Angry in the Great White North

Will Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Cantebury, retire early? That's the rumour:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is privately in despair at the behaviour of his predecessor Lord Carey of Clifton, who he believes has undermined his leadership of the Anglican Church.

Senior clerics are so concerned about the criticisms that they fear the "tired" Archbishop will resign after the Lambeth Conference in 2008, a decade earlier than expected.

Dr Williams, enthroned in 2003, rejects the idea that he will go early — but the speculation is widespread that Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, is emerging as the favourite to replace him.

So what is driving this fighting? The "gay issue", of course:

Dr Williams and Lord Carey, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury for 11 years, have engaged in theological combat since the consecration in 2003 of Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in the United States. But the differences first surfaced in 1998 when Lord Carey as Archbishop blocked Dr Williams from becoming Bishop of Southwark.

So what were the differences between George Carey and Rowen Williams that first furfaced in 1998? Differences over the "gay issue", of course:

Relations have been strained since Lord Carey blocked the appointment of Dr Williams as Bishop of Southwark because he believed that he was too liberal on the gay issue.

In fact, there was payback for that slight to Williams. George Cary was scheduled to deliver a lecture at a cathedral, but that was cancelled when Carey was banned from entering the building:

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, has been banned from one of the oldest cathedrals in Britain after accusations that he has become an “instrument of disunity”.

Lord Carey, who has become a champion of orthodoxy in the Anglican Church since stepping down from the top job in 2002, was due to speak at Bangor Cathedral, North Wales, in February. The Dean of Bangor, the Very Rev Alun Hawkins, is understood to have imposed the unprecedented ban because he feels that Lord Carey has become a “divisive force” and has been “disloyal” to his successor, Dr Rowan Williams, who was born in Wales.

Lord Carey’s lecture, one of four he was due to deliver in Wales, had been organised by the Church Mission Society. John Martin, of the society, said about the Dean: “He felt George had become a factor of disunity and of disloyalty to Rowan Williams, a divisive force. He also questioned whether inviting George Carey to speak was a sign that the society was lurching to the right. We pointed out that in fact we have had a very balanced series of lecturers.”

So how is George Carey responding? In part through the blog of his son, journalist Andrew Carey:

Of the issue of Geoge Carey being banned from the cathedral, Andrew has this to say:

The intolerant decision of the Dean, the Bishop of Bangor’s effete response, and the pomposity of a Lambeth Palace spokesman [speaking on behalf of Rowan Williams] are there for all to see.

In another post, he calls these allies of Rowan Williams the real fundamentalists.

But Andrew Carey is not the only one online. Many major figures in the Anglican Church are using the internet, and blogs in particular, to fight these theological battles against the liberal Williams:

Clergymen spend a lot of time on the internet, mostly for innocent purposes, such as following ecclesiastical backstabbing. The "Anglican blogosphere" is a rich source of speculation – very well-informed speculation in the case of the blog written by Andrew Brown, Church Times media correspondent. On November 13 – days before Dr Williams got himself into a pickle by implying that the Church of England might backtrack on women priests – Brown wrote: "It is the sensible bet that Rowan will retire, defeated if not broken, after the formal schism at the Lambeth Conference [in 2008], and [Archbishop of York, John] Sentamu will be his successor."

The idea that Rowan Williams will step down in two or three years' time – a decade before he is required to – is being discussed in many quarters. It was first floated on Ship of Fools, a theological internet chat site, by someone calling himself "Spawn", who also predicted that the coming Lambeth Conference would be the archbishop's swansong. Does Spawn have inside information? He makes no secret of the fact that he is Andrew Carey, son of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury.

Religions in general, and Christianity in general, spend a great deal of time and effort considering the nature of the incorporeal universe. I find it amusing that the Internet, technology's expression of an incorporeal universe, is hosting this theological fighting.

What is interesting, though, is that we see the magnifying effect the Web can have. Whereas in times past, criticisms of the sitting Archbishop would have been discussed among individuals who would only be able to share via snail mail or at infrequent conferences, now the criticism are delived at the speed of the web. Besides speed, we have the multiplicatory effect -- more people adding similar opinions and criticisms, and many, many more repeating or rephrasing what has gone before.

I'd say the conservative side of this fight is using the Internet very effectively.This is no surprise. Blogging continues to be a tool used far more effectively by conservatives.

Religion, politics, it doesn't seem to matter. The forces of liberalism and political correctness that work to homogenize society and make certain foirms of criticism off limits have yet to figure out how to keep conservatives, with their aggravating idea that there really is a right and wrong that is not a function of public opinion, from using the wild world of online individualism to debate these issues, raise questions, and demand accountability for the consequences of the decisions taken by liberals.