We Are Not Amused

Her Majesty deeply troubled for her Church and Bishop

Nobody relishes this massive pile-on that has subsumed our gentle Archbishop in popular controversy and contempt, but it needed to be done. Rowan Williams is not just Primate of England, he is leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. What the good bishop (or Ayatollah of Canterbury to quote Peter Hitchens) was advocating and promoting in his muddled way was profoundly wrong, and antithetical to the British way of life. For me it perfectly symbolizes the spectacular failure of a sovereign people to integrate and assimilate their newcomers into civil society. This goes far beyond accommodating a particular group; what Rowan Williams provided in the moments before he was roundly denounced was a glimpse of individual liberal society surrendering their most basic values through a leap of reverse assimilation. This is accomodation and multiculturalism gone mad.

But far from showing that British society is all 21st century doom and gloom, what this actually demonstrated is just how robust it is, both inside and outside the media. It may not have been a case of the people awakening from their decade of darkness to give the collective finger to Tony Blair's Britain, but it was a cry of Enough! all the same. It is also heartening to read of Labour MPs scared for their seats where I Want a Referendum Dot Com are organising. This shows, I think, another instance where people are finally fed up and want their say. There is much cause to be worried about the future of Britain and the future of the Monarchy, but I think so long as the people are permitted their say, and aren't managed and mollycoddled from a-high, things will likely turn out not half bad. There is a lot of pent-up frustration out there, and it needs to be put to good use. In this respect, the gentle bishop provided an invaluable public service.

Update: Taylor & Company weigh in. What a beautiful blog.