WhatFinger

Pick a man who TRULY treasures British values

The church should have the guts to sack the Archbishop


By Guest Column Melanie Phillips——--February 11, 2008

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is fighting for his professional life after saying that the application of Islamic Sharia law in this country was "unavoidable" and that it was not an "alien and rival system" to English law.

The unprecedented outpouring of fury at his observations has caused people to question his fitness for office, with at least two members of the Synod already calling upon him to resign. In his defence, his supporters claim the entire row has been got up by the "tabloid press". This old chestnut ignores the fact that people went ballistic straight after they heard Dr Williams say on the radio that the principle of one law for everybody was "a bit of a danger" - well before any newspapers even wrote their stories.

Welcoming Sharia law: Dr Rowan Williams

And now this lame self-justification has been blown out of the water by devastating criticism from his predecessor Lord Carey, who said Dr Williams had "overstated the case for accommodating Islamic legal codes" within British law, a move which would be "disastrous". This followed equally lethal criticism by the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who said sharia was "in tension" with fundamental principles of English law. So much for the ludicrous claim that Sharia was not a "rival and alien system". What such critics understand only too well is the threat posed to this country by a brand of radicalised Islam, or Islamism, that wants to take it over. As Lord Carey said, Dr Williams's comments will embolden those Muslims in their attempt to turn Britain into a country ruled by Islamic law which contravenes human rights. The only proper response to this threat is to say that not one inch of leeway will be given to it. But, instead, the Archbishop has gone down on his knees to welcome it. Astoundingly, he does not seem to understand that this country is being targeted by a pincer movement of terrorism and cultural takeover. He does not seem to understand Sharia. And he does not seem to understand the role of his own religion in underpinning British laws, culture and society. Certainly, the state should accommodate minority religious practices as long as they don't contravene the law of the land - as this country does. But that is entirely different from changing the law of the land to accommodate those practices or afford them equal status. The former is the essence of a tolerant, pluralist society. The latter leads inexorably to the "multicultural"destruction of a society. What's more, it abandons those anti-Islamist British Muslims who, far from wanting-Sharia to be recognised, rely on English law to protect them from it - especially Muslim women whose second-class status under Islamic law subjects them to systematic injustice, violence and "honour killings". The reason why there has been such overwhelming outrage is that, despite the Prime Minister's abrupt dismissal of the Archbishop's views, British society is already being steadily Islamised with the Government's tacit or even explicit approval. Even though bigamy is a crime, the state is effectively endorsing polygamy by paying welfare benefits to the multiple wives of British Muslim men. More...

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