Rowan Williams's Approach Was Wrong

The recent visit by head of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has done nothing to solve the split in the Anglican church and was in fact handled in a manner that is likely to make matters worse.

Dr Williams should have started with an honest appraisal of the history of the conflict. The Anglican church itself started the conflict, displaying bigotry and intolerance towards Kunonga over his political opinion. Kunonga refused to toe the church's chosen political line and criticize President Robert Mugabe in the same way Pius Ncube was doing.

Dr Williams should acknowledge this mistake and take steps to correct it as the foundation to solving the woes of the Anglican church in Zimbabwe. He should not seek to offload that burden onto Robert Mugabe's shoulders now that things have not gone the way he wanted.

I had hoped that Dr Williams would act to heal the rift in the church. However it is clear the he chose a tone that inflamed tensions and sought to shift the blame to politicians. It was preposterous and condescending for the bishop to not even bother to acknowledge rulings by Zimbabwe's courts.

His decision to seek to appeal to 'Mugabe's powers' is a very thinly veiled insult aimed at Zimbabwe's constitution. It is not Mugabe's job to overturn court rulings.

The bearded reverend needs to be reminded that it is his faction that went to court first. Now that the courts have ruled against them, they want to take the matter to politicians. What a joke. If they knew what judgement they wanted why didn't they simply tell the judges to pass it rather than make a ruling.

The comical irony of the matter is that they are seeking the intervention of the very same politician they were attacking when they vilified Kunonga.

Dr Williams should stop trying to turn the Anglican church into another political party in Zimbabwe. He should stop trying to dictate the political opinion his flock should hold. He should have let those who support Mugabe do so in peace and those against him also do so in peace. This attempt at politics has shattered the Anglican church into pieces which he is now trying to have Mugabe pick up for him.

My own personal opinion is that discussions should be held with Kunonga to let him back into the fold and allow him to honourably retire. However being familiar with the racist psyche of those like Dr Williams, he is likely to expend every fibre in his body trying humiliate Kunonga rather seek accommodation with someone he considers inferior.

As it is the reverend's trip was little more than a mission to demonize Zimbabwe and generate bad publicity for the country. He made it to look like the police are persecuting Anglicans when all they are doing is enforcing court judgements.

Is it the holy book that he claims to know well that talks about seeing the mote in another's eye while ignoring the log in one's own eye. Dr Williams should take out the logs that are blinding him to reality.