Archbishop's sharia error

Unworldliness is the most charitable defence of the Archbishop of Canterbury's suggestion that introducing some aspects of sharia law in Britain is "unavoidable". Dr Rowan Williams is a theological scholar with an admirable record of reaching out to find common ground with the sincerely- held beliefs of people of faiths other than Christianity. His study of religious history should have forewarned him that mixing religion and politics is a surefire recipe for division. His case for the recognition of sharia law in Muslim communities in Britain is essentially one of recognition for religious belief. The case against is that two parallel sets of laws are not only unworkable, but completely at odds with the basic principle that the law applies to everybody equally. In conflating religion and the laws of the state, he has managed to polarise opinion in a debate in which he had sought consensus.