Reflections of a stormy petrel

That was partly sarcarstic. In reality, my attitude is the opposite. It would not, in my view, be possible to tolerate the success and unpunished shamelessness of evil in this world - the thought of, say, Josef Stalin or Ayatollah Khomeini dying in their beds after all the misery they caused - if one did not believe in eternal life and Hell. Ethically and politically, the Netherlands are a plague spot in Europe, and their obstinate insistence on evil really is a problem for me. My country may not be much to write about morally, but we welcome and protect escapers from tyranny and persecution, and it would never occur to any Italian to throw them back to the wolves for any reason. And as such a thing would not occur to me, I cannot imagine the depth of degradation in which it comes to seem conceivable - let alone acceptable.