Posted on 06/10/2011 7:23:42 AM PDT by marshmallow
The Archbishop of Canterbury is embroiled in an extraordinary war with David Cameron and rival Church leaders after a bitter attack on the Government.
In the most brazen political intervention by a head of the Church of England for more than two decades, Dr Rowan Williams questioned the democratic legitimacy of the Coalition.
He claimed 'no one voted' for flagship policies on welfare, health and education, which he said were causing 'anxiety and anger'.
The remarks prompted a furious backlash from the Prime Minister and the leader of England's Roman Catholics, Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Dr Williams's attack came in a leading article for the Left-wing New Statesman magazine which he had been invited to guest-edit. Dr Rowan Williams questioned the democratic legitimacy of the Coalition
The Archbishop of Canterbury claimed that 'no one voted' for flagship policies on welfare, health and education, causing 'anxiety and anger'
He dismissed Mr Cameron's Big Society initiative as 'painfully stale' and condemned 'punitive' action against 'alleged abuses' in the benefits system.
The Archbishop also accused ministers of encouraging a 'quiet resurgence of the seductive language of “deserving” and “undeserving” poor'.
It is the most controversial intervention in politics by the Church of England since Robert Runcie and Margaret Thatcher clashed in 1985 over the Church's Faith In The City report on poverty.
Yesterday the leader of England's Roman Catholics rejected Dr Williams's suggestion that the Prime Minister's plans to encourage volunteering and charity work were a cover for cuts and spoke out in favour of the 'genuine moral agenda' driving the Coalition's reforms.
The attack on the Coalition was the most controversial intervention in politics by the Church of England in more than 25 years, echoing the bitter enmity between Robert Runcie and Margaret Thatcher.
Mrs Thatcher felt she had been misled into appointing......
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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The C of E is no longer Christian.
People should know that in Britain the term “Big Society” refers to more reliance on the private sector unlike in the U.S. where it signifies more government programs.
Frankly the C of E is pretty DEAD now that the traditional Anglicans are taking the offer to sail the Tiber.
Restoring the distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor is vital to the survival of civilization.
Ain't nothin' wrong with that.
The Archdruid is a real clown. What a pathetic disgrace he is!
How appropriate!
"Yesterday the leader of England's Roman Catholics rejected Dr Williams's suggestion that the Prime Minister's plans to encourage volunteering and charity work were a cover for cuts and spoke out in favour of the 'genuine moral agenda' driving the Coalition's reforms.
Archbishop Nichols praised Mr Cameron for putting marriage and family stability at the centre of policy-making, and he supported his Big Society vision.
His comments appeared to herald a holy war between the liberal-dominated Church of England, increasingly under the sway of clerics who regard state spending as sacrosanct and cuts as immoral, and a Roman Catholic church that backs Mr Cameron's belief in self-help and the traditional family."
Archbishop Nichols is actually considered liberal as Catholic bishops go, but next to the Anglicans he sounds conservative.
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