Pro-capitalist religious figures ask god for help. It's safe.

Rowan Williams, a cheaper hat than the popes

Well the old Church of England has weighed in on the state of the world comments for Christmas. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who is the top dog in the Church of England and considered to be a little bit left of the pope although that doesn't take much has this to say about the sorry state of capitalist affairs:
"Whether it is an urban rioter mindlessly burning down a small shop that serves his community, or a speculator turning his back on the question of who bears the ultimate cost for his acquisitive adventures in the virtual reality of today's financial world, the picture is of atoms spinning apart in the dark."

So were all to blame; the responsibility lies on the shoulders of an urban working class youth and Warren Buffet alike. The Archbishop of York, the second highest authority in the Church of England agrees. We need to think about "stopping our lives being a constant stream of fast-paced activity which accomplishes little".


We need to think about that indeed. And if we think about that long enough, we should draw the conclusion that some of us are more responsible than others for the occurrences of this world. I was recall some TV show where some liberal was asking a peasant in the Amazon about what he was doing, cutting down the rain forest. "Do you think about the consequences of it?" this financially secure liberal asked or something very similar.  What a ridiculous question. Why would he think of such nonsense?  He's thinking of breakfast and feeding his kids.

The most left of the preachers think we all live in god;s kingdom but god doesn't rule in this world, or any world for that matter-----capital does. The York guy compels us to "turn away from beastly ways" such as deceit, extortion, greed, inequality and selfishness. Who is he talking to here?  He won't be specific.  No, that's not true, he is specific.  he means all humanity. There are no classes in his world. The six million slum dwellers that live around the $40 million dollar penthouse of India's richest man are "greedy and selfish" is that it?  If so, they are not very good at it.

I have to say that I am impressed by the Bishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols.  This is Westminster Cathedral which is a Catholic institution not Westminster Abbey which is the Protestant one.  "At this moment the people of the parish of Beit Jala prepare for their legal battle to protect their land and homes from further expropriation by Israel. Over 50 families face losing their land and their homes as action is taken to complete the separation/security wall across the territory of the district of Bethlehem." the archbishop of Westminster told his flock.  Horrible definition that isn't it?  Flock. Still, at least he brought some internationalist consciousness on to the scene and dared to imply some minor criticism of Israel even mentioning the Zionist state by name.

But Reverend Nichols, actually he is a "right" reverend, follows the pro market line, "We live in a world in which the prospects for the future, in the terms the world can offer, are distinctly shaky. Yet we find an unshakable hope in our saviour." This hope in some supernatural force, the "prince of peace" as the pope of Rome called it, a being from somewhere in the cosmos that has a place for us in his home among the stars has great appeal to the Lords of Wall Street, to those who know no limits to greed and avarice.  For they know there is no such being, no such prince that will rescue us from the edge of the abyss as we have rescued the bankers and speculators as their system came near to collapse.

The esteemed Archbishop of Canterbury is considered a bit of a leftist, he has criticized some things deemed sacred.  But he is no fool, his flock is dwindling, they are losing their faith in the prince of peace in the aftermath of the near collapse of capitalism.  The crisis has forced the flocks to consider the material world, to question the way society is organized, human production manage.  There is a discourse opening up about the system of production, the means by which we produce the necessities of life.

Could this be flawed? Is there another way? Are we products of our environment? Is socialism possible?

Good grief.  This is heresy.