The Archbishop has a valid point which has been buried under heaps of angry and ignorant responses. When a society becomes multi-cultural it stands to reason that some accommodation has to be made. I think there needs to be an honest, intelligent amalgamation of different cultural laws into the existing system so that different cultural groups can feel a sense of being accepted by the majority and also feel a sense of integration.

If a citizen of a country is made to feel like an alien then that society cannot be united and cohesive. I think the key word in the Archbishop's suggestion is "incorporation". There needs to be a dialogue with the different ethnic groups to understand what aspects of their personal law is important enough to be incorporated into the general law. This process should not lead to situations where one ethnic group claims it will be governed only by their own laws and not be the general laws established in a country.

It should also not lead to a situation where people find it convenient to escape rigorous punishment by converting to another religion and seek to be governed by that law. For example, in the seventies when I was a journalist in India I discovered that the general law that prevailed then made it very difficult for couples to get a divorce. The easy way out was for people to convert to Islam and get a divorce under the Sharia law by simply pronouncing three times in the presence of a witness "I divorce thee". The process became so easy that one could divorce and remarry in about an hour and it was all legal. This form of exploitation is what one needs to guard against.