The Archbishop of Canterbury is the operational head of the Church of England and de facto spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, known here as the Episcopalian Church. Invented purely because Henry VIII was horny. Never come between a man and his new booty when he is also head of a nation. Just ask Nicolas Sarkozy, president of those randy French.

The present Archbishop, Dr. Rowan Williams, recently commented that aspects of Sharia (basically Islamic law) should be given legal standing with English law. This subsequently managed to piss off, well, everyone. Condemnation has poured in from across the entire political spectrum. From crazy knee-jerk xenophobes who railed against accommodating Islam in Britain’s Christian heritage to those frightened about the limiting of women’s rights, no-one seems to be happy with the Archbishop’s thinking. There have been calls for him to resign.

I, too, disagree. But not because of the vicious reasons that people have been, rather disconcertingly, espousing over the last week.

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