Ancient superstition and belief in magic are alive and well. WHY???

Bruce Northwood, Washington, D.C., USA

Alan Cowe wrote: <The problem with baptism is, they don't hold them under long enough.>

Now now, let's all try to be politically correct.
That said, your comment did make me laugh.

Yes, religion may have something decent to say sometimes(though the same ethics could be determined from a sheer sense of right and wrong-it's hardly rocket science.)Having said that I think it is hardly intelligent to hang onto the words of a man wh believes that 'opposition to gay parenting is the moral equivalent of his opposition to mass murder in 1970's Uganda.' Such men(I mean the vast majority of religious leaders) ought to review their moral standards.

Popes get in a tizz over contraception whilst allowing millions of people in Africa die from the raging aids epidemic. Is this what religion amounts to? It's not that brilliant, is it? Then why on earth allow ourselves to become so enthralled by these people? Those who do ought to learn to think for themselves.

Devika , Birmingham,

I'm sure the Archbishop of York would be excellent at Canterbury and vice versa but if indeed it is true that Rowan Williams is the cleverest occupant of Augustine's chair for several hundred years then I would think he is ideal to lead the church and nation. I also hear on the grape-vine that Dr Williams is also one of the most deeply spiritual people in the church, a quality even more desirable than intellectual brilliance. None of this is meant to detract from Dr Sentanu, who is an excellent communicator and breath of fresh air in the life of our nation.

David Dixon, Braintree, Essex

Tim Hames wrote: "Dr Williams is probably the most intelligent man to sit in St Augustine’s chair for centuries." I beg to differ. In my view that would have been Abp Michael Ramsey.

Anyway, in 1976 the former Anglican Communion broke up, owing to the purported ordination of "priestesses" in America. The current "Lambeth Communion" is not Anglican, i.e. the (originally) English reformed Catholic Church--holy, catholic, apostolic, and orthodox. In 1977 The Anglican Catholic Church replaced the "Episcopal Church in the USA" as well as the "Church of Canada," as the Anglican Church succeeding those bodies, in true and valid succession. Since then, The Anglican Catholic Church has succeeded the C of E, as the real Anglican Church in true and valid succession thereto, as well as everywhere else the Apostolic Succession has been broken by admitting priestesses--blasphemous imposters.
(The Very Rev'd)
Anglican Catholic Church of the Epiphany

Terrill Heaps, Shreveport, LA, USA

In our atheistic or at best agnostic world who really cares what they think in Lambeth Palace. Who needs the crutch of relligeon,

Denver Watt, Osakad, Japan

If he's that intelligent, how come he believes in fairy stories like being in a cave 3 days and coming back to life again (and all the other ones) written centuries after Jesus' death?

Jeremy Vintle, Amsterdam,

If Rowan Williams is "...the most intelligent man to sit in St Augustine's chair for centuries". it has been far from obvious from the woolly- minded utterances that he has made so far.
If the Archbishop of Canterbury doesn't know whether to hold the Church together or follow his conscience then he should not preach morality to the rest of us.
There is little evidence that people want the Church of England to play a part in the life of the country. Indeed, the reverse is the case with growing opposition to bishops having a right to sit in the House of Lords.

Carl Pinel, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire

To Mr. Richardson:

The strength of the Anglican Church (and of the Catholic Church for that matter) is that truth is not determined by popular opinion. If that were the case, Jesus would not have been as controversial as he was (and still is). In a democracy, the unanimous votes of 1 million evil people is still evil.

Colleen Ahland, Duncanville, TX, USA

Tim Hames seems to have a fixation about swaps involving Rowan Williams. In his column on 26 June 2006 he told us:

Sir Ian [Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police] and Dr [Rowan] Williams have long struck me as almost interchangeable figures. Stick a beard, a pectoral cross and a dog-collar on the Commissioner and he would be an entirely plausible member of the Anglican hierarchy. Shave off Dr William’s facial fur (a lengthy enterprise admittedly) and he would fit in fine with the legions of humanities graduates who today constitute the top table of the old thin blue line.

What does this tell us about Tim Hames?

One of Rowan Williams' most appealing characteristics is his humility. He never gives the impression that he believes himself - or the church - to have a monopoly of the truth. That cannot be said about too many of his critics, be they from within the church or from ouside (eg, atheists like Dawkins).

Graham Morton, Aylesbury, UK

Surely by "militant secularism" Mr Hames really means "vocal secularism". I have yet to hear of the armed factions of non-believers, prompted by gossip spread by the National Secular Society, roving around the streets, burning bibles and korans and calling for the beheading of those dangerous ink-wielding cartoonists.

Perhaps I haven't been reading The Times enough recently; it must have been in an edition that I missed.

Nullifidian, Edinburgh,

Ah, yes, Dr. Sentamu, who recently said that opposition to gay parenting is the moral equivalent of his opposition to mass murder in 1970's Uganda. Because, clearly, gay parents present an equivalent danger to society as genocidal murders like Idi Amin. Quite the showman, though maybe one without the moral compass one would want to see in an archbishop.

RichB, London,

>The highlight of his Easter Day was the outdoor baptism of 20 adults, not all of them Anglicans, fully submerged in a tank in St Sampson’s Square<

The problem with baptism is, they don't hold them under long enough.

Alan Cowe, Shetland,

Whilst it is true that Dr Sentamu shows more of the 'common touch' than Dr Williams, the leadership situation for the Church of England overall is not going to change until the system of appointing bishops changes.

State involvement must cease, but must not be replaced with a system whereby the present bench of bishops appoint one another - the only alternative proposal currently on the table.

