Appalling intolerance

Foreign readers may not be aware that the archbishop of Canterbury (who's the head of the Church of England here) has been receiving a huge amount of criticism in the UK over the last few days. Given the title of this post and without knowing anything about the situation, most people would probably assume that once again, a religious leader has made some intolerant comments about gay people or sex before marriage or something like that. It matters so much less when it's just one person who's in the wrong. Unfortunately, this time I think that it's the Archbishop of Canterbury who's right, and 99% of the British population (and 100%+ of the media) who are in the wrong :-(.

The "sin" of the archbishop was to suggest tolerance in connection with Muslim Sharia law when he gave the foundation lecture at the Royal Courts of Justice last Thursday. Visit the archbishop's web site for the full text of the lecture, which is highly academic in nature. Unfortunately, this was given slightly sensational coverage by the British media, even from news organisations that I normally respect such as:

BBC news: Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'
Telegraph: Rowan Williams says Sharia law unavoidable
Guardian: Archbishop backs sharia law for British Muslims

This news coverage, which is often inaccurate because he did not "back sharia law", has prompted a sometimes hysterical reaction from the much of the British establishment and the population at large. Visit any of the online forums and comment pages that all these news organisations run to see what I mean. I am utterly appalled by the intolerance that is being displayed by so many of my fellow countrymen.

Although I'm not a religious person myself, I DO want to see religious leaders preach tolerance of other religions. It's right for them to suggest that people should try and find ways to accommodate other beliefs, which at the end of the day is all the archbishop of Canterbury was trying to do. In this case, it may well turn out that there are serious incompatibilities between British law and Sharia law, it may well turn out that there is no way round practical problems which would arise from having two different legal systems in one country, but it is NOT right to denounce anyone for suggesting that for peace on earth it might be worth trying. And in case anyone hadn't noticed, tolerance IS completely in tune with the teachings of the great spiritual leaders, including recent ones like Gandhi, and perhaps most importantly here with old ones like Jesus Christ!