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February 8th, 2008

Calls for senior Church of England clergyman to resign

I’m more or less ignoring the Archbishop and Sharia Law controversy. All sorts of nonsense is being spouted and you don’t need me to point to it. I find it all quite wearying if I’m to be honest.

First of all, see this on the Archbishop’s own site: What did the Archbishop actually say?

For contributions that are more useful than anything you’ll find here see Bishop Alan, Kester Brewin, Doug at MetaCatholic Richard Peat, Matt Wardman and Distinctly Welcoming.

I think Paul Vallely is talking good sense with this column: Williams is snared in a trap of his own making - Independent.co.uk.

Meanwhile, The Times has an Exclusive (in bold letters). The story is that someone, somewhere is calling for the Archbishop to resign but wishes to remain anonymous. It is apparently a senior Church of England clergyman, presumably one who does not have the courage of his convictions.

If you would like this unnamed senior Church of England clergyman to resign please write in anonymously , or get someone else to do it for you.

Update: Good comment by Richard: connexions » Blog Archive » The Archbishop & Sharia (2)

Further update: Justin Lewis-Anthony unpacks Rowan’s speech a bit.



This is a single Cartoon Blog entry, posted by Dave on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 3:38 pm.

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8 Responses to “Calls for senior Church of England clergyman to resign”


  1. Steve says:

    Hi Dave,

    If I can offer another useful link,with these others (also fascinating).

    Distinctly Welcoming

    February 8th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
  2. Dave says:

    Thanks Steve - have added it.

    February 8th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
  3. Blogula Rasa » +++Rowan’s Row: Not All Is As It Appears says:

    Although Cartoon Dave is more or less ignoring the controversy, he finds some interesting links, and in the comments was a link to this gem: Rowan Williams, being a very intelligent man, knows that sharia law is far more complex than this. The vast bulk of Islamic laws that are invoked within Muslim communities (yes, present tense because it is a current reality here in Britain), concern family relationships (divorce and separation), and inheritance matters. The trouble is, the media and our beloved political establishment are either not intelligent enough to know this or, and God forbid this be the case, prefer to play to the simplistic public perception (sharia = stonings etc) for short term electoral expediency. …

    February 8th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
  4. joe says:

    I’ve rarely seen such nonsense spoken by so many people, particularly the rants of Ruth Gledhill and co. Really, it is quite disturbing how people can whip up hysteria so easily.

    February 8th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
  5. John Bennett says:

    I think it’s great that all these politicians are spouting that there is only one law in Britain - I will tell that to the DAC and the Chancellor and ignore them when they want me to apply for a faculty the next time the church wants to replace the carpet in the children’s corner (er…actually, I probably won’t).

    February 8th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
  6. MadPriest says:

    The story is that someone, somewhere is calling for the Archbishop to resign
    Wow! What a scoop!

    February 9th, 2008 at 8:52 am
  7. David Keen says:

    Another good take on it here.

    The people calling for RW to resign are the same people who always call for him to resign. The Telegraph have a short list of folk they ring up every time Rowan Williams is thought to have said something controversial. The fact that only 3 people want him to resign over this is pretty good going, compared to the hundreds of people who want him to quit over the gay debate. If I were him I’d be quite encouraged.

    February 9th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
  8. Merely- a- Spearcarrier says:

    I think I understand what RW actually said. But “I think” has been my problem with him as Archbishop. As Paul Vallely wrote in “The Independent”, the semiotics of his position are no longer those for a Professor. It is a great pity that he has not yet learned (after 6 years is it?) that he is no longer in the Senior Common room and that even the brighter listeners only understand about one word in 5. This leaves the Clapham omnibus people to make the best of what the journalists tell them - and they ain’t intelligentsia in the main either.

    Rowan remains one of my favourite theologians and spiritual writers whom I was delighted to see appointed Archbishop. But I have been sooooooooooo! disappointed with him. The poor man is just too clever by half - almost unintelligible even in parts of his Christmas / New Year messages. He would serve the Church best if he returned to Academe and let someone more streetwise do the Archbishop bit.

    February 10th, 2008 at 10:53 am