From here:
A minister hit out at the Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday for comparing City bankers to the rioters who tore apart Britain’s cities over the summer.
[….]
Dr Rowan Williams raised eyebrows on Sunday by saying the rioters were no worse than the bankers and that ‘bonds of trust’ had broken throughout society.
In his Christmas sermon, he said: ‘Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today’s financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark.’
There is one very minor difference that seems to have escaped Rowan Williams’ attention: for the moment, banking is legal whereas burning down someone else’s shop isn’t. This must be a concept too mundane to impinge on the atoms in Rowans’ brain ‘spinning apart in the dark.’
I think the best comment on this was made by Tory MP Gary Streeter:
“He would be wise to leave the politics to the politicians and focus on giving much needed spiritual leadership.”
Indeed.
Why do they feel the need to go all political? It’s Christmas for goodness sake.
Spiritual leadership, unfortunately, has not been Rowan’s strong suit. What a sad focus for his Christmas message when the true focus is much greater.
Muriel,
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Not only is Christ not Rowan’s focus, Our Lord isn’t even in the picture.
The Queen’s speech was in stark contrast to the ABC’s. Hers was a very good Christian message.