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| God aside, for whom does Justin Welby speak? | God aside, for whom does Justin Welby speak? |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| So it’s the Justin and Jezza show. The Church of England is no longer the Tory party at prayer, it is the Labour party. According to the archbishop of Canterbury, God is for higher taxes, trade union protection, a ban on the gig economy and a living wage of £8.75. He also wants universal credit to be abandoned. Or rather, if this is not God’s view, then why else is Justin Welby pontificating before the TUC? | So it’s the Justin and Jezza show. The Church of England is no longer the Tory party at prayer, it is the Labour party. According to the archbishop of Canterbury, God is for higher taxes, trade union protection, a ban on the gig economy and a living wage of £8.75. He also wants universal credit to be abandoned. Or rather, if this is not God’s view, then why else is Justin Welby pontificating before the TUC? |
| With piety and steel, Justin Welby has the church in his firmest grip | Andrew Brown | With piety and steel, Justin Welby has the church in his firmest grip | Andrew Brown |
| Welby clearly has strong views on contemporary politics. His remarks to the TUC and his signature on last week’s Institute for Public Policy Research report on “economic justice” display an emphatic leftwing slant, underlined by furious Tory accusations that the Church of England is “parroting Labour”. | Welby clearly has strong views on contemporary politics. His remarks to the TUC and his signature on last week’s Institute for Public Policy Research report on “economic justice” display an emphatic leftwing slant, underlined by furious Tory accusations that the Church of England is “parroting Labour”. |
| The archbishop’s various bromides on economic justice are unexceptional. They reflect a widespread, indeed cross-party, view in favour of justice, fairness and a more egalitarian tax structure. His adoption of John McDonnell’s retro-socialist views on the labour markets is more curious. Where would many Anglican charities be without gig workers? | The archbishop’s various bromides on economic justice are unexceptional. They reflect a widespread, indeed cross-party, view in favour of justice, fairness and a more egalitarian tax structure. His adoption of John McDonnell’s retro-socialist views on the labour markets is more curious. Where would many Anglican charities be without gig workers? |
| But Welby gives these musings a supercharged dusting of faith. His opinions on justice, so he told the IPPR, are supported by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, as “the judgment of God at the end of time”. They are the gift of the second coming. The wise McDonnell was swift to welcome the implied divine endorsement of an end to freelance labour. I wonder if he would have said the same had Welby made a pro-Tory speech. | But Welby gives these musings a supercharged dusting of faith. His opinions on justice, so he told the IPPR, are supported by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, as “the judgment of God at the end of time”. They are the gift of the second coming. The wise McDonnell was swift to welcome the implied divine endorsement of an end to freelance labour. I wonder if he would have said the same had Welby made a pro-Tory speech. |
| If the world offers any message at present, it is surely that God and the supernatural in all forms should be ruthlessly divorced from politics. Religious wars did not end in the 17th century, and are cursing half the world. Citing God in a partisan argument in a supposedly secular state is unhelpful. Even the United Kingdom is still struggling to escape laws dictated by the holy books of its various citizens. | If the world offers any message at present, it is surely that God and the supernatural in all forms should be ruthlessly divorced from politics. Religious wars did not end in the 17th century, and are cursing half the world. Citing God in a partisan argument in a supposedly secular state is unhelpful. Even the United Kingdom is still struggling to escape laws dictated by the holy books of its various citizens. |
| For generations, the Church of England was rightwing. Wielding its parliamentary power, it resisted everything from Catholic emancipation in 1829 to a wider franchise in 1832 and parliamentary reform in 1911. This ended with the support Archbishop Temple gave to the proposed welfare state in the 1940s. Since then, most archbishops have been soggy liberals, who kept their church institutionally well away from politics. It was, after all, “headed” by the monarch. Trouble only erupted when sogginess hardened, as when Robert Runcie expected Margaret Thatcher to pray for the dead of both sides after the Falklands war. | For generations, the Church of England was rightwing. Wielding its parliamentary power, it resisted everything from Catholic emancipation in 1829 to a wider franchise in 1832 and parliamentary reform in 1911. This ended with the support Archbishop Temple gave to the proposed welfare state in the 1940s. Since then, most archbishops have been soggy liberals, who kept their church institutionally well away from politics. It was, after all, “headed” by the monarch. Trouble only erupted when sogginess hardened, as when Robert Runcie expected Margaret Thatcher to pray for the dead of both sides after the Falklands war. |
