The Archbishop of
Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has caused a storm by mentioning Sharia,
the legal system based on Muslim teachings. Very few of his critics
have actually read what he said before exploding with indignation. They
have simply heard the word
“Sharia” and reacted predictably.
Dr Rowan Williams is an
academic who speaks in an obtuse and intellectual way that is hardly
understood by the common people. It’s very difficult to follow his
train of thought and much easier to pick out key phrases and write
alarmist headlines around them.
The Press did the same
thing with Enoch Powell. He made so many classical and biblical
references that few people knew what he was talking about. He was an
old-fashioned Tory free trader who thought that Britain was admitting
too many blacks and Asians. He was never a racist. He was a devout
Christian and an accomplished linguist who spoke several Indian
languages.
As Minister of Health in
Harold Macmillan’s government he imported West Indians to work in the
National Health Service. But in 1968 his “Rivers of Blood” speech
captured the mood of the public and resulted in the end of his career
as a Tory cabinet minister.
Few of the workingmen who
marched in support of Enoch Powell would have agreed with his
proto-Thatcherite views on selling off the state owned industries and
allowing “market forces” to determine unemployment and inflation rates.
But they knew that he was calling for immigration control and they
agreed with him.
Now it’s Dr Rowan
Williamson’s turn to be misunderstood. He merely acknowledged that
ethnic minorities “inevitably” look to their own traditions when
dealing with legal matters within their own communities. But his matter
of fact statement has been misinterpreted as a call for the adoption of
Sharia Law.
Under the strictest
interpretation of this system many of our bribe-taking politicians
would be missing some of their limbs and we would probably run out of
stones to throw at their adulterous wives and daughters. It’s not
surprising that these serial recidivists are so outraged by the
Archbishop of Canterbury’s innocent, if somewhat naïve, remarks.
We need a written
constitution that’s entirely free from religious interference. If some
people want to go to Church on Sunday that’s fine, and if others want
to play football or go shopping that’s their business. Minorities must
not be allowed to dictate to the rest of us. When we were uneducated
peasants we needed priests as magistrates and teachers. But all that is
in the past; today the Law must be at the service of the People.
