And God talks right back...

[sawyl]

Via Jessa Crispin, a typically sharp piece by Anne Enright in the LRB on on the Robinson Affair:

Being mad in Northern Ireland is different from being mad in any other place. The Robinsons come from a community in which people talk to God and He talks right back to them. "I have forgiven her," said Peter Robinson. "More important, I know that she has sought and received God’s forgiveness." These communications from God can be fairly abstract, they can be politically convenient, they seldom involve what the rest of the world call auditory hallucinations, but there is no doubt that the sense of conviction they carry can be overwhelming.