New York
At a chic dinner party for some very beautiful women, your correspondent shocked the attendees by quoting an even greater writer than the greatest Greek writer since Homer – Rod Liddle – and his definition of why royalty matters: because it is ‘anachronistic and undemocratic’. Hear, Hear!
A particularly attractive guest, Alissa – on a par with Lily James – took me aside and asked me if I really believed what the greatest writer ever, Rod Liddle, had written and I had just quoted. She also asked whom I had in mind as the greatest Greek writer since Homer, and I answered: ‘Moi.’ I then sat down and patiently if not too articulately, owing to a large intake of vodka, explained: God is also an anachronism, but I believe in him as do billions of others. We need anachronisms more than ever today, what with the discrediting of our past and our national identities by woke leftists. Society needs something intangible to trust and respect; too much reality is no good. Alissa listened but gave no sign of approval or otherwise.
Actually, I believe everything I said to this beautiful and charming young woman. Anxiety, fear and depression are the dominant emotions of our time, especially in America. Ours is an age of extraordinary social isolation, where people report less companionship, less time spent with friends, and less still with family. This is where God and his messenger, the church, play a very important role.
Yet the young no longer believe in God and do not attend church regularly the way my generation did. What they do is complain about the crushing weight of the world on their shoulders, and whine non-stop about it. An America addicted to banality and mayhem, which watches TV all day and night, needs to go to church more than ever, I told her.
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