LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Indie musician Alex Cameron is known for his transgressive lyrics. So when he started singing passionately about Jesus during his concert in a trendy neighborhood, the crowd seemed unsure if he expected them to laugh or worship.
鈥淛esus never had no porno / Jesus never had cocaine / Jesus never had Ibiza / He never even went to Spain,鈥� the Australian singer-songwriter crooned, prompting sporadic chuckles across the venue.
This mix of the absurd and sincere reflects a kind of artistic engagement with existential questions that is increasingly resonating with people, many of whom are disconnected from organized religion. Some scholars even have a name for it: 鈥渞everent irreverence.鈥�
When Cameron reached the chorus, the laughter stopped. 鈥淏ut every time he spoke / The people gathered round / When he washed their feet / The demons all came out / So when鈥檚 he gonna come again?” he sang over a wistful electric guitar.
Funny to some, potentially offensive to others, there鈥檚 a palpable earnestness to 鈥淛esus Never Had No Porno鈥� and other Cameron songs invoking similar themes.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e been disarmed with laughter. Now you鈥檙e kind of open to anything. You鈥檙e open to profound sadness or hope,鈥� Cameron said in an Associated Press interview ahead of his album, 鈥淟ate to Set,” dropping July 24. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my entire life. It鈥檚 serious, but it鈥檚 funny.鈥�
Art still loves religion, regardless of whether people believe in it
This phenomenon of irony collapsing into sincerity is being interpreted by some as a way for younger generations to grapple with ritual, meaning and authenticity, even as participation in organized religion in the United States has dropped dramatically in recent decades.
鈥淩eligion is understood as a source of power, whether or not you believe in it,鈥� said Kathryn Lofton, who studies religion and pop culture at Yale University.
As the world feels increasingly chaotic and stripped of moral boundaries, Lofton is seeing more skeptics seeking out sacred settings where they can experience transcendence and community.
Despite the rise of people unaffiliated with an organized religion 鈥� 鈥� it remains a creative touchstone. Its enduring usefulness as a shared language extends to the upper echelons of popular culture, from Beyonc茅鈥檚 engagement with and other African diasporic spirituality, to Rosal铆a’s inspired by Catholicism, female saints and mysticism.
These themes are not siloed to overtly evangelistic channels, like radio. But when religion is invoked by comedians or artists whose work is assumed to be funny, it can have a distinct appeal to people who see themselves as impervious to the cultural and political associations with traditional faiths.
鈥淪omeone who is playing with it, is humorous about it, has a sense of irony 鈥� it鈥檚 a way for them to engage these kinds of questions and at the same time retain plausible deniability that they really are interested in religion,鈥� said Leigh Eric Schmidt, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
Making jokes that are 鈥榮eriously full of God鈥�
Throughout HBO docuseries, 鈥淭he Rehearsal,鈥� religion is a recurring theme as he explores ideas surrounding interfaith relationships, antisemitism, forgiveness and numerology.
鈥淚 was raised Jewish and I still do all the holidays and stuff,鈥� he narrates in one episode, adding he 鈥渉adn鈥檛 been to synagogue in years because it鈥檚 so boring.鈥�
For some fans, ambiguity is what attracts them to Fielder鈥檚 humor. 鈥淵ou never know if he鈥檚 serious or not,” said Shelah Marie, a 41-year-old wellness influencer from Atlanta.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an increasing level of disassociation that we have to feel in order to maintain sanity. It is psychotic, the amount of information that we receive,鈥� she said. 鈥淢aybe being absurd is our protection.鈥�
Cameron Winter, the front man of the , blurs these lines in his debut solo album 鈥淗eavy Metal.鈥� 鈥淕od is real, God is real / I鈥檓 not kidding, God is actually real,鈥� he belts.
Though saying one is 鈥渘ot kidding鈥� may invite skepticism, his commanding voice carries such gravity that it’s hard to dismiss his proclamation as mere sarcasm.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fine line,鈥� said Schmidt, who co-organized a series of lectures in 2024 titled 鈥淩everent Irreverence: Parody, Religion, and Contemporary Politics.鈥� 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to convince people that you鈥檙e not just making fun of them sometimes.”
One of those talks was on The Church of Stop Shopping, led by director Savitri D and the character of the Reverend Billy, played by actor and playwright William Talen. As this anti-consumerist collective satirizes tropes surrounding conservative Protestant denominations, 鈥渋rony gives way to an articulation of communal values that are sincerely held,鈥� said sociologist George Gonz谩lez, who wrote a book on the group.
In a testament to that sincerity, had the Stop Shopping Choir open for him on his 2024 tour.
鈥淲e鈥檙e an adopted church for lots of post-religious people,鈥� said Talen, reflecting on what it means to be 鈥渟eriously full of God at the same time that you鈥檙e seriously full of bull(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk).鈥�
鈥楻everent irreverence’ encourages authenticity in the age of AI
Christian theologian Harvey Cox wrote in the 1960s about how effectively humor can be used to attract people to church, noting that when society’s icons are used 鈥渢o say something different in an ironical manner, we heap nuance upon nuance and combine satire, hope and playfulness.鈥�
Now these artists are exploring the relationship between humor and faith with audiences that are feeling the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity and culture.
鈥淲e can no longer tell surface from depth and treasure from knockoff,鈥� Gonz谩lez said. 鈥淚s my art real or did an algorithm produce it?鈥�
Cameron is acutely aware of this tension, joking that humans are on track to exist solely in the service of tech companies. 鈥淎ren鈥檛 we all just eventually going to be in gestating pods where they fill up every orifice with a way to extract experience out of us?鈥�
But that anxiety has coincided with a search for transcendence. Although he didn鈥檛 grow up going to church, Cameron has tried to make a habit of it as an adult.
鈥淛ust to try and ground myself in something ritualistic,鈥� he said. 鈥淢agic is real and God is real, and you know those things are pretty widely accepted, I think.鈥�
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