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philosoraptor42Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has done a lot that's annoyed me. He expressed support for the 'lower the time limit for abortion' movement which very nearly succeeded, he has always been cryptic on the issue of women bishops rather than giving them his full support and he has spoken out against secularism on a number of occasions.
All this being said, he has recently warned against giving too much support for faith-based activism:
Yeah, I'm sure there's a private motive somewhere. For example, while I've defended Rowan Williams' comments on Sharia in the past, he was actually trying to defend "freedom of conscience" at the time (e.g. giving religious adoption agencies the right to discriminate against gay couples).
Then again maybe this is intended to emphasise the appeal of the Church of England for more liberal Christians. With more conservative Anglicans rushing off to join the Catholic Church and with Catholicism suffering a recent blow in that tv debate (with Stephen Fry, Christopher Hitchens, Anne Widdecombe and Archbishop Onaiyekan) perhaps it seemed like a good time to remind people that faith-based organisations are fallible and that Anglicans recognise this. After all, the Anglican Church has been able to avoid the sex scandals that the Roman Catholic Church is now dealing with because it is far quicker to admit, apologise and put in place measures to prevent further abuse.
Right now, this actually seems like quite a positive message. It's nice to see a religious organisation which isn't afraid to admit to the extent to which religious orgnisations can be manipulative. What better way to express your superiority as a religious group than to point out that you aren't naive about these issues? So my final question is where is Rowan Williams and what has this imposter done with him?!!
(Via BHA)
Cross-posted to Atheism
All this being said, he has recently warned against giving too much support for faith-based activism:
Faith communities did not begin from a "clear Englightenment doctrine" of universal liberties, Williams said. "They are necessarily exclusive in the sense that they are committed to particular beliefs that not everyone shares. There is always a suspicion that they will favour their own or that they are using aid and development as a vehicle for propaganda on behalf of their own convictions, a cloak for proselytism.
"The development agency may come to see religion as a positive obstacle to liberation. Faced with the rise of aggressive religious conservatism all this longstanding unease becomes more sharply focused."
Yeah, I'm sure there's a private motive somewhere. For example, while I've defended Rowan Williams' comments on Sharia in the past, he was actually trying to defend "freedom of conscience" at the time (e.g. giving religious adoption agencies the right to discriminate against gay couples).
Then again maybe this is intended to emphasise the appeal of the Church of England for more liberal Christians. With more conservative Anglicans rushing off to join the Catholic Church and with Catholicism suffering a recent blow in that tv debate (with Stephen Fry, Christopher Hitchens, Anne Widdecombe and Archbishop Onaiyekan) perhaps it seemed like a good time to remind people that faith-based organisations are fallible and that Anglicans recognise this. After all, the Anglican Church has been able to avoid the sex scandals that the Roman Catholic Church is now dealing with because it is far quicker to admit, apologise and put in place measures to prevent further abuse.
Right now, this actually seems like quite a positive message. It's nice to see a religious organisation which isn't afraid to admit to the extent to which religious orgnisations can be manipulative. What better way to express your superiority as a religious group than to point out that you aren't naive about these issues? So my final question is where is Rowan Williams and what has this imposter done with him?!!
(Via BHA)
Cross-posted to Atheism
