WHAT IS IT WITH THESE CHURCHMEN? - AT 10:15 A.M. ET:  Britain seems to have a clergy problem.  Nile Gardiner, in London's Telegraph, reports on one particularly un-Godlike character:

The Telegraph’s Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Duncan Gardham have an explosive report on the appalling views of the Rt. Rev. Stephen Venner, recently commissioned by Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to serve as Bishop to the Forces. Here’s what Venner said:

“We’ve been too simplistic in our attitude towards the Taliban.”

“There’s a large number of things that the Taliban say and stand for which none of us in the west could approve, but simply to say therefore that everything they do is bad is not helping the situation because it’s not honest really.”

“The Taliban can perhaps be admired for their conviction to their faith and their sense of loyalty to each other.”

That is coming from the man who will be bishop to Britain's armed forces. 

As Damian Thompson asked earlier, what would Venner have said about the Nazis? One can only imagine, and it’s not pretty.

During the Second World War, remarks like these about the enemy would have rightly been regarded as an act of treason...

...The Taliban are not an honourable foe deserving of admiration. They are vicious, Islamist thugs, evil terrorists who brutalise the Afghan people while promoting the cause of Osama bin Laden. Their savagery is similar to that of the Nazis and should be universally condemned.

Bishop Venner’s comments are a sickening disgrace, and he should withdraw them, with an unreserved apology to all who have lost loved ones at the murderous hands of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda cohorts.

I wish we'd see that kind of spine in some of our own mainstream media writers.  No such luck.

UPDATE:  Well, the bishop has indeed apologized, also reported in the Telegraph:

The new bishop to the armed forces has apologised over comments he made about how the Taliban could be admired for their “conviction to their faith”.

“I’m not trying to support the Taliban,” he told the BBC. “At the moment what they are doing is evil.”

He said he would be “deeply grieved” if anyone had taken offence and hoped he had not jeopardised his job.

COMMENT:  I guess his apology will be accepted.  Frankly, I'd rather see Nile Gardiner as bishop to the British forces. 

December 15, 2009