Can anything good come out of Canterbury? Apparently so. The way that these laws have been ignored by human rights advocates in the name of respect for other cultures is nothing short of criminal — so bravo, Williams. That is, as far as he goes. From AFP, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
LONDON – Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans, has urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to review the country”s blasphemy laws, the BBC reported.
Archbishop of Canterbury Williams was in mainly Muslim Pakistan to see the aftermath of the massive South Asian earthquake.
The Church of England leader said he feared the law was being used to “settle private scores”.
Pakistan’s blasphemy law says that desecrating the Quran, the Muslim holy book, is punishable by death. Christians have argued that it is used as an excuse to attack them.
Earlier this month, a Muslim mob in eastern Pakistan burnt down churches and ransacked a school over allegations that a Christian had burnt the Quran.
Williams said the laws were a worry “not so much about the idea of a law against blasphemy as about a law whose penalty is so severe and whose practice gives so many loopholes to allow people to settle private scores by appealing to blasphemy laws”, the BBC reported Wednesday.
Ah: the expected dhimmitude returns. Williams is not so much upset by blasphemy laws, even if they target Christians, as he is that they are used to “settle private scores.” And the Anglican rush into relativism and irrelevance continues.