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“One Nation under God has turned into
One Nation under the influence of one drug
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation”
– Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, ‘Television’

The Disposable Heroes were right about most things, but they were wrong to imply that the progression from one nation under God to one nation under television would result in any great decline in religiosity.

Last week, Dunedin witnessed a series of Madeleine McCann sightings. It began with a Warehouse employee who claimed to have had a (tele-)vision-inspired sighting of the long-missing girl. Her claim was supported by ghostly apparitions on Warehouse security cameras, all duly reported on national television news. In the following days, people from all over the Otago region were coming forward to police with pareidolic Madeleine McCann sightings.

In mass-media-dominated societies, your old Virgin Mary at Chartres has been replaced by cherub-like English children made famous by a disturbing media fetish.

And, what is more, the spirit photography of fairies at the bottom of gardens has been replaced by angels in the architecture at rock concerts. The photograph below is from U2’s 2009 Barcelona concert. Check out the comments, too.

Spirit photgraphy 2009-style: An undoctored photograph from a U2 concert in Barcelona: "He sees angels in the architecture. Spinning in infinity. He says Amen! and Hallelujah!"

“I believe in love. Yes, I believe in love! Love! Money! Love! I believe in poetry! Electricity! Cheap cosmetics! I believe in the sky over my head and my silver shoes beneath me! I believe in Las Vegas! I’ve been there! I know that it exists. I believe in you! I believe for you! I have a vision! I have a vision! I have a vision! I have a vision! Television! Television! Television! Television!”
– The Mirrorball Man (satirically played by Bono)

(Still sceptical? Google image “U2 360 claw” and imagine the image being reflected upside-down in the night sky.)