Mendacity, Hypocrisy and Death

Apparently, "Our Rowan" has gotten himself in a bit of a mess. Again.

And, once again, it is of his own making.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has launched a full-frontal attack on the government's polities. His two-page critique, titled “The government needs to know how afraid people are”, published in "The New Statesman," is "the most forthright political criticism by such a senior cleric since Robert Runcie enraged Margaret Thatcher with a series of attacks in the 1980s".

You can read the entire article here.

The report from across the pond is that "Lambeth Palace is braced for an angry response but Dr Williams, who became Archbishop of Canterbury nine years ago, is understood to believe that the moment is right for him to enter the political debate."

Already, one blogger is reporting,

"The left are looking to make more of his comments in the New Statesman than are actually there, and the right is attacking him for things he hasn't said.

In the entire article, Rowan does not actually criticise a single government policy. What he does say is that people are afraid of them, and the government needs to explain what is going on better."

I must say that I am not all all well versed in the politics of the United Kingdom but I will say that, at first blush, I was pleased to see a prominent church leader speaking out about the injustices of the affairs of State.

I heard myself say, "Well done, sir. Good form!"

Cartoon by MadPriestt

Well, that was until I read this quote from His Grace that caused me to raise my left eyebrow before bursting into ironic laughter:

“With remarkable speed, we are being committed to radical, long-term policies for which no one voted,” the Archbishop says. “At the very least, there is an understandable anxiety about what democracy means in such a context.”

Surely, the man is talking about the Anglican Covenant Contract, right?

No. No, the man is criticizing the government for doing precisely what he has done in to the Anglican Communion.

I feel compelled to point out the obvious: The Archbishop of Canterbury was appointed - not elected by the people - yet, he has imposed himself in the affairs of churches over which he has no jurisdiction or authority.

You simply can not make up this stuff.

Didn't Jesus say something about beams and motes? Why, yes.... yes, in fact he did: "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. " KJV, Matt 7:5)

Is there no end to the amount of hypocrisy we will have to endure from the current administration at Lambeth Palace?

I fear not.

Perhaps the belief that "the time is right for him to enter the political debate" is part of a strategy to divert attention from the mess he's made of the Anglican Communion.

It won't work.

Presiding Bishop at Southwark Cathedral

Indeed, I think the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury is so weakened by his silence about the continued oppression of Queer people in Africa (and don't even get me started about the 13 bishops in the Church of England who are reported gay), his obvious sexism and misogyny as publicly manifested in his treatment of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church when he refused to allow her to wear her miter during her visit to Southwark Cathedral, combined with his obvious disdain for allowing women to be be "appointed" bishops in the Church of England, and the fact that he is ramming what he calls an "Anglican Covenant" down the throats of everyone in the Communion - "for which no one voted" - that, instead of becoming a prophetic voice, he'll be seen as the Voice of Mendacity.

Tennessee Williams, in his play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" has "Big Daddy", one of his characters say,

"What's that smell in this room? Didn't you notice it Brick? Didn't you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room?...There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity...You can smell it. It smells like death."

If you're wondering what that smell is, coming from across The Pond, you need look no further than Lambeth Palace.

It's the smell of mendacity, hypocrisy . . .  . . . and, I fear, death.