Friday 18 July 2008

Sacred dissension and profane accord

Amusing as the Church of England brawl is to those of us who are largely indifferent to the points at issue, it is depressing to see how easily the professional faithful, some of whom are probably men of goodwill, have temporarily given up lives devoted to meditation and prayer in order to spend time tearing into each other like ferrets in a sack.

It is heartwarming, therefore, to note that on another matter of national unimportance there is near-unanimity, at least among Guardian readers, and I suspect among many other people who know what's what, about the proposal to grant Margaret Thatcher a state funeral; published comments have been along the lines of: "...only if the contract is put out to compulsory competitive tender and awarded to the lowest bidder", "...if there is a shortage of armed forces to line the route, plenty of ex-miners will be happy to do the job, just to make sure she has gone", "...suggest it takes place at Port Stanley, where presumably her popularity remains undiminished", " ...much that is wrong with 21st-century Britain in social terms can be traced back to the selfishness strongly promoted during her time as prime minister", "Does that include the grave/dancefloor combo? When is it booked for?" and similar tasteless and appropriate remarks.


Clearly, Maggie unites much of the nation in a way that the Primate of All England, or for that matter his boss, is quite unable to do.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I rather liked the suggestion that the funerary budget be spent on supplying everyone in the country with a shovel, and enlisting the whole nation in digging a grave deep enough for us to hand her over to the devil in person.

I see that Simon Jenkins is setting himself apart from the majority of his Grauniad readership, however, by hailing her as a revolutionaty leader who saved Britain.

Anonymous said...

Of course she should. Immediately.

Right now. Not a moment to lose.

Forthwith.

With fireworks and cake for everyone.

Anonymous said...

Ooh and dancing, did I mention the dancing?

Anonymous said...

October 2008

Global Meltdown Update

In light of recent events, I'd like to retract my two previous comments and say how delighted I am that the old witch – sorry, venerable free market firebrand – lived long enough to hear her name and reputation dragged through the mud. Long may she live to hear more.