Date: 26/02/2008
Category: Community
The hysteria that has greeted the comments of Archbishop Rowan Williams
about a limited accommodation between some aspects of Sharia law and
English law reveals something profoundly disturbing about how we regard
the Moslem Other.
There is a deep unease here which pervades
many European societies – it includes the secular left, the radical
right (who have swapped scapegoats from Jews to Moslems), and many
Christians. Rowan Williams’ comments were the occasion for this unease
to detonate in an English context. Enlightenment rationalism and
Christian civilisation meets the murderous, irrational and barbarous
Other. Whatever the merits of the Archbishop’s proposals some people
protest too much.
How we handle positively the diversity that is
now so much part of many European countries is one of the key issues of
our time. We should not delude ourselves about the deep unease and
explosive reactions that are around it – particularly, but not
exclusively, in relation to the Moslem presence. Rowan Williams went
boldly – or naively – into the minefield. May he survive to tell the
tale – and may we start to have difficult conversations on the issues
facing us.
Additional Information:
Author: David Stevens
Leader,Corrymeela