What to expect from Russell Brand’s baptism

Could Russell Brand, who has just been baptized, become a significant Christian figure? I suppose he could become a sort of televangelist. But significant in a good way? It’s not impossible: he’s sharp and charismatic, and taps into a major spiritual tradition. But it’s not likely either: our culture needs figures who model wise restraint rather than juvenile hedonism, and Brand can’t entirely undo his image.

Brand can probably never lose the aura of sleazy preening libertine

Brand issued a video after being baptized in the River Thames on Sunday, in which he said he had found his “path” and was left feeling “incredibly blessed” and “nourished.” The comedian has embraced Christianity at a time when he faces allegations — which he denies — of sexual assault, rape and emotional abuse. In the video, Brand did not reference the accusations directly but mentioned “challenges” he has been facing.

I have wavered on Brand. Back in 2008, I was glad that he was sacked by the BBC. As I wrote then on the UK site, his “whole persona is based in the very strong belief — a sort of faith position — that sex is harmless fun, and it’s moralists who do the moral damage… He is a sort of cultic figure, a lord of misrule, an inverted preacher.”

But a few years later I changed my tune a bit. Brand seemed to speak for many, in his desire for a new sort of progressive politics, set out in his book of 2014, Revolution. His attack on the dehumanizing effects of global capitalism, I said, “draws on the Romantic-primitivist idea that modern culture makes us selfish robots, cut off from each other; that we need to recover grand purpose, common cause (sometimes there are flashes of D.H. Lawrence in his earnest, unembarrassable poetic ramblings). One must make a break with fatalist normality and have a pure-hearted faith in a totally good alternative.” His core message, I suggested, is that our political and environmental problems can only be addressed if we are religious in a new way, and discover a new utopian hope. We need a spiritual revolution.

When various allegations against him surfaced, I rather regretted this generous view of his spiritual quest; if true, there seems nothing “pure-hearted” about this man. I reverted to my view that he embodies our culture’s messed-up view of sex.

So, let us assume that he is now a sincere and penitent Christian. Might Brand help our culture to rediscover its Christian roots? Might he contribute to the rekindling of a grand social vision, drawing on various radical traditions? Well, let him have a bash: in our day, intellectuals and poets steer clear of such grand stuff, and so maybe it falls to someone like Brand to try on the mantle.

But, as I say, it is not very likely, and the reason is sex. He over-invested in the cult of sexual hedonism, and can probably never lose the aura of sleazy preening libertine. If he had reined in his libido, he could have been a contender. I see his career as a missed opportunity, for his turn-around is surely too late. On the other hand, all things are possible with God.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.