So the beardy guy is taking off
his frock and disappearing into the background. Rowan Williams has announced he’s
retiring from his role as Archbish of Cant.
There have been the usual
oleaginous tributes, of course, as you would expect from the sycophantic and
those who just feel they have to say something. And the media have been their
usual toadying selves, maybe with some exceptions that I can’t, to be honest,
be arsed to look for.
However, Old Beardy’s departure
has caused no regrets with this blog’s owner, the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT).
Its trusty secretary, George
Broadhead, said in a statement: “The appointment of Dr Rowan Williams ten years
ago was welcomed by some LGBT activists, notably Christian ones, as they
believed him to be on the liberal wing of the Church of England and would take
a benign stance on LGBT relationships and rights. However, they were soon
disillusioned.
“It is obvious that any sympathy
Williams may have had for LGBT people has been sacrificed by the need to keep
his Church unified. Thus, although he condemned the murder of Ugandan gay
activist David Kato, he declined to condemn the Ugandan Anglican Church from
backing the hateful and draconian anti-homosexuality bill introduced in the
country’s parliament.
“Concerning gay bishops,
Williams said: ‘There’s no problem about a gay person who’s a bishop. It’s
about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the
clergy are expected to observe.’
“Asked what was wrong with a
homosexual bishop having a partner, he said: ‘I think because the scriptural
and traditional approach to this doesn’t give much ground for being positive
about it’.
“Williams has been at the heart
of the debate over gay marriage and in February 2012 he said that the law has
no right to legalise same-sex marriage. ‘If it is said that a failure to
legalise assisted suicide – or same-sex marriage – perpetuates stigma or
marginalisation for some people, the reply must be, I believe, that issues like
stigma and marginalisation have to be addressed at the level of culture rather
than law,’ he said.”
Broadhead concluded: “It is obvious that hostility
towards LGBT sexual relationships and rights emanates largely from the three
main religions – Anglican, Roman Catholic and Islam – and nothing had changed
for the better in the Anglican Church under the leadership of Rowan Williams. I
understand that the present Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is tipped to replace
Williams, and if this happens it will be a clear case of going from the frying
pan into the fire.”
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