Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

GetReligion

Home
Religion News
Interesting Rowan Williams apology: And important, too

Interesting Rowan Williams apology: And important, too

Last updated on: August 21, 2013 at 5:59 pm by tmatt

Interesting Rowan Williams apology: And important, too 2013-08-21T17:59:37-04:00 tmatt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Let us return, for a moment, to that interesting quote the other day from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams. You may recall that he said, concerning public debates in the West about religion:

“Persecution is not being made to feel mildly uncomfortable. I am always very uneasy when people sometimes in this country or the United States talk about persecution of Christians or rather believers.

“I think we are made to feel uncomfortable at times. We’re made to feel as if we’re idiots — perish the thought! But that kind of level of not being taken very seriously or being made fun of; I mean for goodness sake, grow up.”

Quite a vivid quote, that.

So, thinking about this journalistically, where is the bright-red line in the public square between “discrimination” or “hostility” and behavior that can truly be called “persecution”?

This is actually a pretty good question, in an era in which journalists are facing an increasing number of debates about how to cover hot-button topics — think Health & Human Services mandates, for starters — that are linked to debates about basic First Amendment rights, such as free speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion.

It is also interesting to note that Williams has issued a rather unusual clarification, or public apology, in a letter to the editor at The Guardian, about the fierceness of his recent statement. Here it is:

In suggesting that some people need to “grow up” before talking about the persecution of Christians in the UK or US, I had in mind those who offer what I think unduly sensationalised accounts of the situation — and, to a lesser extent, those in the public eye who have to put up with a certain amount of routine attack. I realise in retrospect how offensive the words might sound to those who suffer bullying for their convictions or whose faith presents them with real and painful dilemmas in their professional lives. I want to make it clear that I’d regard urging such people to “grow up” as insulting and insensitive to a degree, and apologise for giving any impression to that effect.

Rowan Williams
Magdalene College, Cambridge

I think it is particularly important that Williams mentioned disputes about employment and “bullying,” which could refer to bitter public debates about free speech and freedom of religion.

Now, some of this came up the other day in digital conversations about a recent GetReligion post by the Divine Mrs. MZ. You can see some of the feedback over on Twitter, of course.

Note, in particular, the exchanges between MZ and scholar Alan Jacobs, including:

@ayjay Meh. While you can and should think of those who have it worse, advocating for your community is not something to discourage

— Mollie Z. Hemingway (@MZHemingway) August 16, 2013

""When you’ve had any contact with real persecuted minorities you learn to use the word very chastely,"…" http://t.co/60sQ7Gmf4E

— Alan Jacobs (@ayjay) August 16, 2013

This kind of thing happens on the religious and cultural left and the right. For example, are Russia’s new laws against the open promotion of gay rights really, on a moral or journalistic grid, really as important as gays being hanged under Islamist regimes? One is certainly government hostility, while the other is persecution under any dictionary definition.

Does that matter? Well, that depends on which Olympics you are preparing to cover, the games in Russia or in Qatar.

Meanwhile, if a conservative Christian street evangelist is arrested in England for proclaiming that the Bible says homosexual activity is sin, is that arrest “discrimination,” “government hostility” or “persecution”? I would vote, in that case, for official government hostility.

That arrest is not quite the same level of pain and bloodshed as police and soldiers standing by while mobs burn 50 churches. Just sayin’.

Still, this is a journalistic terminology debate worth having.

Previous Post

August 21, 2013

Should CNN editor accept religious liberty award?

Next Post

August 22, 2013 The heroism of Antoinette Tuff

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 5Q+1 Academia Anglicanism Announcements Atheists & Agnostics Baptists Books Business & Economy Catholicism Creeping Fundamentalism Education Ethics Evangelicals Film First Person gays Godbeat Got news? Humor Interviews Islam Journalism Judaism Lutherans Mainline Marriage & family Middle East Mormons Music Nones Orthodoxy Pagans Pentecostalism People Podcasts Politics Pop Culture Race Radio & TV Religion religious liberty Same-sex marriage Science Sex Social Issues Sports Uncategorized Vatican Web/Tech What is this? World World Religions Worship

Select a Month August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 May 2010 July 2009 February 2009 October 2008 July 2008 January 2007 August 2006 July 2006 October 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Ecclesiastes" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Judge Teacher or Preacher Prophet Gatherer