Telegraph
The Archbishop of Canterbury has praised Muslims for stimulating debate
about religion in Britain.
By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 11:02PM GMT 26 Mar 2009
Dr Rowan Williams claims Islam has made a very significant contribution to
getting a debate about religion into public life.
Dr Rowan Williams said that Islamic people had helped promote the discussion
of faith in a society that had become "rather unfriendly" for religious
people.
His comments to a Muslim newspaper come a year after he faced calls to
resign after saying it was inevitable that Sharia law would be introduced
into Britain.
The clerical head of the Church of England has also sparked controversy in
the past by saying that some parts of Christianity are offensive to Muslims.
In an interview with the Muslim News published on Friday, he said: "I think
Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about
religion into public life.
"And I think it's very right that we should have these debates and
discussions between Muslims and Christians and others in public.
"If we are not allowed as religious people to talk and argue about these
issues in public then I think society has become a rather unfriendly place
for religious people, and that's not helpful change."
He also blamed the public for voting in successive governments that "pushed
for growth" without always addressing poverty.
On Wednesday the archbishop warned that religious belief would not halt the
environmental damaged caused by global warming, saying that God would not
guarantee a "happy ending".
In a lecture at York Minster he said: "I think that to suggest that God
might intervene to protect us from the corporate folly of our practices is
as unchristian and unbiblical as to suggest that he protects us from the
results of our individual folly or sin." "]
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