by kbrowne » February 15th, 2008, 5:11 pm
Here are links to four articles that I thought were sensible comments on the words of this very stupid Archbishop. (That is really the kindest thing that can be said about him.)
Many people have said that the rules of Sharia are alien to our culture. My worry is that they are not so alien. Some of the cruelties and injustices of Islam existed not so long ago in English law and some of the traditional religious rulings are as much Christian as Islamic.
Executions, public torture and the cutting off of hands for petty crimes were once common in England. The Sharia ruling that, in the event of a divorce, the father must always have custody of the children was English law in the nineteenth century. According to strict Islamic law a woman may not leave the house without a close male relative but, until relatively recently, the Catholic Church taught that a married woman should not leave the house without her husband's permission.
Our modern British law and our modern British religion are the result of the courage and determination of many people over a long time. The Archbishop's speech will make it easier to deny modern rights to Muslims and perhaps, in the long run, to all of us.