 | | Dr Rowan Williams |
Speaking to 91Èȱ¬ Radio Manchester’s Mike Shaft, Dr Williams said that thanks to "hard work and understanding" there is an "acceptance that the Muslim neighbour is a real neighbour." However, the Archbishop stressed that there was much work to be done on a global scale. "We’ve got ourselves boxed into a mind-set which seems to oppose the Christian world with the Muslim world and I think we need to work hard to break down that absolute black and white opposition that some people feel. "It’s a 180 degree picture. Here in Britain, we think of Muslims often as a disadvantaged minority, while in some Muslim countries, Christians are the disadvantaged minority. How do we put all that together and learn to really take each other seriously? That’s the big agenda."
 | | A Muslim woman wearing the niqab |
Dr Williams also discussed the recent reactions to the wearing of the niqab (full veil) by Muslims, saying that there is a need to hear from the actual women wearing the veil to understand why they wear it, and that "need to be very cautious about stipulating which signs of faith are visible in public and which aren’t. "Like others, I have many questions about the niqab but I need to learn, rather than just say ‘I don’t like it, it makes me feel uneasy’. We’ve got to go further than that. | "Sometimes people are just panicked by what looks strange and what they don’t understand, but they’ve got to have some patience." | | Dr Williams on how he sees the issue of the Muslim niqab |
"I think anybody, be it the government or an employer, decides what symbols of faith are permissible, then we’re on a very slippery slope. I like to see people displaying signs of their faith. "I wear a cross every day and no-one has tried to take that off me. When I see orthodox Jews with sidelocks and black hats, that doesn’t worry me. Sometimes people are just panicked by what looks strange and what they don’t understand, but they’ve got to have some patience." The Archbishop was in Manchester to give a lecture at the University of Manchester, visit a school and speak at a Christian/Muslim forum.
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