Peter Rhodes on vicars, taxes and the matchless convenience of the dock leaf
One of the oldest media traditions when covering a bloodbath like Southport is to interview the local clergy in the hope that they can offer an explanation. They cannot.
In fact, trying to untangle a massacre such as this is probably harder for a vicar or bishop than for the average lay person. Ordinary people can express shock, outrage, fury, distress. The clergy have to do all the above while trying to make the incident fit into some great divine plan. Explaining the inexplicable live on TV may keep the fading Church in the public view but I doubt if it brings a shred of comfort to anyone.
As far as I can see, there is no divine plan. There is simply a society and a criminal-justice system where psychopaths wander our streets carrying knives, machetes and swords, and politicians twiddle their thumbs.
