Being a short response on the latest travails of an archbishop.
It's the recurring problem of a leader, a hugely-intelligent and thoughtful leader, finding that actually all people want are soundbites and stereotypes.
Most of the population, and much of the press, it would seem, don't actually want to use their brains! Never mind the fact that the interview which precipitated all this comes on the back of a densely-worded and highly thoughtful 8000 word public lecture. Never mind the distinction between the principles of Sharia law and some of the rather heavy-handed punishments handed down by Islamic courts in some parts of the world.
Archbishop Rowan, and many Christians can't win: we try to engage with real issues with depth and sensitivity - and find that we're told we should stay out of them. Then in the next breath we're told to be more active in wider society and help find solutions, not problems.
As long as our answers are acceptable to the everyone else, that is. In which case they are not answers, simply mere affirmations.
There was someone else who found that as well: he was called Jesus.
Saturday, 9 February 2008
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3 comments:
I was frankly puzzled by this. I'd love it if you'd summarise it for me. As an agnostic atheist (I'm not sure that I don't believe) I don't approve of mixing religion and law, but I am not so naive as to think that our moral compasses aren't informed by our culture, including all our religous beliefs (including my non-belief).
Quit you're crying. You are not damned if you do, and damned if you don't. That's kind of the whole point of it all. Pull yourself up by the spiritual bootstraps, the joy of the Lord is your strength. You are alive, you are breathing, you don't have to be good enough, or follow the law enough to get close to God. Someone else did it for you. Whooppeeee!!!!!!!
Apart from a minor error of grammar, you (Mr MacUser) are, of course, quite right!
:)
*Thinks* really must write some more!
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