Hello. It’s Woody here. How are you? I’m fine, thank you for asking. Today I’m going to be looking at some words from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby. As I may have mentioned before I am an Atheist. By Jove does not to my knowledge have any official stance towards religion; as a topic it’s never come up in our Board meetings. (I know, right? I’m on a Board of Trustees. It makes me feel very official and important.) If I mention religion in one of these blog posts, I’m always aware of not putting words into the company’s mouth. There is no such need for care this week as, both speaking as me and as By Jove, I can only see positives in the Archbishop’s announcement.
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Nice Bloke
You see, the Archbishop recently wrote something in i (The shorter thing put out by The Independent, not the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers. I’m not sure how one could write in a mathematical concept, but equally I’m hazy on precisely what powers an Archbishop has.) If you missed it you can read it here. In the piece, Welby announced that the C of E was ‘launching new guidance for our schools on challenging homophobic bullying, called: Valuing All God’s Children.’ I think you can see why I’m confident m’colleagues at By Jove HQ will agree with my unrepentantly godless self in thinking this is a positive thing.
I enjoy a good debate, and “Does God Exist” is one of the classic ones, but I don’t actually care if someone does believe. This is not a case of holding my tongue to be nice; it is a case of genuine not-giving-a-flying-monkey. Why would I care? I don’t go in for thought-crime. What I do care about is how what someone believes affects how they impact on the lives of their fellow human. Welby and his church seem to me to be making genuine efforts to ensure a reduction in the suffering of their fellow human. He has looked at, and cites in the article, surveys enumerating the suffering caused by homophobic bullying and has thought “That should not be so.” This the correct opinion to have when one discovers things like the increased risks of suicide, depression, and self-harm among LBGT young people. It is reasonable to follow on by thinking a reduction in bullying will improve matters. Lucky, lucky Welby for finding himself in a position with the resources and influence to do something about it.
For clarity’s sake Welby points out that the ‘traditional Anglican view of marriage’ will still be taught. I don’t mind that. Same sex marriages are legal, and that’s the important thing. Getting a priest involved is a conversation for Christians to have amongst themselves – last time I checked writing for a theatre company’s blog does not get one a seat in the Synod. This doesn’t change the fact that I loved reading the senior churchman saying doctrine about one ceremony does not give justification to be unpleasant to people.
I think the most important thing I thought when reading this article was how utterly unsurprising it was. I spend enough time on the internet to know what a troll is. I’ve seem them in their native habitat of a youtube comment thread. they’re very common beneath videos of the debates I watch for a bit of gladiatorial rhetoric. But outside of such comments, and headline-grabbing nutjobs like the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, I have never personally encountered religion being used to hurt. I love the fact Welby’s desire to fight bullying for someone’s sexuality strikes me as so normal. As Welby himself says “The gospel instructs Christians to love our neighbour as we love ourselves – that is an instruction, not an optional extra.” This is how my Christian friends interpret their faith, and it makes me happy to see it that is also written in great big letters in the Church’s official statements.
I don’t really care why you do good, just that you do good. It’s always nice to remember that despite differing opinions, doing good is important to everyone. So Well Done, Archbishop! You’re making the world a better place by writing down the truth as you see it. This is something we here at By Jove can really get behind.
One hopes you’re well,
yrs,
ADWoodward
