GioBlog

Anglicans must be proud

References to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the world's Anglican community, came across my desk several times this weekend.

I hope Anglicans are proud.

First, of course, is Rowan Williams attacking U.S. foreign policy, glossing over British imperialism, and doing all of this in an interview with a Muslim magazine without apparently having any problems with Muslim foreign policy.

Second, in my research on the Golden Compass movie and its controversy, we find that the Philip Pullman novels, which are written by an aggressive atheist as an attack not only on theism but also as an attack on and a counterpoint to C.S. Lewis' Narnia novels, are widely recognized by Christians as an attack on their faith (and on theism in general), but Rowan Williams has no problem with them.

However, Pullman has found support from other Christians, most notably Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. These groups and individuals point out that Pullman's attacks are focused on the constraints of dogmatism and the use of religion to oppress, not Christianity itself. Dr. Williams has gone so far as to propose that His Dark Materials be taught as part of religious education in schools.

Imagine--the author himself acknowledges the novels as an attack on Christianity, and Christians around the globe recognize them as such, but the Archbishop of Canterbury thinks they're great.

The final novel features a battle to pull down and destroy God--and Rowan Williams has no problem with that.

I hope you Anglicans are proud.

We have a guy in the U.S. named Barry Lynn, or more accurately the Rev. Barry W. Lynn. Anytime anyone is looking for a supposedly religious person to say something critical of Christians, or traditional Christian values, they can always count on the Rev. Lynn.

Apparently, Rowan Williams is aspiring to give Barry Lynn some competition in the field of religious leaders who can be counted on to actually stand against almost everything religious people believe.