| Tradition ordains that “established” Anglicanism does well to spread its moral embrace over one and all. It is an institutional, platitudinous thought for the day. When at a City dialogue I asked the previous archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, how he would decide between a just City pay rise and an “obscene” one, he said, “I would pray.” It was masterful evasion. This stance crumbles when opinion strays into specificity. For whom, other than God, does Welby profess to speak? Britain’s Christians are already outnumbered by unbelievers. A survey last year reported half of all Britons now declare “no religious affiliation”, while just 15% profess Anglicanism. This is down from 30% in just two decades. Christian babies will by 2035 be overtaken by Muslim births. Will an atheist or an imam get to address the TUC? | Tradition ordains that “established” Anglicanism does well to spread its moral embrace over one and all. It is an institutional, platitudinous thought for the day. When at a City dialogue I asked the previous archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, how he would decide between a just City pay rise and an “obscene” one, he said, “I would pray.” It was masterful evasion. This stance crumbles when opinion strays into specificity. For whom, other than God, does Welby profess to speak? Britain’s Christians are already outnumbered by unbelievers. A survey last year reported half of all Britons now declare “no religious affiliation”, while just 15% profess Anglicanism. This is down from 30% in just two decades. Christian babies will by 2035 be overtaken by Muslim births. Will an atheist or an imam get to address the TUC? |
| The archbishop may appear, like the Prince of Wales, as a public celebrity but with no constitutional power. He can speak, preach, tweet and write to the newspapers. But he does have a measure of power. He sits in parliament. He and his bishops claim 26 seats in the House of Lords by doctrinal and professional privilege. They are a reformation hangover, yet they enjoy legislative status. Like trooping the colour and the Last Night of the Proms, this cannot bear too much thought. | The archbishop may appear, like the Prince of Wales, as a public celebrity but with no constitutional power. He can speak, preach, tweet and write to the newspapers. But he does have a measure of power. He sits in parliament. He and his bishops claim 26 seats in the House of Lords by doctrinal and professional privilege. They are a reformation hangover, yet they enjoy legislative status. Like trooping the colour and the Last Night of the Proms, this cannot bear too much thought. |
| The next change of monarch must surely trigger a diminution in the church’s established privileges. Prince Charles has already spoken of being “a defender of faiths”. Sooner or later someone must also summon up the guts to reform the House of Lords, which it is hard to believe the bishops would survive. Meanwhile, Welby must surely establish the basis on which he claims to speak. He heads an autocratic – or perhaps oligarchic – church. His views are backed by no consultative procedure, except with the Almighty. Any attempt to reach a consensus between his ageing communicants and his radical evangelicals is likely to end in tears. But championing the partisan policies of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell is surely a controversy he does not need. | The next change of monarch must surely trigger a diminution in the church’s established privileges. Prince Charles has already spoken of being “a defender of faiths”. Sooner or later someone must also summon up the guts to reform the House of Lords, which it is hard to believe the bishops would survive. Meanwhile, Welby must surely establish the basis on which he claims to speak. He heads an autocratic – or perhaps oligarchic – church. His views are backed by no consultative procedure, except with the Almighty. Any attempt to reach a consensus between his ageing communicants and his radical evangelicals is likely to end in tears. But championing the partisan policies of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell is surely a controversy he does not need. |
| What is curious is that Welby’s Church of England seems unable to move with the spirit of the age. Buried in the statistics is an intriguing fact, that half of those professing not to believe in God believe in “a spiritual power … or some sort of higher being”. The new theology is identifying a surge in various forms of spiritualism, as distinct from so-called organised religion. Writers from Terry Eagleton to John Gray have taken up the cudgels against the atheists. The sociologist Grace Davie has defined “vicarious religion” as a sense of belief without commitment or belonging. It is sometimes no more than an agnostic shrug. But it is reflected in a rising tide of mental distress, loneliness and psychotherapy. It is seen in a desire for somewhere quiet and anonymous to meditate. This is evident in the renewed popularity of cathedrals. | What is curious is that Welby’s Church of England seems unable to move with the spirit of the age. Buried in the statistics is an intriguing fact, that half of those professing not to believe in God believe in “a spiritual power … or some sort of higher being”. The new theology is identifying a surge in various forms of spiritualism, as distinct from so-called organised religion. Writers from Terry Eagleton to John Gray have taken up the cudgels against the atheists. The sociologist Grace Davie has defined “vicarious religion” as a sense of belief without commitment or belonging. It is sometimes no more than an agnostic shrug. But it is reflected in a rising tide of mental distress, loneliness and psychotherapy. It is seen in a desire for somewhere quiet and anonymous to meditate. This is evident in the renewed popularity of cathedrals. |
| To millions this clearly passes for a “spiritual need”. It is a search for comfort and support, perhaps supernatural and outside the rituals of the formal church. Here surely is where an archbishop of Canterbury should direct his attention. Leave others to the evils of the gig economy. | To millions this clearly passes for a “spiritual need”. It is a search for comfort and support, perhaps supernatural and outside the rituals of the formal church. Here surely is where an archbishop of Canterbury should direct his attention. Leave others to the evils of the gig economy. |
| • Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist | • Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist |
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