Tomorrow's New Statesman, guest edited by Rowan Williams

Mouse has to admit that even though the New Statesman think The Church Mouse is the best Christian blog, he is not a regular reader.

However, tomorrow he will be in the shop early to pick up the edition guest edited by Rowan Williams.

The lead in being trailed by the NS is that Rowan has had a big part in this edition and has commissioned a number of pieces.  And from the preview Mouse has seen, it looks like Rowan is attempting to bust open a whole number of stereotypes, as well as highlight some of the issues that he, along with most Christians, are concerned with.

So the Archbishop of Canterbury's special edition will carry a feature from Philip Pullman, a High Priest of Atheism.  Pullman writes why he is a “Church of England atheist” and why he deplores the sex-obsessed “demented barbarians” who are destroying the Church of England’s old liberal tolerance.  He pulls no punches, and Rowan is happy to face that criticism, although he is not offering a direct response.

A feature from the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, on the Big Society shows that Rowan does not think purely in terms of the issue and its relevance to his own Church or even religion.  And Sacks is a great thinker.

Rowan will no doubt raise more than a few eyebrows by publishing an exclusive essay by Gordon Brown on the scourge of global youth unemployment.  No-one could argue he is not capable of reaching out.

But there can be no suggestion of political bias, as the edition will also carry features from Iain Duncan Smith on benefit reform and William Hague on foreign affairs.

A lovely touch comes in Mehdi Hassan's article on sharia law.  Hassan asks why the British are so obsessed with it, saying "It’s time to lay the sharia bogeyman to rest".  Mouse is sure Rowan was delighted with that.

And we may see a nice little dig from Terry Eagleton, who says that Dawkins and Hitchens (and presumably Grayling?) practice a “crude species of off-the-peg, reach-me-down Enlightenment”.  A piece which must surely have been written before Eagleton tore strips off Grayling for his New College for the Humanities.

It is fascinating to see the breadth of topic and contributor, showing that the religious perspective (dare Mouse say the Anglican perspective?) is not a narrow one.

It is great to see Rowan embrace a whole range of religious, secular and political perspectives.  The Church needn't fear those who oppose, or even hate it.  Jesus' message is universal, and has truth on its side.

Judging from the preview, this edition will do Rowan and the Church a lot of good.

Can't wait.