The Absurd Report

For nearly 1,500 years, the Church of England defined English national character and infused the country with an indomitable spirit of independence. Those days are clearly finished.

The famous Shakespearean epithet Et tu Brute? (“You too, Brutus?”) has come to symbolize the ultimate betrayal by one’s closest friend. That epithet was pronounced with dramatic emphasis in Britain last Thursday when Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, made the case for the simultaneous practice of English law and Islamic sharia law in Britain.

Et tu Anglicans?

Williams’s first jab at British law and government came in the form of a tedious lecture delivered before the Royal Courts of Justice. Long story short, the archbishop started out innocently enough, explaining that his aim was to “tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state.” But Williams subsequently used the bulk of his talk to defend sharia law by explaining how grossly misunderstood it is, and cunningly making the case for the accommodation of Islamic sharia law in Britain.

For those with a heroic level of patience and an enjoyment for reading obfuscatory material, you can read the full diatribe against British sovereign law here.

The archbishop’s second jab came during an interview with the bbc World at One program, which was, ironically, supposed to quell the firestorm ignited by his lecture. With very little nuance or subtly, Dr. Williams defended Islamic sharia law in the interview and mused that the United Kingdom will inevitably have to accommodate sharia law if social unity and peace are to prevail.

A week later, the fiery bombardment of Canterbury continues, despite efforts by the archbishop and other Anglicans to douse the flames. The reason those efforts are failing, opined the Times’s Ruth Gledhill, is because “neither the archbishop nor his staff regard his speech as mistaken. They are merely concerned that it has been misunderstood” (emphasis mine throughout). Blind to the flaws of Dr. Williams’s remarks, the archbishop and many of his fellow Anglican leaders remain unrepentant.

The archbishop of Canterbury has been deluged with criticism since he made his remarks. Even the British prime minister has slammed Williams’s suggestions. But nothing highlights the magnitude of Williams’s treason—nor condemns the weak-willed response of Anglican leaders—more than the Church of England’s own history.

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