Both the Church Times and the Tablet have multiple articles on this topic. Unfortunately several are not available at present except to subscribers. When more becomes available, we will publish links.
Meanwhile, here is what you can read:
Church Times Lambeth endures protests and Page 3 girls in sharia row by Rachel Harden
Synod welcomes Dr Williams’s robust defence by Pat Ashworth and Margaret Duggan
Church Times leader: First, they came for the Muslims
Tablet
Quiet voice of modernity’s enemy by Theo Hobson
Tablet editorial: Crisis of identity
That Church Times leader must be among the worst I have read. No focus on the matter of RW’s pronouncements, no mention of its implication for the direction in which RW is taking the Anglican Church (as ably highlighted by Simon Barrow), or how more wisely to intervene on matters relating to other faiths in the future; but instead a hyper-defensive blast against secular ‘phobias’, again ignoring the fact that a good many criticisms of RW’s position came from progressive Muslims and Jews. By neglecting these issues and heaping all the blame on prejudice and ignorance and the media Anglicans… Read more »
Theo Hobson’s piece is really excellent, especially the conclusion.
The dead tree edition of the Tablet also has good pieces by Clifford Longley, Chris Chivers, Mona Siddiqi and Christopher Howse. As ever, the Tablet treats the whole affair with intelligence and judgment.
And the paper edition of the Church Times also has pieces by Paul Vallely, Andrew Brown, Mona Siddiqui (again) and Grace Davie. All of which are well worth reading.
And the Tablet also has an article by Stephen Bates. Can’t imagine why you didn’t include that in your list…
Pure oversight, Simon, literally, as I scanned the heads of the pages. But I did read Stephen’s piece, honest.
Sorry to bring this here, but my attempts to get some response from The Tablet have been fruitless for months. I cannot get the “free” articles to open (except for the book review) — I have emailed The Tablet many times about this problem, starting in late December & received no response. I have made sure that my computer is accepting cookies & have tried three different browsers (Firefox, Safari & Explorer) with identical results — I get in a loop telling me how to register (which I did years ago) which keeps returning me to the same page! And… Read more »
I think a good reason for *not* mentioning Stephen Bates’s ‘Tablet’ article would be its bullying conclusion: we journalists had the power {not the expertise, but the power and influence) to ‘get you’ a long time ago, Archbishop – count yourself fortunate that we did not. Would it be rude to say: ‘Yuk!’?
Prior Aelred: I’m glad to discover I’m not the only one who has been experiencing difficulty with the Tablet website. I did manage to get through to Theo Hobson’s article eventually, after entering my email details as if I were a print subscriber, but this hasn’t always worked in the past. Hobson’s analysis of RW’s agenda is extremely perspicacious, especially on the variance between what RW thinks is his mission, and the role that many people in England envision for the Church. As Hobson argues: ‘The anger that Williams has unleashed is not just down to Islamophobia. It is also… Read more »
John Omanii —
Thanks for the tip which got me to the Hobson piece! Thank you very much indeed!
And might I say that I have admired you posts here — very clear & sound (IMHO).
Apologies to our host for the personal intrusion (but you may recall my earlier lauding of The Tablet & sympathize with my dismay when I found it inaccessible).
I think it’s probably fair to say that the Archbishop’s comments were quoted out of context, or at least full and proper accoount of the context within which they were made was not taken. That said I cannot resist the Conclusion that Dr Williams was hopelessly naive in allowing himself to be put in a situation where he could so easily be compromised or misrepresented. A media which has no hesitation about misquoting or misinterpreting the comments of politicians and Royalty is hardly l;ikely to spare a senior churchman.