John T. Elson, former religion editor of Time Magazine and author of the famous 1966 cover article "Is God Dead?", died on September 7th at the age of 78.

The controversial issue was introduced to a shocked public a couple of months before I was born. Here I am one year later after carefully reading the article and considering its momentous implications:

Kidding! I probably wouldn't have looked that happy after reading it. But the article was destined to resurface later in my life. The cover has been featured for many years at the end of our video The Madman, a treatment of Nietzsche's well-known parable by that name, in which he announced to his equally shocked 1880's contemporaries that "God is dead, and we have killed him."

It is, in my opinion, to Nietzsche's and Elson's credit that their musings on the loss of spiritual faith in our technologized, consumerist world continue to piss off some yet inspire others who share their lament and struggle to achieve a genuine experience of the sacred amidst the Spectacle's continuous assault on the conditions and sensibilities that make true spirituality possible.

Mike and I encounter this struggle and engage in this debate every time we perform The Madman, and are indebted to Nietzsche and people like Elson who seriously address what we consider to be one of the most important issues of our time.

For information on Elson and a link to his article, see his New York Times obituary notice. Special thanks to Dina Nadelhaft for bringing it to my attention.