The Archbishop of Canterbury sparked controversy today when he said the introduction of sharia law for British Muslims was “unavoidable”. Rowan Williams told BBC Radio 4’s World at One that Muslims should be able to choose whether to have matters such as marital disputes dealt with under sharia law or the British legal system. His comments were strongly criticised by the National Secular Society but welcomed by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which stressed it did not back the introduction of sharia criminal law. Williams said his proposal would only work if sharia law was properly understood, rather than seen through the eyes of biased media reports.
See also BBC News, 7 February 2008
Meanwhile, over at Harry’s Place, the inimitable David Toube calls for Williams to be sacked. “Isn’t there something particularly pathetic”, he asks, “about a Bishop in a church which – in theory – exists to evangelise, shilling on behalf of the theocratic politics of another religion, which wishes to write their version of ‘god’s will’ into law?”
Damian Thompson agrees: “Williams is lending his support to the establishment of a non-Christian theocracy in Britain. The Church of England must think seriously about his suitability for the ancient office he occupies. And then get rid of him.”
At Dhimmi Watch, Robert Spencer is appalled: “Rowan Williams has utterly forgotten, if he ever knew, that the idea of ‘one law for everybody’ was one of the great achievements of Judeo-Christian civilization…. I wonder if Rowan Williams is aware that if Muslims ever came to power in Britain, they themselves would enforce one law for everybody – a law that would reduce him to dhimmitude.”
Over at Stormfront the fascists take much the same line.
And if “the idea of ‘one law for everybody’ was one of the great achievements of Judeo-Christian civilization”, how does Spencer explain the existence of Beth Din courts?
For the Archbishop’s actual views, see here.