Please Don't Bash the Poor Archbishop!

There have been some quite alarming headlines in the tabloid press this past day or two, but to "Bash the Bishop" (as I saw in one tabloid headline) is not the right way to go, even if it's being done only with words.

No, he is not the problem here, though the way he handled this seems to have been poorly devised, and not helped by our typically selective and slanted media. The problem that has been bubbling up for years is a clash of apparently incompatible cultures, and the unwillingness of those who wish to impose theirs to accept that they are living in others' nations with a long history and culture of their own, including Britain. This of course extends to laws and morality.

My own view of Rowan Williams is that he has been what Denis Healey would call "a silly billy"; and he really should have handled himself much better. Bearing in mind his position, one would have expected him to have been more alert and aware of how what eminent people say is reported and taken in by others. If he really can't handle that very well, then perhaps he should cease lecturing altogether, or delegate this activity to someone better able to do the job.

Meanwhile, the underlying issue of today's Islam and in particular its Shar'ia Law (as it is called) remains.

What few commentators seem to have done on this is to question the validity of modern Islam and this law. After all, it does claim to have come from God.

However, anyone who truly knows God realises that this isn't about him. He made his stance perfectly clear, also that he is unchanging, many many times and via lots of different routes, to make sure that it couldn't be mistaken for one man's personal agenda. He must have known that, one day, individuals would put themselves forward as prophets or Messiahs and their creeds would come only from themselves in each case. Good forward planning by God, I'd say...

God told us very clearly that he is Love, and he did not create us so that we should go around harming each other under any pretext. No intelligent creator would make a world or universe on that basis anyway: it's plain daft, and insulting to God, especially as we know his nature and his commandments.

If there really were to be a need for action (beyond normal legal processes, of course) this side of mortal death, then he would deal with it himself: "Revenge is mine" saith the Lord. He even came here in a form to which we could relate, and told us in person, confirming all that had gone before. The old covenant between God and man was based around the Ten Commandments; and the new covenant around just two, that encompass all that went before in a clear-cut form.

Thus the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" still applies, because if we truly love the Lord our God, and our neighbour (which means everyone), then we shall not kill. All of us have equal status in God's eyes, and anything that goes against that is man's agenda, not God's -- and probably inspired by the Devil, for that matter. Banners and chants proclaiming "Burn!", "Behead!" or similar must always be counted thus, as well as the attitudes behind them. God doesn't do that stuff, and we are instructed not to either.

Therefore, any religion or other such system that advocates any other approach automatically cannot possibly be the word of God. He warned us of false prophets; and whether with Islam that was the case from the start, or merely via changes made later from what (for all I know) might have been genuine at first, the clues are there. We have a case of falsehood whenever anyone claims that killing (and a whole range of other ungodly acts and attitudes) is "ordained from God", for whatever reason. It isn't, and that's an absolute -- and a fairly obvious one at that.

Thus, if Islam really is from a genuine origin, but has been corrupted at some time since, then it needs to re-find its roots and get back to them pronto, and permanently. Otherwise it is to be despised as the work of the Devil, operating through compliant evil humans.

The ball is in the Islamic people's court. No-one else can solve this; so they'd better get to it -- now, before something really serious happens. Meanwhile, we'll continue with our own laws, thank you very much: oh, and that includes "one man and one woman" relationships -- as decreed by God, not man. Those who are ungodly enough not to heed this can go and live somewhere else -- but not here. Britain, for all its faults, is still one of God's countries and our laws are based on his commandments and teachings, not man's.