Peter Rhodes on quake-proofing, a genderfluid God and time-travelling to see Shakespeare
Before the dust of the earthquakes had settled, it was clear that something was horribly amiss in Turkey and Syria. Why did some buildings collapse like a house of cards while others, only yards away, survived?
The logical conclusion is that some were built to a lower standard than others. Which hints at that old devil, corruption.
This is an earthquake area and a special £4 billion fund had been created to quake-proof highways and buildings. How was that money spent?
It is always easy after such a catastrophe to indulge in hindsight. But it's a fact that time after time, it emerges that safety regulations have been feeble or sub-standard materials used. Thank goodness it couldn't happen here . . .
The Church of England is dying on its feet and the latest proposal, to de-gender God, has the unholy clatter of nails being hammered into its coffin. From the first verse in Genesis to the last page of Revelations, the Bible constantly and clearly refers to God as Him. Some trendy bishops dismiss this as “a theological misreading”. So watch out for the Lord's Prayer (should that be the Lord's or Lady's Prayer?) beginning with “Our Father / Mother / whatever.” No wonder the churches are empty.
There's much discussion about the new King Charles postage stamps being the first with the monarch not wearing a crown. Apparently it's his personal choice to give “a more human touch”. Really? I couldn't help noticing that the first-class stamp is in deep purple, the traditional colour of emperors, and the image of Charles with the single numeral “1st” could suggest he's number one and the rest of us are below him.
London's Globe Theatre issues a trigger warning that its production of A Midsummer Night's Dream “contains images of violence, sexual references, misogyny and racism”. But what about heightism when Lysander tells the vertically-challenged Hermia: “Get you gone,you dwarf”? Strange, too, that the Globe doesn't warn us about that unsavoury business between the fairy queen and a donkey called Bottom. Or is bestiality okay these days? So hard to keep up, isn't it?
Let us hope that one day a time machine is invented and today's trigger-warning brigade can meet William Shakespeare in person and show him how to write plays properly.
