Monday 23 April 2012

This anecdote is too good not to repeat:


"... As I walked up the stairs from the Members’ entrance to the House, one of the more light-heated of the bishops fell into step with me, and we exchanged greetings before he cheerily asked me: “What mischief are you up to today, Lord Tebbit?”“That,” I replied with a grin, “is not a very charitable nor Christian remark.” But in a stroke of inspiration, perhaps even divine inspiration, I continued: “As a matter of fact I am going to put down my private members' bill. It is to give legal force to the Ten Commandments. I want to see which way you Bishops would vote, clause by clause.”“Oh my God,” cried the bishop. “You are being very mischievous.” 
It seems to me that of all the bishops I have known, the two most unlikely to have had many problems with my imaginary bill would have been John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, and Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, and I think it is that rather than racism within the Church of England, which has been mainly responsible for the nastiness of some of the attacks on Sentamu. After all, it cannot be a very racist organisation which promotes to its second highest office a man of Ugandan origins, or gave preferment to one from Pakistan..."
[Here]  The highlights in red are mine 

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