sharia furore

I've been following the story like everyone else... the calls for resignation, the stinging headlines, the debate that followed ...

My opinion?  I think that agreeing to any group "opting out" of the law of the land on religious grounds is madness itself. There can be no blank cheques given to unexamined scruples... what's more, Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country a kind of inhumanity that sometimes appears to be associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states...  Oh wait, I'm quoting the Archbishop himself here....

Among the hysteria, there are various thoughtful responses from blogland. 

Paul Vallely made a related but significant point in the Independent, which was to ask how possible it is for an Archbishop to retain any kind of freedom of opinion, expecially as a thoughful academic.  Whether it should be the case or not, the wishes of the masses insist that an Archbishop is essentially a politician, and only in private may he be a priest or a scholar. 

I don't know that I agree with all the ABC's conclusions, but as is usually the case with these media rows, most of what he's accused of he didn't say.  I can't help wondering how many of the headline-writing journalists actually read the Archbishop's Lecture.

Update: if you're struggling to understand what's going on, Mike Higton has put up a lengthy post (longer even than the original lecture, I think?) explaining his take on the whole thing.  It's well worth a read, but I recommend you read the lecture itself first. 

Update: Paul Roberts weighs in here, Reporting from Synod:  "If the Archbishop was guilty of anything, it was of overestimating the capacity that Britain currently has for having an informed and genuinely open debate over the place of Islam in British society. "

Update: one of the best blog reflections in the aftermath, from Kester Brewin

Comments

[Andii]

There are more interesting responses appearing hourly, now that more people have actually read or heard what was really said. I've logged a few along with my own take here let's just recall that a lot of news editors already have story templates in their heads and quite often the headlines are written to reflect that rather than the facts.

[Jason Goroncy]

Thanks for this Maggie. It's encouraging to read your thoughts on this. Keep up the good blogging.

Jason

[Rhys]

The tabloid press want him to resign - can he come back to Wales and if he does can Lucy Winkett or a certain Rev Maggi Dawn be promoted to a Bishopric- oh no silly me wrong gender and probably both sensible enough to turn the opportunity down - but if they are allowed and do - can I have a job!!