GOD HATES CHURCHES

[snousle]

Got into Christchurch yesterday. Life seems surprisingly normal despite widespread, if spotty destruction. We were in town less than an hour before the first noticeable aftershock - there are still several table-rattlers per day. There has been very little crime and disorder. Soldiers are present all along the perimeter of the downtown cordon and an imported Australian police force occupies the art gallery. Most citizens seem pretty chipper, But some older people still seem a little shell shocked.

Older stone buildings have the most visually dramatic damage, and here that means churches. The sometimes-successful attempt to remove the steeples intact hints at an intention to repair them. Less visible, but more devastating, is that nearly all high rises have been condemned and will have to be demolished. Most single family homes seem OK, but exceptions are numerous and sometimes dramatic.