If the ability to appeal to ordinary people, combined with leadership skills, is to be allowed full play in the appointment of bishops, I cannot see why they should not simply be elected by a poll amongst all the members of electoral rolls in a diocese. Elsewhere it is called democracy.

John Richardson, Elsenham, UK

The Archbishop of York may be popular at the moment but he suffers from the same problem as many other senior churchmen in that he seems to be a socialist first and a Christian second.

That is, if there is a conflict between their temporal and spiritual beliefs, the former always seem to come out on top. They are always keen to talk about politics, economics, internation relations, etc which are out of their area of expertise. Conversely, they seem curiously inarticulate about the teachings of Jesus and how we as individuals should apply that to our own lives (as opposed to the lives of others) even though many people are hungry for this sort of learning.

For example, look at the nice things that Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said yesterday about Iran. Or ask yourself why is the Archbishop of York spending his time defending the Smith Institute, under investigation by the Charity Commission for stealing taxpayers' money with the sole purpose of getting Mr Brown into No.10?

Scary, Windsor, Berks

Terry wrote:"Nowadays the only wonderment is what irrelevant rubbish its leaders will come up with this time."
Well said.
ALL Religious leaders take note. Relevance or redundance?

Keith, Bengtsfors, Sweden

I am pleased to note that there is at least one person - Tim Hames - who can understand one word that Williams writes or speaks. I both listen and re-listen and read and re-read his offerings from the viewpoint of a Anglican - albeit these days of the sadly reminiscent and virtually non-believing variety but one who would claim to be rather more than half witted. The Archbishop of Canterbury is potentially an important world figure but if he is so obscure to the likes of me - and many others - then he fails in his endeavours and the organisation he purports to lead continues to descend at ever increasing rate into irrelevant obscurity. It is all so sad. As youngsters we all looked forward to Easter with joy and expectation. Nowadays the only wonderment is what irrelevant rubbish its leaders will come up with this time.

Terry Carlton, Chichester, UK

I appreciated the article and yearn for the Church to be more than the Boy Scouts, indeed more like it's namesake in the Acts of the Apostles!

Jack Jaffe, Newberg, Oregon/USA

You could start by dumping the virulent anti-gay garbage. It seems Christians (and other religious sects) need gays as a traget to hate. It's the one group *males* ,who run the chruches, can agree on to hate. (Reason: testosterone.) How human is that?

JEFF SANDERS, Braintree, Essex

Speaking of Anglican primates, when the Episcopal Church in the U.S, finds itself outsted from the Anglican Communion, the new female presiding bishop will no longer be a primate of anything but the leader of a small American sect.

Rev. Richard Tumilty, Grass Valley, CA

Journalist are always very brave when criticising Christianity. I wonder if this columinist would be brave enough to call another faith stupid. Some faith's might make life extremely awkward for him and God forbid those whom he loves. Christianity is in essence tolerant and liberal, since love is at the core of its being, but it is not without values. It has always and everywhere taught that sex outside of marriage is sinful, by that it means potentially destructive. Homosexuals are NOT excluded from this teaching. In the meantime, this church whom you so freely insult, ministered to just under 2 million people over Easter (more than those who attend football matches). Charities know that Christians are the most generous givers among the whole British population. It cares for the unloved and the homeless. Non-Church goers are desperate to get their children into its schools in ever greater numbers. You may call us what you like, we'll get on with Christ' task of loving.

Jeremy Forbes, Basildon,

"Voyager" says Pope Benedict is 'a man with a human touch'. Exactly how does this fit in with his belief that sinners will suffer the fires of hell for eternity. Put more clearly they will suffer for an infinite number of billions and billions of years of torment; and this for a finite crime. The concept is infinitely evil.

William Garrett, Harrow,

I am sorry, but I must diasagree with this article. I believe that Dr Williams is a wuss.!! If one does not believe in anything, then one believes in nothing.. Dr Williams waffles from place to place. I have thought for years that the Archbishops of Canterbury were out of touch.. I remember the fun Canterbury was when the "Red Dean " was there. A nut case, but he did have his convictions.

Desmond Taylor, Houston, USA Texas

The Anglican Church is obsessed with "staffing issues" and personnel policy and ignores issues of Faith and Belief. It is the triumph of Institutionalism which is the hallmark of Bureaucracy.

As for the 104th Archbishop and his supposed vast intellect. I prefer the 100th Archbishop, the late-Michael Ramsey who was, like his mathematician brother Frank, a man of great intellectual gifts with an ability to reach out to the wider public and be loved.

I look to Pope Benedict as a man of great intellect, a theologian of great note, and a man with a human touch. I know Josef Ratzinger is a devout Christian, I am much less certain of Rowan Williams

Voyager, Leeds, England

Given his role as "first among equals" rather than ultimate policy making authority for the Anglican Community (as the Pope is allowed to be), Williams is only capable of moderating the current debate on homosexuality between the provinces. His personal stance on gays in the Church is as loving and accepting as Christ Himself would be, but Williams is required to step back and let the Body of Christ resolve itself on such issues. Furthermore, much of the Anglican Communion does not understand the structure of the American Episcopal Church; it is a democratic body which elects its bishops by diocesan vote and House of Bishops confirmation rather than by direct appointment. This is a fundamental difference which allows the church in America to directly implement the discernment of the "Body of Christ", members themselves.

Judy Hedin, San Francisco, CA / USA

Good article, difficult subject. I feel sure, myself, that the church should hold it’s position on homosexuality. If people wish to be openly gay then they can go somewhere else, do something else, but it would be a fundamental mistake to indulge a tiny minority at the expense of the rest. There is already too much of the tail wagging the dog in this country, and we know where it’s coming from.

Henry Percy, London, UK