Parallels

At first I thought that Keith Rupert Murdoch's action in having his two youngest daughters baptised in the River Jordan was hubristic folie de grandeur. Then I thought that he might perhaps have completely lost the plot, and has started to think that he's the Son of God.

However, a moment's reflection might lead one to conclude that there could be a certain, well, how can one put this, danger attaching to those who decide to conduct their lives against the backdrop provided by Biblical locations. Remember the fate of Herod Agrippa, who made the mistake of coming to believe that he was the Messiah. Remember Robert Maxwell, buried as he is on the Mount of Olives. The fact that his trip to the Middle East seems to be slapped across the cover of 'Hello!' magazine notwithstanding, it is to be hoped that Mr. Murdoch conducted his business there with an appropriate measure of piety and humility; for God will not be mocked.