Today’s Impromptus is the first part of an “Oslo journal” — notes on the Oslo Freedom Forum, the human-rights conference here in the Norwegian capital. I have occasion to tell a story that comes from David Mamet. At least I think it comes from Mamet. What’s the occasion? At a press conference, participants in the forum were invited, essentially, by a Norwegian journalist to condemn or criticize the American hit on bin Laden. They obliged, some of them. No one spoke in favor of the hit. But that doesn’t mean that no one favored it. Some — most — merely said nothing.

The story that I think comes from Mamet is this: Members of a synagogue were furious with their rabbi. They just knew he was a conservative — because, during services, he would not talk about politics. He talked instead about God, the Bible, spirituality, and whatnot.

Here in the Corner, I wanted to share a line from Harold Macmillan’s diary. It’s quoted by Charles Moore, in his most recent Telegraph column. Here we go: “The Queen is not only very charming, but incredibly well-informed. Less agreeable, are the visits and letters from the Archbishop of Canterbury. I try to talk to him about religion. He seems to be quite uninterested and reverts all the time to politics.”

Classic.