Volgens deze poll vind maar liefst 90% dat Williams ongeschikt is als leider van de Anglicanen (Williams is aartsbisschop van Canterbury).
Wat had Williams gezegd?
Dat seks voor het huwelijk een doodzonde was? Dat Joden niet in de hemel komen? Dat God niet bestaat?
Nee: Williams heeft gepleit voor aanpassing van de grondwet om ruimte te maken voor de sjaria in bepaalde aspecten van het familie- en economisch recht (denk bemiddeling, scheiding, erfrecht en aan halalhypotheek).
In een BBC-interview en een lezing voor een aantal juristen zei Williams dat dit op termijn gezien de maatschappelijke verhoudingen onvermijdelijk was en de 'sociale cohesie' zou bevorderen.
Zowel leden van zijn eigen kerkgenootschap, de woordvoerder van een burgerrechtencommissie en politici, waaronder een Gordon Brown en een islamitisch lid van het Engelse Hogerhuis, reageerden ronduit afwijzend.In his lecture, 57-year-old Dr Williams said that "we have to think a little harder about the role and rule of law in a plural society of overlapping identities".
He added that it would be possible to develop "a scheme in which individuals retain the liberty to choose the jurisdiction under which they will seek to resolve certain carefully specified matters, so that power-holders are forced to compete for the loyalty of their shared constituents.
"This may include aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions, and authorised structures of mediation and conflict resolution."
The archbishop attempted to distance himself from the extreme legal systems run in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, where adultery can be punished by death and women who behave independently risk harsh punishments.
"Nobody in their right mind, I think, would want to see in this country a kind of inhumanity that sometimes appears to be associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states - the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well," he said.
Dr Williams pointed out that Jewish Beth Din courts already operate in Britain. But these, like sharia arrangements currently existing in Muslim areas, are voluntary understandings conducted with the agreement of participants.
Alternative sharia courts as proposed by the archbishop would dish out enforceable law.
Muslim groups responded cautiously to Dr Williams's proposals. A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: "We will need to look carefully at the archbishop's lecture." Daily Mail
Het lijkt erop dat ook in Groot-Britannië de wal het cultuurrelativistische schip gekeerd heeft.Tory backbencher David Davies, an Anglican, said: "I am astounded. Dr Williams is a nice enough man, very intellectual, but he has clearly lost the plot.
"He's one of the most influential Christian prelates in the world and he's supposed to be standing up for Christianity.
"What he's doing is abandoning his own religion. If people come to this country they should be prepared to compromise their own traditions to fit in with the host country.
Tory cohesion spokesman Baroness Warsi, a Muslim herself, said: "The archbishop's comments are unhelpful and may add to the confusion that already exists in our communities.
"Freedom under the law allows respect for some religious practices.
"But let's be absolutely clear. All British citizens must be subject to British laws developed through Parliament and the courts."
