Alpha: Will It Change Their Lives?

The Alpha project is so hip and trendy it is endorsed by Sir Cliff, who delivers the delicious line, 'You don't have to force Jesus down anybody's throat.' This, from a man who has done more to damage the credibility of Jesus Christ than Friedrich 'God is dead' Nietzsche.

What differentiates Alpha is its informality. You don't even have to believe in Jesus. You can just go to an Alpha discussion group and ask questions. Questions like, 'Why am I alive?' or 'Does God like TV presenters?' and 'Where are all those attractive women in your recruitment video?'

This new series follows eight recruits, all with the same old stories - drugs, alcoholism, the death of someone close.

One cabbie, who was on the verge of being tempted by Lucifer, claims God sort of spoke to him in his living room via his wife in front of his daughter. The cabbie then remarked his daughter, 'didn't bat an eyelid' as he collapsed in tears on his sofa.

One gets the feeling the daughter may have learned to completely close down whenever her parents bring up the subject of religion, but will doubtless acknowledge it at some point, either in her memoirs or with her remand-centre psychiatrist.

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