Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Oh, no, not religion again! Well, yes, actually, if only to make the point that it is by publicly tolerating belief and unbelief that we'll convince some of the more fundamentalist-minded among us to accept and endure what might appear to be insult, but which might be nothing other than the free and unfettered expression of opinion — something that Western civilization rightly takes pride in.

Anyway, Mike Nicolai is a rather serious-looking young man who resides in Minneapolis, where he makes music. His most recent album is titled God Fatigue in the Modern Age, which has to be one of the best and relevant titles of recent times. The most popular track on the CD is "Lifesucker Waltz" and it begins as follows:

Well the pope died today, I don't guess I care
He was just a man full of shit, blood and water
And the appointed leader of a sham institution
That frowns on a lot of my friends

Can't imagine that some people I know will be adding that to their collections any time soon, but, and this is the critical point, they'll have to accept that Mike Nicolai is perfectly entitled to express his abhorrence of the Catholic Church, and any other religious institution or figure he might feel disgusted with. It may be painful for many people to listen to those words, but Mike Nicolai need never worry about the admirers of Karol Wojtyla , nor will he need to fear this: "Hundreds demonstrated in Pakistan on Thursday, chanting 'Death to Denmark' and burning Danish and French flags." Now that's the kind of thing that creates God Fatigue in the Modern Age.

Rainy Day promises its readers a religion-free weekend, but warns that tomorrow's post will be a lengthy one devoted to the most offensive word in the English language.