Good God!

I’ve just finished AA Gill’s memoir Pour Me, a searingly candid account of the agony and indignities of alcoholism. But what surprised me was his admission that he believes in God. I had a similar shock when I discovered that Frank Skinner is a devout Catholic. These are two of the brightest, funniest and most cynical people I’ve ever encountered. How could they possibly have any truck with religion? Perhaps the answer lies at the bottom of a glass. Like AA Gill, Frank Skinner was once a hopeless alcoholic. In that desperate state, mental moorings unhinged by addiction, you may well start to pray. And then you kick the booze. And then become rich and famous. Your prayers appear to have been answered, hence the religious conviction. Glen Campbell was another ex-alcoholic who found Jesus. Mind you, whenever I hear this, even I think there might be a God.