For the last two days I have been rather astonished that the main headline on the BBC News website has been about Rowan Williams' comments on Sharia law.  The headlines come from a lecture he gave, and an interview for Radio 4.  Yesterday morning this page was added to his website, giving links to the full transcripts of his interview and lecture.

I have to say that I really feel for the Archbishop.  He is an extremely intelligent and thoughtful man.  Unlike many people (including me, I think), he doesn't say rash things as they pop into his head, but after a great deal of reflection.  To claim that he should resign, that he is unfit for his job, is such an over-reaction, and yet, sadly, it is not unusual in the media.  As a friend points out, the same thing happened to the Pope last year.

Here is an explanation of what the Archbishop was actually trying to say, from his website:

In his lecture, the Archbishop sought carefully to explore the limits
of a unitary and secular legal system in the presence of an
increasingly plural (including religiously plural) society and to see
how such a unitary system might be able to accommodate religious
claims. Behind this is the underlying principle that Christians cannot
claim exceptions from a secular unitary system on religious grounds
(for instance in situations where Christian doctors might not be
compelled to perform abortions), if they are not willing to consider
how a unitary system can accommodate other religious consciences. In
doing so the Archbishop was not suggesting the introduction of parallel
legal jurisdictions, but exploring ways in which reasonable
accommodation might be made within existing arrangements for religious
conscience.

What did the Archbishop actually say?

It seems that many within the media are too hungry for headlines to be bothered to find out what someone has actually said.  And it is not only the media, but politicians as well:

This isn't a path down which we should go... the British legal system should apply to everybody equally.

"You cannot run two systems of law alongside each other.

"That would, in my view, be a recipe for chaos, social chaos." 

Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary

From my understanding of what Dr Williams said, he would wholeheartedly agree with Andy Burnham (and all the others who have been saying similar things, for example Nick Clegg).  The Archbishop suggested that we should look at recognising some aspects of Sharia within our legal system, as indeed we already recognise some issues of conscience for other faiths (as in the passage from the Archbishop's website I quoted above).

One of the most generous and kindest responses to his thoughts came not from members of the Church of England, but from the Muslim Council of Britain:

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it was grateful
for the Archbishop's "thoughtful intervention" on the discussion of the
place of Islam and Muslims in modern Britain.

A spokesman said: "The MCB observes, with some sadness,
the hysterical misrepresentations of his speech which serves only to
drive a wedge between British people."

Archbishop defends Sharia remarks

I do wonder how long Dr Williams will remain Archbishop.  He has had a torrid time, from the accusations of being a druid, to misrepresentation in the media, to ridicule because of his facial hair, to the brink of a break-up in the Anglican Communion.  His is not a job I would wish on anyone right now.