Sunday, May 15, 2005

The importance of tribes

There's a man on a deserted island who has been condemned by fate to live alone for many years. When he's finally discovered, his rescuers find him sitting quietly under a tree eating a coconut.

The rescuers can tell by the state of him that he has been on the island a considerable length of time, but yet – they notice – he hasn’t bothered to build himself any dwelling to live in. Strangely, however, there exists two identical-looking churches on the dunes in the distance behind.

The man is sitting Zen-like on the beach and hardly seems to notice the presence of these newcomers on his island. After a period of time they succeed in gaining his attention and eventually the question is put to him. “But why two chapels?”

On hearing this, the man explodes into a fearsome rage: “Cos that’s the chapel I go to!” He yells pointing crazily to the first of them, before swivelling and pointing to the other: “and that’s the chapel I don’t fucking go to!”