The most popular topics for the multi-episode podcast are definitely scams and cults. Templates for presentations are established and soundtracks are available from the music library. The Secret World: The Disciples (World Service, last Wednesday) tells of TB Joshua, a Nigerian televangelist who gathered international disciples. Some of those who made pilgrimages to his “synagogue church” in Lagos remained for years in a community that operated according to strict and unorthodox rules (News, January 12).
The accusations this documentary makes against the late Joshua and the church are both horrifying and predictable. Reporters Yemisi Adegoke and Charlie Northcott persevered and told a fascinating story.
Be that as it may, what this and other such studies fall short of, other than a general description of how they experienced the Bible with their own eyes, is that it captures the minds of their primary subjects. lack of curiosity about personal ambition. One episode talked about recruiting disciples from the British church. We heard how Immanuel Church in Winchester, a now defunct charismatic community, had a relationship with the Synagogue Church of All Nations.
However, the psychological mechanics of this recruitment were ignored. We rarely felt the personal agency of the disciples. However, when we felt it, even unconsciously, it became evident. One person described their initial motivation for joining the community: “There are many books in the Bible called the Gospels, and they are all about miracles that Jesus performed. . . . I want to know the God of the Gospels. If it's not real, then I'm out of here.'' The message people are forced to draw is that we should receive more religious education in schools, not less.
Jon Ronson is a veteran when it comes to cults and conspiracies. He has made a career of dealing with people who believe crazy things, but the way he interacts with them allows him to avoid conflict and even elicit sympathy. So, in the second episode, things fell apart (Radio 4, Tuesday) was able to include a section of an interview with anti-vaccination activist Judy Mikovits, even though she is the main villain of the piece. The “Judy” of this interview can hardly be equated with the violent presence threatening legal retribution seen on television.
This second series of Ronson documentaries seeks to trace their origins back to key battles in the “culture wars.” Ronson is always insightful, but there is a lot of wishful thinking involved as he draws the line between causal events and their consequences decades later. That line will inevitably be dotted, as will any line that attempts to establish a link between events and situations in the United States and Britain.