“The church should have the guts to sack the Archbishop … and pick a man who TRULY treasures British values”. So says Melanie Phillips. She applauds the stand against Rowan Williams’ abject cultural appeasement of the Islamic hordes by the likes of George Carey and Michael Nazir-Ali:

“What such critics understand only too well is the threat posed to this country by a brand of radicalised Islam, or Islamism, that wants to take it over. As Lord Carey said, Dr Williams’s comments will embolden those Muslims in their attempt to turn Britain into a country ruled by Islamic law which contravenes human rights. The only proper response to this threat is to say that not one inch of leeway will be given to it. But, instead, the Archbishop has gone down on his knees to welcome it. Astoundingly, he does not seem to understand that this country is being targeted by a pincer movement of terrorism and cultural takeover.”

Daily Mail, 11 February 2008

Over at the Daily Express, in an article entitled “Archbishop should fight for his faith – instead he surrenders to fanatics”, Leo McKinstry has clearly taken leave of what remained of his senses:

“It is bitterly ironic that the Archbishop of Canterbury, who should be leading the fight to defend our Christian heritage and democratic liberties, has called for the British legal system to incorporate sharia law. This is a religious code synonymous with barbarity, the oppression of women and contempt for basic human rights. All-embracing in its scope, often vicious in its sanctions, sharia is the very antithesis of the humane essence of Christianity, the faith that Dr Rowan Williams is upholding.

“… our civic leaders sneer at the Christian values that built our society but, in the name of cultural diversity, tolerate alien extremism, brutality, superstition and criminality….

“George Orwell’s novel 1984 painted a bleak vision of a future British state under socialist totalitarian rule. But today the real threat to our way of life comes from the onward march of aggressive Islamism. If the Archbishop’s vision were to become a reality we would have neighbourhoods in this country under the iron grip of bearded patriarchs and vengeful zealots. Off-licences and pubs would be forced to close in certain areas. Films and publications would be censored. Attendance at the local mosque would be rigorously enforced, while adherents of other faiths would be forced to convert or leave….

“It is grotesque that the Church of England should be colluding with this process rather than challenging it…. In his defeatist attitude Williams is turning the Church into a suicide cult…. His call for sharia law amounts to nothing more than a craven surrender to bullying from fundamentalist Muslims, whose demands are usually accompanied by the hint of menace from the clenched fist or suicide bomb….

“This is the classic stance of appeasement, hoping to buy the aggressor with endless capitulation…. there is nothing remotely liberal about an acceptance of Islamism. It is a bizarre paradox of our times that so called progressives should be eager to support an ideology that treats women as second-class citizens, condemns gays and condones rape, punishment beatings, corruption and mass murder….

“Sharia law is the logical consequence of the Government’s ruthless promotion of the cult of cultural diversity and mass immigration. That is why ministers are just as guilty as the Archbishop of Canterbury when it comes to allowing Islam to destroy the fabric of our nation.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury was heckled yesterday as he attended a memorial service. A few people in the small crowd which had gathered booed and one man called for him to resign over his controversial comments about accepting aspects of Muslim Sharia law in Britain.

Although Dr Rowan Williams didn’t respond to the hecklers outside a church in Cambridge, he posted a statement on his website in an bid to defuse the row. He said he “certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law”.

Meanwhile police in Kent said the Archbishop had been offered round-the-clock protection, but had turned it down.

Sunday Mirror, 10 February 2008

Sandy Mitchell has terrifying first-hand experience of being on the wrong side of sharia law. Mr Mitchell, 52, was falsely accused of being involved in a car bombing in Saudi Arabia in 2000 when he was working there as an anaesthetic technician. He was held in prison for three years and tortured until he eventually signed a confession, which he later had to read out on Saudi television.

A sharia court sentenced him to having his head partially severed, followed by public crucifixion. The sentence was later reduced to beheading, before the Saudi authorities finally conceded that al-Qa’eda terrorists had planted the bomb and let Mr Mitchell return home to Halifax, West Yorks.

Yesterday he accused the Archbishop of Canterbury of “betraying” Christians with his comments on Islamic law. He said Dr Rowan Williams clearly had “absolutely no concept of what sharia law is”, because if he did, “he wouldn’t have made such a foolish statement”.

Mr Mitchell, a practising Christian, added: “I would like to see Dr Williams apologise to the people he is supposed to represent – the Christians in this country. His job is to serve the Christian community, and most of the Christian community will feel offended and betrayed by his comments. Sharia law is completely incompatible with a civilised society and I’m sure if Dr Williams had time to study it properly he wouldn’t have been so stupid as to make the statements he has.”

Daily Telegraph, 9 February 2008