Rowan Williams on Britishness

I note some (short) comments by the Archbishop on Matthew d'Ancona's programme on Britishness, taking in the question of the establishment. It should be broadcast again this evening on Radio 4 at 9.30.
It should also be available to listen again, along with an extended version of the interview.

Radio comedy

An interesting item on today's broadcast of Radio 4's Feedback programme, detailing a number of complaints received about perceived anti-Christian bias, in the week-day early evening comedy slot on Radio 4. Shows including The News Quiz, Old Harry's Game and The Now Show were mentioned.

The complaint was not that religion was a butt of jokes, but that Christianty came off worse than Hinduism or any other of the faiths. There was some recognition in the discussion that Christianity, as the (at least in theory) dominant faith might expect to be a easier target. I do wonder how much this has changed; my mind does go back to the controversy over the Life of Brian, now nearly three decades ago.

It should be available to listen again for another week from today, on the iPlayer service.

Rowan Williams on the memory of belief

I note recent reports of a speech given by Rowan Williams at Leicester Cathedral last month, describing Britain as 'haunted' by the memory of religion. It's difficult to comment on the excerpts given by the Telegraph, and the full text has not (as yet) appeared on the Archbishop's website. There was some brief mention of the rumpus last year over sharia law (see earlier post)

Bishops in the Lords

I note a recent piece from the Bishop of Portsmouth, making the case in favour of the bishops remaining in the House of Lords, in the Church Times.

Derek, Clive and Mrs Whitehouse

An interesting snippet on the newly released files from the DPP on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's scatological Derek and Clive recordings in the Guardian, Monday 16th. It caught my eye since one complainant to the Home Office also sent a copy to Mary Whitehouse "who seems alone to be brave enough to stand up to public filth" - some sense here of the perceived importance of her campaigns, at least to some.
See my earlier post on last year's biopic on her.

Shortt on Williams

The debate continues about Rupert Shortt's biography of Rowan Williams, and by extension about the Archbishop himself. See a review on the moderate evangelical Fulcrum site, and ensuing discussion, almost all positive (at the time of reading.)
See also my earlier post on print reviews.

Our Times

I note several reviews of A.N. Wilson's recent study Our Times. It has a number of things to say about the state of the "national church", and gives Michael Ramsey a particular pasting. See Dominic Sandbrook in the Guardian,
D.J. Taylor in the Independent and Piers Brendon in the Times, all of whom mention Wilson's sometimes sketchy grasp of the factual detail. John Campbell in the TLS (14/1/09) goes so far as to suggest that it "poisons the wells" for serious historical work. It is interesting, however, as an example of a particular type of conservative interpretation of the period.
[The problematic nature of Wilson's reference to a national church is noted by a letter to the TLS this week. For more on conservative narratives of the period, see my review of Hugh McLeod on the sixties.]