Oggi il Foglio ha una pagina intera (beh, mezza: c'è la pubblicità) sul nuovo libro di John Micklethwait e Adrian Wooldridge, "God is Back". Visto che non mi sono ancora ripreso dalla lettura del loro libro precendente, "The Right Nation", lascio la parola a Michiko Kakutani:
The authors write in their introduction that one of them is a Roman Catholic and one is an atheist,
and that they hope “whatever biases we bring have canceled each other
out,” but they often sound very rah-rah about religion in their
observations and choice of language. They talk of the “acids of
modernity” seeping “into American intellectual life throughout much of
the late 19th century,” diminishing the role of religion on college
campuses. After noting the small number of believers in France, Germany
and other European countries, they add: “Still there are a few glimmers
of light on the horizon. Those glimmers are brightest to the east. In
Poland, more than 70 percent of the population regularly go to church.” In another chapter Mr. Micklethwait and Mr. Wooldridge even
rationalize the marketing of religion in America through preposterous
gimmicks (like Christian diet books) and the Disney-like appeal of
megachurches. They write, as though this might be a good thing, that
“the megachurches may be soft on the surface, but they are hard on the
inside,” that “Disneyfied” American religion “contains plenty of good
old-fashioned fire and brimstone stuff”: the best-selling “Left Behind”
novels pull “no punches when it comes to the end of the world and the
fiery fate that awaits all those scoffing unbelievers,” and the people
at Lakewood Church in Houston believe that “the entire Bible is
inspired by God, without error.” The authors add that “the gospel of
self-help and prosperity is as American as apple pie” and argue that
“the simplest defense of Jesus Inc., is indeed growth: modern
management is bringing more people to God, and providing more cash for
the churches to spread his word.” They continue, “For instance, the
target audience for the megachurches consists of baby boomers who left
the church in adolescence, who don’t feel comfortable with overt
displays of religiosity, who dread turning into their parents, and who
apply the same consumerist mentality to spiritual life as they do to
every other aspect of their experience. ”The last section heading in the last chapter of this unpersuasive
book reads, “God Is Back, for Better,” which, in retrospect, seems like
an apt summary of this volume’s poorly argued thesis, as well as its
nonagnostic point of view.
New York Times
