A Holy Mystery

On this Sabbath day, it is pleasant for a devout person such as myself to reflect upon the mysterious ways in which good can come out of evil, and specifically upon the apparent fact that even Jacob Rees-Mogg has a redeeming feature. An Indonesian company in which he invests produces pills for the treatment of stomach ulcers, which also happen to bring about abortions. The law of Indonesia, like Jacob Rees-Mogg, subscribes to the doctrine that God loves a quack with a coathanger, so the pills are widely used by fallen women who might otherwise be forced to endanger themselves. Hence, however indirectly and inadvertently, Rees-Mogg is aiding the good despite willing the evil; although, as befits an agent of Pandaemonium, he resorts to the flimsiest Pharisaical casuistry in denying all responsibility. Even the Church of England has occasionally had the moral fortitude to disinvest from companies it considers unethical; but Jacob Rees-Mogg cannot imagine that his own profits might be anything other than a personal sacrifice by Jacob Rees-Mogg on behalf of his fellow investors.