Solomonia Archive: Lord Carey 'ashamed to be an Anglican'

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

JPost: Lord Carey 'ashamed to be an Anglican'

The former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday he was "ashamed to be an Anglican" following Monday's vote by the Church of England to disinvest from companies whose products are used by the Israeli government in the territories.

The February 6 divestment vote, which was backed by current Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, was "a most regrettable and one-sided statement," Lord Carey said, and one that "ignores the trauma of ordinary Jewish people" in Israel subjected to terrorist attacks...

...The church's call to pressure Caterpillar and other multi-nationals to withdraw from the territories was a "one-eyed" response that "only rebukes one side," Lord Carey said, and displayed the church's "propensity to reduce complex issues to black and white."...

..."The Jewish community will have to reconsider their attitude to interfaith work with the Anglican community," she said, adding, "The writing is on the wall for the Jews of Great Britain, 350 years after they settled here."

The symbolism of this vote was that "Israel will be criticized regardless of what happens," Benjamin said. In the mind of the Church of England, "nothing Israel ever will do will be right, while nothing the Palestinians will do will ever be wrong," he charged.

That about sums it up.

Earlier post, here: A Knife in the Back -- Anglicans Vote to Divest

Posted by Solomon at 10:54 PM on Tuesday, Feb 7, 2006 | Comments (5)
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5 Comments

#1 Kurt | February 8, 2006 3:16 AM

This is hardly surprising. I remember reading not long ago about an Anglican bishop who confessed that he didn't believe in God. Really. He didn't say anything about resigning from his presumably lucrative post, however... Another bishop, in an interview, referred to Mohammed as a great prophet, indicating to me that the speaker wasn't what you'd call a confirmed Christian. If people who are supposed to be running a church can't even keep their own religious beliefs straight, one can't expect them to make much sense on other issues.

#2 Ben-David | February 8, 2006 4:14 AM

Who is the "she" and who is "Benjamin" in the last paragraphs?

#3 Solomon | February 8, 2006 8:28 AM

Sorry, I have to chop the quotes somewhere:

Jon Benjamin, the chief executive officer of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, branded the synod vote "simplistic" and "unbalanced."
"What it shows is that the thinking of people who support these resolutions is not very sophisticated," he said. There were sound reasons why the Israeli government had adopted its security policies, but these were never "aired or discussed" by the synod, Benjamin said.

Dr. Irene Lancaster, of the Center for Jewish Studies at Manchester University, said the vote marked "a very black day for Anglican-Jewish relations."

#4 Solomon | February 8, 2006 8:30 AM

Yes, Kurt. I read somewhere not long ago of a survey that indicated a surprisingly high number of Anglican clergy do not believe in God. If anyone can come up with a link, It would be interesting.

#5 Solomon | February 8, 2006 9:42 AM

Here it is:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1679824,00.html

Not quite as bad as I'd remembered.