Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop

58 year old Bishop Wright bound to raise eyebrows when his ideas reach and revise popular ideas of heaven.

Dialogue at Davos (by Brian McLaren)

These are important steps forward …

"…when a Muslim conversation partner introduced me to a group of Muslims I hadn’t met: "This is my friend, Brian." When people stop being "that Jew" or "that Christian" or "that Muslim," and instead become "my friend," followed by a real name … the state of the world improves a little bit."

Don’t Fear Disagreement (by Shane Claiborne)

When disagreement is used to divide people, it becomes an uphill battle. This post helps us to see it clearly.

"If there is anything I’ve learned from both conservatives and liberals, it’s that we can have all the "right" answers and still be mean. And when you’re mean, it’s hard for people to listen to, much less desire, your truth.

We have nothing to fear from people who disagree with us. Folks who see things differently from us are our best teachers."

Rowan Williams – ‘Civil and Religious Law in England: a religious perspective’

Three points of interest:

"1. Read what he actually says, rather than what the media reports.  The speech can be found here.  And if you read it and don’t really understand it, then don’t comment.

2. Read 1 Corinthians 6.1-8.

3. Remember that, if you think that exploring such complex issues is not something that a bishop should be doing in a ‘Christian Country’ then you may be some kind of Christian and you may even be some kind of Anglican, but you are no kind of Baptist.”"

On sharia and hysteria: or, why Rowan Williams is right

Thinking is hard work … getting people to think together is harder.

Civil and Religious Law in England by Archbishop Rowan Williams

A Malaysian reaction … I wonder how would the Malaysian government answer if I were to ask the question the other way round …

"The question and answer session was very lively. I asked if he would agree that, in light of what he just said, the British Monarch should be called “Defender of Faiths” (in the plural). His answer was very good! He said that the title has a long historical background and he would be reluctant to change it “on the hoof.” But, he is relaxed if the British Monarch were to speak on behalf of all British citizens regardless of creed."

Conversations With Rowan Cantuar

Here’s some youtube offerings on steriods with a mini Malaysian prelude response:

"This series of video interviews with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primate of All England is worth having a look. We lost a good opportunity to have the Archbishop share his thoughts with us more deeply last year when our Government got cold feet at the last minute and reneged on an invitation to host an international dialogue between Christians and Muslims organised by the offices of the Archbishop.

The Archbishop is; of course; no stranger to controversy.

He was recently quoted as saying that adoption of certains aspects of Shariah law in the UK seemed unavoidable (of course, the context of his opinions is much more nuanced than this one sentence .. a recording of his interview with the BBC can be found here). Being a citizen of a country that does do this in practice, I can see and have experienced the problems that this brings about. But perhaps in a more open society like Britain, a wider discourse on this and its implications is possible compared to Malaysia and a way forward found rather than the impasse and potential powderkeg that we are currently faced with in countries with mixed legal systems.

Interestingly, the current development of Shariah legislation in Malaysia (and also India I believe) evolved from British attempts to rationalise local religion and customs with common law during the colonial and protectorate periods."

What did the Archbishop actually say?

Let’s get back to the source shall we? BTW, I like the way the Archbishop’s website got upgraded.