“People may be surprised but I hope that that surprise will be modified when they think about the general question of how the law and religious community – religious principle – are best and most fruitfully accommodated.”

So said Rowan Williams on Radio 4’s The World at One last week when questioned about the likely response to his suggestion of greater recognition for Sharia Law in Britain. Needless to say, people’s surprise has been anything but modified. He’s been openly criticised, called on to resign and to reflect on whether he wouldn’t be happier in a university post, where it would be more acceptable to ‘kick around these sorts of ideas’.

There has been a distinct dignity in the Archbishop’s refusal to answer his detractors through the media. Indeed, wasn’t there something thoroughly biblical about his decision to save his first personal words of response for a meeting of the General Synod – his church’s governing body (consider Matthew 18:15-17)? It was a characteristically thoughtful, careful and humble speech, but nevertheless one in which he robustly defended his raising of what is an undeniably complex issue.

We would do well to reflect on the extent to which the media furore over the Archbishop’s remarks betrays our increasing inability (or unwillingness) to ‘do’ complex issues – those that cannot be reduced to sound bites or that require more than a moment’s consideration. Nevertheless we would also do well to acknowledge honestly the real fear of Islam that has been made manifest in the backlash – a fear that normally dare not speak its politically incorrect name. A fear perhaps heightened by the Archbishop’s perceived desire to accommodate Islamic Law within the rule of law.

No doubt some of this fear can be attributed to the media’s sensationalist reporting of extremist actions on a global scale – but not all of it. After all, as Professor Peter Riddell notes, ‘Islam, by its own account, is much more than a religious faith. It is a system that insists on society's compliance in every sector of human activity.’ It recognises no distinction between religion and the State. Is it not reasonable to suppose therefore that whilst there are Muslims who have reacted with horror to the suggestion of more formal recognition for Islamic courts, because they so cherish the impartiality of British law, there are also others who, having a wider agenda, may well, if given an inch, before long demand a mile?

‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear’, wrote John (1 John 4:18). What this means for our approach to the social integration of the Muslim community, and for our response to a courageous Archbishop is another complex issue. But one with which we must wrestle if the credibility and uniqueness of the gospel is to become clearer and more compelling in the eye of the present storm.