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The hapless Archbishop of Canterbury

· Humour · UK affairs

The Daily Mash satire site has this beauty of an item on Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He is the gift that keeps on giving, as Perry de Havilland of this parish noticed a while ago.

May 11th, 2011 |

14 comments to The hapless Archbishop of Canterbury

  • Dave Walker
    May 11, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    That article made my day :-).

  • Paul Marks
    May 12, 2011 at 10:06 am

    The best he can be said for Rowen Williams is that he is not as bad as some “Progressive” clergy types.

    I have just been reading “Bonhoffer” by Eric Metaxas, and Bonhoffer was horrified by the leading American “modernist” of his day – Harry Emerson Fosdick.

    Forsdick would (for example) peach on James – but it would not be from the Bible, it would be about William James the American Pragmatist philosopher (whose “great contribution” was his denial of the existance of objective truth – in religion or anything else).

    Fosdick denounced “fundementalists” in terms that would make Rowen Williams draw back (at least Williams does not go out of his way to insult people) – but before people nod and say “quite right to” (thinking of wild eyed types), it should be remembered what “fundementalist” meant at the time.

    It meant someone who beleived in the “fundementals” (as listed in the once famous essays of the early 1900s) – these did NOT include being anti evolution (on the contrary some of the writers of the “fundementals” essays were natural scientists who SUPPORTED evolution) but they did include such things as….

    The resurrection and the divinity of Christ.

    Now being an athiest is one thing (most people on this site are athiests – and you have always treated me with respect), but an athiest (in all but name) who prances about pretending to be a Christian minister is quite another.

    However, note to Metaxas – please (pretty please – if need be) remember to write “jr” when you refer to John D. Rockefeller.

    Not to do so is common oversight – but it is very harmful.

    “John D. Rockefeller” is the bloke that made the money – John D. Rockefeller Jr is the son who did lots of bad stuff (such as supporting Hitler appeaser Harry Emerson Fosdick), if you do not put in the important two letters “jr” you are leading readers into confusion.

  • Paul Marks
    May 12, 2011 at 10:34 am

    I have read the article now – and it is a bit childish, but then the Daily Mash is sopposed to be childish.

    However, the last line interested me – about the “Polish” man.

    That would be John Paul II – most critics of the Roman Catholic Church attack Benadict for lack of action on the child abuse crimes and give John Paul a pass.

    This is exactly the wrong way round.

    For years then Cardinal R. asked for powers to investigate these matters – and when he finally got the powers (the fact that he did not have them in the first place was one of the evil results of Vatican II – stripping powers away from the Catholic version of “internal affairs”) took action.

    John Paul II (who tended to think the best of everyone) took a long time to convince that something was seriously wrong.

  • RW
    May 12, 2011 at 11:55 am

    The best that can be said of Williams is that he is a Terry Pratchett look-alike. But lacks the great Pratt’s humour and observation of life.

  • Taylor
    May 12, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    Not a bad satire, but Iowahawk did it better with “The Tale of the Ass Hat”

    Paul – Eric is an old friend and the Bonhoeffer book is a masterpiece, especially the last half.

    If you want to get a flavor of the guy check out the video “Eric Metaxas introduces Eric Metaxas on the Socrates in the City web site.

  • NickM
    May 12, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    Oddly enough I have kicking around the Cat’s server a piece about this that I let slide because it seemed a bit past use by.

    “He is the gift that keeps on giving, as Perry de Havilland of this parish noticed a while ago. ”

    Oddly enough my piece is/was called

    “The Twat that Keeps on Twatting”

    Frankly my feeling about a great many clerics is best summed up by the quote at the top of Cranmer’s blog.

    Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’

    Quite. With a great many of them you get the impression they’re almost embarrassed to talk about God. As Paul says Williams isn’t the worst but what he does instead is make pronouncements of such a convoluted nature that you end-up not knowing black from white which brings me to another point.

    It seems fairly obvious to me (as a complete outsider mind) that John Sentamu or Michael Nazir-Ali would have been much better picks than Williams and I have heard rumours that racism in the dear old Church counted against them.

  • manuel II paleologos
    May 12, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Well done, on the other hand, to senior Anglican dude Professor Nigel Biggar of Oxford for writing to the Times to point out that “rough justice may be rough, but it is still justice”.

    I don’t really know my clerical hierarchy, although to fess up I actually did once know Professor Biggar, but this strikes me as an unusually clear-headed statement from a senior Anglican theologian.

  • Paul Marks
    May 12, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    Taylor – I know Eric Metaxas is one of the good guys, I have often seen him on the Glenn Beck Program.

    I envy you that you know the man personally.

    However, I still wish he had remembered to type those two letters “jr”.

    Still comming from me (the worse typist on Earth) that is a bit hypocritical.

  • Laird
    May 12, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    Just curious what Perry thinks about being identified as a member of a “parish”. 🙂

  • Taylor
    May 12, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    Paul

    Eric is one of those rare guys with a ‘gift for friendship’ .

    Your point about the jr. in Rockefeller is well take and I shall not fail to let him know.

    Did you check out the Socrates in the City web site. His talk on the Bonhoeffer book is outstanding.

    His book on William Wilberforce was pretty good too , but not as good as this latest one.

  • EndivioR
    May 13, 2011 at 2:28 am

    Bring back Craig Brown. That man actually could do a neat satire. This stuff is just run of the mill The Onion boilerplate.

    On a not entirely unrelated subject, for American readers who might have missed it, there’s this.

  • John B
    May 13, 2011 at 5:02 am

    The established church has obviously been taken over by those that regard God as something subject to man’s interpretation rather than the supreme, omniscient and omnipotent Being.
    However, the Mash team would seem to be of the same persuasion, and basically on the same side; more of the same; which is a pity.
    Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

  • Paul Marks
    May 13, 2011 at 9:24 am

    Thanks Taylor.

    I will try to remember to look up the City Link site when I get in from work.

  • Paul Marks
    May 16, 2011 at 9:37 am

    I did indeed look at the Socrates in the City site – and, yes, I am impressed.

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