Posted on 02/08/2008 10:26:13 AM PST by mojito
A senior Church of England clergyman called today for the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, over his remarks supporting Sharia in England.
The call, from a long-standing member of the Church's governing body, the General Synod, demonstrated the strength of the backlash Dr Williams that faces from within his own Church — as well as from political and other faith leaders.
The senior Synod member, who insisted on remaining anonymous, told The Times: "A lot of people will now have lost confidence in him. I am just so shocked, and cannot believe a man of his intelligence could be so gullible. I can only assume that all the Muslims he meets are senior leaders of the community who tell him what a wonderful book the Koran is.
"There have been a lot of calls today for him to resign. I don't suppose he will take any notice, but yes, he should resign."
The Bishop of Southwark, the Right RevTom Butler, also challenged the Archbishop's comments. "It will take a great deal more thought and work before I think it's a good idea," he said.
Although the means of forcing an archbishop out of office are so costly and arcane — short of his committing a criminal act, he could never be made to go — the row represents the most serious threat to the authority of his office since he became Archbishop five years ago.
It comes on top of the disintegration of the Anglican Communion in the dispute over homosexuality, with up to a quarter of the world's 800-plus Anglican bishops intending to boycott the 2008 Lambeth Conference at Kent, and insiders are wondering if Dr Williams's moral authority has now been damaged almost beyond repair.
Weblogs and other sites have been overwhelmed by comments from members of the public, Anglicans and non-Anglicans, the vast majority being highly critical of Dr Williams and his apparent appeasement of Islamism.
Senior government figures also spoke out against the Archbishop, as the row escalated and threatened to undermine his authority in the public arena as well as within his own Church. David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, said that formalising Sharia in the UK would be "catastrophic" for social cohesion.
One of Dr Williams's arguments in favour of including some parts of Sharia under a parallel jurisdiction to secular law was to aid social cohesion. Mr Blunkett told the Today programme on Radio 4 : "I think this is very dangerous because the Archbishop used the term affiliations.
"We have affiliations to football clubs, to cricket teams, to all sorts of things that aren't central to our citizenship and the acceptance of that in terms of a common society.
"We don't have affiliations when it comes to the question of the law. And when it comes to equality under the law, we have to be rigorous in terms of making sure people do not find themselves excluded from it because of cultural or faith reasons."
Formalising Sharia "would be wrong democratically and philosophically but it would be catastrophic in terms of social cohesion", he said.
Virtually the only organisation to have come out on Dr Williams's side of the debate was the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which said that the media response to the Archbishop's speech could "only be described as a fanatical and emotional outpouring of exaggeration, misrepresentative statements, untruths and sometimes vitriolic hatred".
Dr Williams said yesterday: "It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of Sharia are already recognised in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system."
The latest controversy is the second time that Dr Williams's views on Islam have provoked dispute. In an interview last year with Emel, a Muslim lifestyle magazine, he accused the US of wielding its power in a way worse than Britain at the peak of the Empire, compared Muslims in Britain to the Good Samaritans, and praised the Muslim ritual of praying five times a day. He also said terrorists “can have serious moral goals” and argued that the 9/11 terrorists should not be called evil.
A senior member of General Synod, who asked not to be named, said that he had had high hopes of Dr Williams when he was enthroned five years ago but had now lost confidence in his archiepiscopacy. He thought that he should resign and said that many others were also saying the same thing privately.
Many who heard his lecture last night at the Royal Courts of Justice in London were also critical, although others pleaded for understanding of an Archbishop attempting to instigate debate on an area of international importance.
Ian Edge, who organised the event , is director of the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies and a lawyer specialising in Islamic law. He said: "You can get married in your own religious community in the Church of England, but you can't as a Muslim so it seems rather discriminatory. But you wouldn't necessarily want to recognise Islamic divorce, but it may be that once you have admitted one religious right you would have to open it up to the whole spectrum."
