably have a worthwhile conversation.

Speaking in Tongues sees the return of one of the most memorable characters from J S Vs. G, a Catholic priest named Father Maguire. He's from a parish here in Melbourne, and something of a renegade. In the episode from JS V. G, he has harsh things to say about both Mel Gibson and George Pell. Each week Father Maguire and John will have a chat about the news from a religious perspective. Should be funny (and painful).