Our Favorite Atheist II
Washington DC: It's been weeks on the road, and after a grueling swing through Canada I am finally home. I tell the wife and daughter that's it: no more god talk for a bit- let's get lunch in the fashionable cafe' Milano in Georgetown. Signor Franco leads us to a nice table outside and I sit down- right next to the Archbishop of Canterbury. OK then, this must have been meant to happen.
I lean over. "My Lord Archbishop? It's Christopher Hitchens." "Good gracious," he responds, gesturing at his guest- "we were just discussing your book."
The archbishop's church is about to undergo a schism. More than 10 conservative congregations in Virginia have seceded, along with some African bishops, to protest the ordination of a gay bishop in New England.
I lean over. "My Lord Archbishop? It's Christopher Hitchens." "Good gracious," he responds, gesturing at his guest- "we were just discussing your book."
The archbishop's church is about to undergo a schism. More than 10 conservative congregations in Virginia have seceded, along with some African bishops, to protest the ordination of a gay bishop in New England.
I ask him how it's going. "Well-" he lowers his voice- "I'm rather trying to keep my head down."
Well, why in that case, I want to reply, did you seek a job that supposedly involves moral leadership? But I let it go. What do I care what some Bronze Age text says about sexuality? And there's something hopelessly innocent about the archbishop: he looks much more like a sheep than a shepherd.
From Vanity Fair, September 2007.
posted by MM at 6:52 AM
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