THE HOBGOBLIN OF LITTLE MINDS

by The Editor

Rowan Williams disappoints Damian Thompson again:

Dr Rowan Williams has given a disastrous interview to the [Times] today that leads his interviewer, Ginny Dougary, to describe his position on homosexuality as “both confusing and rather revolting”. Well, she’s certainly right on the first count. Here’s my paraphrase of the Archbishop’s current position:

You used to think homosexual sex wasn’t sinful. Do you still think that?

“That’s what I wrote as a theologian, you know, putting forward a suggestion. That’s not the job I have now,” [Williams] tells Dougary.

So homosexual bishops are right out? Not necessarily.

Actually, gay bishops are OK, as long as they don’t have sex. (The same prohibition doesn’t apply to lay people, for reasons lost in the mist of time.)

What was the deal with Jeffrey John then? Dude claims he’s celibate. Why did he get turned down for bishoptwice?

Here +Rowan really squirms, saying he “let down” John by blocking him as Bishop of Reading. But we don’t discover why, this year, the still-celibate Dean John unexpectedly disappeared from the candidates’ list for Southwark.

Will homosexual bishops one day be able to have homosexual sex with their homosexual partners so to homosexually speak?

“Pass”.

According to Thompson, Dr. Williams really did answer that question that way.

The only thing that surprises me about this interview is that anybody at all is surprised by it. At this stage, expecting intellectual and theological consistency from any Anglican, least of all from Dr. Williams, would be kind of like me meeting and marrying Christie Brinkley. Theoretically possible but not bloody likely.

Besides, anybody who’s followed the Anglican controversy for any length of time knows that my gracious lord of Canterbury has been all over the lot, now warning of dire consequences that are just around the corner for the Americans if they don’t stop pissing on the Anglican tradition, now inviting the Americans to a Lambeth Conference specifically designed and implemented to not solve Anglican problems.

So most of us gave up expecting Dr. Williams to decide on a story and stick to it a long time ago. Given the current state of Anglican affairs, tacking to port or starboard when the occasion calls for it is about all he can do to keep both the Anglican Communion and the Church of England, for that matter, in one piece. At least until he can retire and watch Anglican Christianity finally fly apart on somebody else’s watch.