Alan Craig, the councillor campaigning against the building of a mega-mosque near the 2012 Olympic site in East London, said "I'm very, very wary of allowing Sharia courts in parallel. “There are real human rights issues under Sharia — women are not equal with men. If he is accepting that Sharia could be ingrafted in British law, it can only be ingrafted if it complies with British law in which case there's no point in ingrafting it."
Dr Doreen Hinchcliffe, Islamic family law expert and visiting lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, said: "His assessment of the situation was great to hear. What he said is working out in terms of Muslims going to counsels to get advice. They have to accept that they live in England, but they shouldn't be discriminated against. It was very astute of him to pick up inheritance for widows —the share for a widow, one eighth, is so small"
Robin Griffith-Jones, the Master of Temple Church, said: "His argument in favour of transformative action will cause controversy but it starts the conversation and reacts against that state of grudging questioning"
Those who hate and despite Western cultures should not be allowed to live in the West. Send them back to their Islamic homelands where they can live contentedly under Shari’a law.
ping
I repeat, is it time for Queen Elizabeth to carry out the duties of her coronation oath?
Archbishop: Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law?
Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England?
Queen: All this I promise to do.
Then the Queen arising out of her Chair, supported as before, the Sword of State being carried before her, shall go to the Altar, and make her solemn Oath in the sight of all the people...laying her right hand upon the Holy Gospel in the great Bible...and saying these words:
The things which I have here promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God.
I am trying to remain in this denomination and work from within to save it. It is the church that brought me to Christ and I do not want to leave it.
He seems to be educated beyond his intelligence.
You are so right!
The problem is demographics and immigration. Europeans are not reproducing and muslims are, plus they are migrating in large numbers. As their % of the population rises so will the militancy.
God Bless you and good luck.
It is the church that brought me to Christ and I do not want to leave it.
Speaking as someone who's church recently left, I think you'll be casting your pearls before swine.
***********
The AOC has been angling for a "Section 8" for some years now.
I think he will now get his wish!
This guy should resign and convert.
Good for you. I'm very unhappy about the situation within the Episcopal church, but we really like the people in our congregation and have no plans to leave. Unfortunately, we're already dealing with a bishop who should resign and won't go (Philadelphia diocese). It's very hard to get rid of corrupt or incompetent clergy if they're unashamed and unwilling to step down.
I agree with you completely. The Monarch still has great powers if she chooses to use them. I think this is one instance when the Queen, as head of the C of E, should step in and force this clown to resign.
Ruth is likely to be stoned for writing a piece like this.
“The latest controversy is the second time that Dr Williams’s views on Islam have provoked dispute. In an interview last year with Emel, a Muslim lifestyle magazine, he accused the US of wielding its power in a way worse than Britain at the peak of the Empire, compared Muslims in Britain to the Good Samaritans, and praised the Muslim ritual of praying five times a day. He also said terrorists “can have serious moral goals” and argued that the 9/11 terrorists should not be called evil.”
Well... maybe this road, paved as it is with the Archbishop’s good intentions won’t lead to Hell. And, certainly, with this mindset the muzzies won’t kill this infidel...until last.
Good Grief, why don’t you just tell the Anglican faithful to drop by their local Wahabi-Mart and pick up their quran...
Dhimmitude is in the UK’s future if this stuff continues.
Lock and Load.
“The Monarch still has great powers if she chooses to use them. I think this is one instance when the Queen, as head of the C of E, should step in and force this clown to resign.”
I was thinking the same thing. I believe the Queen has the power to send this idiot packing. She should do so at her earliest convenience.
I’m amazed that there’s even still an Anglican Church and an Archbishop of Canterbury. I thought most native Britons abandoned religion a while ago.
Not a chance. The country is united against him. Nobody wants this, including most British Muslims.
Anyone who tolerates, not even accepts but tolerates, Sharia law as acceptable in modern society should be removed from positions of authority immediately. It has no place. It is violent abuse.
Could someone translate this for me ? Thanks
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.