The opium of the masses isn't what it used to be, but it still exerts a powerful influence over us in Ireland, whether we be Catholic, Protestant, agnostic, or, as Christy Moore sings, "Hindu, Sikh or Jesus freak". In recognition of this fact, RTE and BBC Northern Ireland are bringing On This Rock to our screens.
Starting tomorrow, On This Rock is a major new six-part documentary series telling the story of Christianity in Ireland from its Celtic inception to the present day. The RTE/BBC Northern Ireland co-produced series comprises six documentaries, each on a different theme. Religious programming sometimes induces viewers to perform the changing of the channel ceremony, but On This Rock, which takes a detached approach, is as much anthropological, historical and philosophical as theological.
Thus, in the first film, Celtic and Christian, we see historian Dr Daibhi O Croinin noting that in the seventh century, hundreds of years after he had arrived, St Patrick was portrayed as a "Clint Eastwood kind of Christian", who killed or converted druids left, right and centre.
Celtic and Christian highlights the continuities from Celtic belief systems to Christianity that many (including this writer) will not have been aware of. Visits to holy wells and pilgrimages to Croagh Patrick are some of the hangovers from the good old days of sun worship and human sacrifice.
When the same stone circles on Croagh Patrick that are supposed to mark the burial place of one of St Patrick's followers are revealed to have been there for 2,000 years before that, one can't help but feel that the theme from the X-Files would be more appropriate than the standard plinky plonky documentary soundtrack in the background.
The impact on Christianity of the current Celtic renaissance is also examined. Aficionados of the Celtic tradition featured include Rev Dr Johnson McMaster of the Irish School of Ecumenics in Belfast who talks about Protestant attitudes to the Celtic church. In a Celtic wedding on Inis Mor, Rev Dara O Maoildhia celebrates a marriage based on Celtic ritual in the ruins of an eighth-century church. The resurgence of the Celtic influence is challenged on two fronts. O Croinin says that those "bleating about the Celtic church" are misguided, as many of the things they hark back to were either not Celtic or not part of the church.
Another challenge comes from Pastor Raymond Blair of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Galway, who sticks to the party line of the reformed church. He stresses that pilgrimages and holy places are a distraction, and that the way to find God is through the Bible.
Other episodes in the series focus on topics such as the Protestant experience in Ireland, Placed Among Strangers. This film traces how issues of religion, identity and politics became intermeshed in Ireland, and the big man of Free Presbyterianism, the Rev Dr Ian Paisley, stresses the essential values of Protestantism and reflects on how many people have suffered for Protestant beliefs. This is balanced by Dean John Paterson of Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, who describes how, for 200 years, the Church of Ireland had power out of all proportion to its numbers.
You Will Glorify Me charts the transformation of the Catholic Church in the post-penal era, when it became the most powerful institution on this island. Another World looks at the art, architecture and imagery of Irish Christianity. The final programme explores the challenges for all the churches as they face declining attendance and belief in the new millennium.
The most striking imagery of the series comes from the fourth episode, which looks at the missionary tradition in Ireland. The Rev Sahr Yambasu from Sierra Leone was on the receiving end of the European Christian effort in Africa. A Methodist minister in Wicklow, he points out how much of what was passed on by missionaries as Christianity was actually Western culture being imposed on local cultures. The highlight of this episode is a scene from the mid-1960s in which young Kenyan girls are seen ceili dancing. The voice over comments, perhaps unfairly, that an absence of colonies did not stop the Irish from having colonial pretensions.
On This Rock begins on Sunday, RTE 1 at 10.25 p.m. and BBC 1 at 10.50 p.m.