Posted on 10/27/2006 2:10:12 AM PDT by Mrs Ivan
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that promoting a society where no religious symbols are visible in public is "politically dangerous" and warned against a march towards secularism in Britain.
Rowan Williams said he was making his views known in an effort to bring perspective to the ongoing debate on the wearing of Islamic veils, Christian crosses and other visible expressions of religious belief.
"The ideal of a society where no visible public signs of religion would be seen - no crosses around necks, no sidelocks, turbans or veils - is a politically dangerous one.
"It assumes that what comes first in society is the central political 'licensing authority', which has all the resource it needs to create a workable public morality," he said.
The Archbishop made his comments following his return from a recent trip to China, where he said the general feeling is that it was time the country "stopped being a certain kind of secular society".
He described his return to Britain as like coming back into "the middle of what felt like a general panic about the role of religion in society".
Writing in The Times today, he says: "The proverbial visitor from Mars might have imagined that the greatest immediate threat to British society was religious war, fomented by 'faith schools', cheered on by thousands of veiled women and the Bishops' Benches in the House of Lords."
Other senior diocesan bishops supported the Archbishop's views. The Right Reverend Tom Butler, the Bishop of Southwark, said that the Archbishop has brought "a helpful perspective to recent disputes".
The Right Reverend Colin Buchanan, the retired Bishop of Woolwich who is now an assistant bishop in the diocese of Bradford, said that any attempt to ban religious symbols would open "not just a can but a barrel of worms".
The bizarre thing is that this is exactly what the threat is, with the 'faith schools' in question, being centres for Islamic brainwashing.
Looks more like a bank robber to me. Oh yea, robbing a bank is illegal, sorry, not acceptable.
It's not a "religious symbol" in the same way a crucifix or a yarmulke or a nativity set is. It's a symobl of subordination.
Sounds like the Archbishop has been the victim of Islamic brainwashing himself.
just like Germaine Greer defended the right of that schoolgirl to wear that thing which is still being decided upon in the courts represented by Cherie Blair: what a surprise
This is the guy who doesn't want to observe traditional Anglican religious values, by supporting gay marriage and gay Anglican priests. But he wants a religion dedicated to the destruction of other religions to be able observe its traditional values in the heart of Christendom. This guy really ought to be fired.
It's not a "religious symbol" in the same way a crucifix or a yarmulke or a nativity set is. It's a symobl of subordination. ......A religious symbol worn around the neck is far different from forcing women to cover themselves to keep from inciting men to rape. Hopefully the Almighty could care less about religious getups.
These Muslim phonies can wear their veils but not in court and not for driver's license photos. IOW they can wear their phony costumes and play dress up Islamic style, except when this infringes on the rights of the non Muslim Britons who vastly out number the Muhammadans
Anything that Henry VIII founded is not worth thinking too much about. His best legacy was Elizabeth.
Love, Ivan
Most states have laws against wearing masks in public. Westerners like to see someone's face when we talk to them. We connect words to facial expressions
Someone wearing a cross, or star of David or Yarmulke does not prevent this. Even turbans don't
It's not a "religious symbol" in the same way a crucifix or a yarmulke or a nativity set is. It's a symobl of subordination. ......A religious symbol worn around the neck is far different from forcing women to cover themselves to keep from inciting men to rape. Hopefully the Almighty could care less about religious getups.
Thats one perceptive Martian!......too bad the bishop can't see the truth through the veil himself.
Pardon me, but the Archbishop is a blithering idiot. I don't think I have to point out why to those of you reading this.
Sorry archbishop, government trumped religion a long time ago and you won't be turning back the clock.
Hasn't it been stated that the veil/burka is not a requirement of Islam but an Arabic cultural phenomenon?
"The proverbial visitor from Mars might have imagined that the greatest immediate threat to British society was religious war, fomented by 'faith schools', cheered on by thousands of veiled women"
The Archdruid speaks!
Henry VIII would have chopped this clown's head off before breakfast.
looks more like Mr Blobby at a funeral...
(non-Brits will probably not get that one...)
From this link:
From the link:
In fact it's quite strange the way a line of thought that's intended to side with the oppressed often sides with oppressors in the name of multiculturalism. A great many practices could be put in the box 'their culture'. Dowry murders, female infanticide, female genital mutilation, slavery, child labour, drafting children into armies, the caste system, beating and sexually abusing and witholding wages from domestic servants especially immigrants, Shariah, fatwas, suttee. These are all part of someone's 'culture', as murder is a murderer's culture and rape is a rapist's. But why validate only the perpetrators? Have the women, servants, slaves, child soldiers, Dalits, ten-year-old carpet weavers in these cultures ever even had the opportunity to decide what their culture might be?
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