‘What-if?’ can make an interesting parlour game.

What if Hitler had been killed in the First World War? What if de Valera had accepted the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty?

What if Lee Harvey Oswald had missed? What if Ian Paisley had been born a Catholic?

Setting aside thoughts of what Cardinal Paisley would have chosen as his regnal name if elected pontiff instead of John Paul I (Pope Billy?), the conundrum sets interesting hares running.

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As we contemplate Christmas and the ceremonies to celebrate the birth of Jesus more than two millennia ago, it’s worth posing another ‘what-if’.

What if Jesus were born now?

The Middle East has long been subject to conflict – and not just between Arabs and Jews – so his parents would have been used to political turmoil.

They would certainly have found it just as difficult to find shelter. Bethlehem is in a war zone.

Then, as now, what we call the Holy Land was the plaything of an........

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