Lord Carey, in an article in the Daily Mail today, makes assertions about the public attitude to the Church of England, and about the role of the Prime Minister which are unfounded and unfortunate.
Yes, it is true that the Church is no longer held in the respect that it was and it does not deserve to be. Arguments about women priests, gay and women bishops and some really nasty homophobia, disguised as doctrinal rectitude, have made it look bigoted, intolerant and unchristian. Nobody is to blame, least of all David Cameron, save for the Church itself and its obsession with gender, sex and its own self righteous demeanour. It is now bogged down in issues over which it has no proper authority nor any credible understanding, which bear any relationship whatever to the original simple and compassionate teachings of early Christianity.
That this former archbishop thought it appropriate of offer such a ridiculous Easter message underlines the way the Church has sidestepped from the advance of human generosity and understanding. It would have been better to go out and wash some deserving feet.