'Resign,' clergy tell Archbishop of Canterbury

A senior clergyman in the Church of England is calling for the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, because of his comments promoting Islamic sharia law in Britain.

The comments were reported by the Times Online, which said the reaction from the "long-standing member of the church's governing body, the General Synod," was just part of a backlash against Williams over his comments.

WND has reported that Williams, chief of the 70-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion, has advocated for establishment of Islamic law, drawing a rebuke from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, among others.

The Times Online reported the Synod member, who insisted on anonymity, reported, "A lot of people will now have lost confidence in him. I am just so shocked, and cannot believe a man of his intelligence could be so gullible. I can only assume that all the Muslims he meets are senior leaders of the community who tell him what a wonderful book the Quran is."

"I don't suppose he will take any notice, but yes, he should resign," he told the newspaper.

The report said the Bishop of Southwark, the Right Rev. Tom Butler, also challenged the idea, saying it would take "a great deal more thought and work" before he could find the idea acceptable.

The controversy follows the developing split in the Anglican Community over homosexuality, as up to a quarter of the 800-plus Anglican bishops worldwide plan to boycott the church's annual Lambeth Conference this year. The church's American branch, the Episcopal Church, has adopted a pro-homosexual agenda, leading some U.S. congregations to abandon their national leadership if favor of more conservative leaders from Africa.

The report said besides a criticism from with his church, there's been more adverse reaction from governmental leaders, including David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary.

Formalizing sharia "would be wrong democratically and philosophically but it would be catastrophic in terms of social cohesion," he said.

The report said the only group to have supported Williams was the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which said those who have objections are exhibiting "vitriolic hatred."

Williams had said, "It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of sharia are already recognized in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system."

In an interview months ago with a Muslim lifestyle magazine, Williams compared Muslims in Britain to Good Samaritans, and praised the Islamic ritual of praying five times a day. He also has argued the 9/11 terrorists should not be described as evil, the report said.

"There are real human rights issues under sharia – women are not equal with men," Alan Craig, a councilor who has campaigned against a mega-mosque planned in East London. "If he is accepting that sharia could be ingrafted in British law, it can only be ingrafted if it complies with British law in which case there's no pointing ingrafting it."

On the newspaper's forum, Louisa, from Winchester, was blunt.

"This is BRITAIN, I live in ENGLAND and we should live under ENGLISH law, no other. This is getting totally ridiculous."

"If the Archbishop of Canterbury means that Muslims can choose to have certain disputes settled according to their own law, by binding arbitration [what some call a sharia court]. then they can do this now, in the same way that some Jewish people have their disputes settled in the Beth Din," added David Pannich, a human rights lawyer.

"But such transfer of jurisdiction is subject to public policy considerations. That means that the fundamental standards of fairness, of human rights which underpin our laws cannot be abrogated. … If the archbishop is saying this, then that is fundamentally wrong."

According to the Daily Mail, Williams has explained he wanted to "tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state."

Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, told the Daily Mail he was appalled by the idea.

"The idea that you can have the moderate bits without the nasty bits coming along at a later time is naïve," he said.

Anne, of Herefordshire, summed up the opinion of many on the Daily Mail forum site, stating, "What planet is he on?"

Williams' comments came in an interview with BBC Radio 4's "The World At One Today."

"We already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal laws of religious communities is (sic) recognized by the law of the land as justifying conscientious objections in certain circumstances," he said.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister's office, however, disagreed.

"Our general position is that sharia law cannot be used as a justification for committing breaches of English law, nor should the principles of sharia law be included in a civil court for resolving contractual disputes," a spokesman for Brown's office said.

In the BBC interview, William advised the UK to "face up to the fact" that some residents do not relate to the British legal system and that Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters handled by a sharia court.

Sharia is the Islamic religious law that operates in many Muslim countries around the world, including Libya and Sudan. Egypt's constitution also defines sharia as the source of its law. Some nations also have secular codes that operate alongside, but mostly subservient to, sharia.