Archbishop Rowan Williams, sharia and speaking clearly

‘The Archbishop made no proposals for sharia… and certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law… but [was] exploring ways in which reasonable accommodation might be made within existing arrangements for religious conscience… his core aim was to: “to tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state”.’
– Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury

As religious leaders queue up to slam Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, his public relations people must be wondering what’s hit them. There can be little doubt that that he has been terribly advised.

The essential problem is that his message is confused. While his predecessor feels able to state clearly that adopting sharia law would be disastrous, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office can only tell us what Rowan Williams did not say. A statement headed What did the Archbishop actually say? may be fairly summarised as ‘Dr Williams thinks we should think about thinking about sharia and other issues around religious rights’.

That’s not good enough. The muddle leaves some us imagining modest proposals around civil law, while others imagine that an arranged marriage by international telephone call between a man with learning difficulties and a Bangladeshi woman he’s not met might be legitimised.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is supposed to provide leadership, which means he should not just think about thinking, but actually think and reach conclusions. Those around him should have spotted the dangers, taken him to one side and rehearsed the tough, challenging questioning they should have known he’d face.

Sadly the only time Rowan Williams seems to speak clearly is when he opens his pre-lecture interview with ‘It [the introduction of sharia law] seems unavoidable.’ And his office has had to deny this is a call for the introduction of sharia… but he’s not ruled it out either.

The Archbishop should have been forced to think about what he was about to say and to focus on a clear message that he could communicate clearly. Indeed, without clarity of message, any public relations activity is doomed to fail.

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