I woke up this morning to the storm of reaction to this week’s issue of the New Statesman magazine, guest-edited by Rowan Williams. Lots of voices raised and opinions expressed. As usual, a lot seems to be based on hearsay and headlines, rather than what the Archbishop is really saying.

The magazine features contributions by Philip Pullman, A S Byatt, Gordon Brown, Richard Curtis, Jonathan Sacks and others. The Archbishop has commissioned a wide range of essays, articles and reports, interviewed a senior cabinet minister and written the leading article, with analysis and commentary from the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, Maurice Glasman and Iain Duncan Smith, among others.

It seems to be Dr William’s comments on the coalition and David Cameron’s “big society” that are attracting most attention. Before publication, Rowan Williams said:

“The hope is that it may be possible to spark some livelier debate about where we are going, perhaps even to discover what the left’s big idea currently is.”

I think he’s got his wish for ‘livelier debate’!

I for one am glad for the Archbishop speaking out. Predictably, there are those who believe he has no right to do so (even more predictably, sadly, often those who call themselves liberal). Typical of this are comments by Andrew Emerson:

“We should all agree that a Christian voice, a Christian minister should not use his authority to impose upon politics. This is not deny the Archbishop a view or an opinion, and he is allowed that private view, but the only public ones he should be having is surely that on his church and Christianity.”

Thankfully, most can see that this is tosh. The editor of the magazine, Jason Cowley, is very pleased with the issue:

“I have long admired Rowan Williams as a thinker and public intellectual. His previous contributions to the magazine under my editorship have been both thoughtful and thought-provoking. Although the New Statesman is a secular magazine, we recognise Dr Williams’s contribution to public and political debate, and this is an important intervention from him. I’m delighted with the issue.”

I haven’t had the chance to read the magazine, but I understand that the media are somewhat misrepresenting what Rowan Williams has said:

“The left are looking to make more of his comments in the New Statesman than are actually there, and the right is attacking him for things he hasn’t said. In the entire article, Rowan does not actually criticise a single government policy.  What he does say is that people are afraid of them, and the government needs to explain what is going on better.”

I am sure that there is much more to come on this, but thank God for the Archbishop and his willingness to speak up.

Update: Full text of Rowan William’s article now online.

Possibly related posts (computer generated):

1. Christians and the ‘Big Society’ "The success of the 'big society' initiative will not just require the help of faith organisations, it will need actively to promote them."...