While those who have been affected by the storms are innocent victims, the bishops argue controversially that the flooding is a result of Western civilisation’s decision to ignore biblical teaching.
The Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, argued that the floods are not just a result of a lack of respect for the planet, but also a judgment on society’s moral decadence.
“This is a strong and definite judgment because the world has been arrogant in going its own way,” he said. “We are reaping the consequences of our moral degradation, as well as the environmental damage that we have caused.”
The bishop, who is a leading evangelical, said that people should heed the stories of the Bible, which described the downfall of the Roman empire as a result of its immorality.
“We are in serious moral trouble because every type of lifestyle is now regarded as legitimate,” he said.
Did this guy take the 8th grade science quiz?
Living in the plains states you learn after a while something interesting. When it rains, some of the water eventually ends up in the rivers. When it rains a lot, which happens on occasion, a lot of water ends up in the rivers and the rivers over flow their banks and spill out into the surrounding area. If you build a house in that surrounding area and it rains a lot you might get flooded. (BTW- that surrounding area that floods makes for great farm land- the soil is rich in nutrients)
I suppose you can blame god, or blame someone elses sin, but really, all you can do is blame yourself for living in a KNOWN FLOOD ZONE! The same goes for living in a tornado zone, and earthquake zone, a tsunami zone!
When leaders of the faith spew forth idiotic statements like this- it is no wonder the pews of England are empty.
With due respect, I humbly offer [url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 13:1-5;&version=31;]Luke 13:1-5[/url].
The Luke passage came to my mind as well. I also thought of Edward’s imagery of loathsome insect held over a fire. It is by grace there are not more floods, volcanos, massive meteor strikes and other catastrophes. The Lord is so good to us and we don’t even appreciate it.
“The downfall of the Roman empire [w]as a result of its immorality”. Let’s see, the official religion of the Roman Empire was Nicean Christianity from 391 AD until the fall of the Western Empire (476) and the end of the Eastern Empire (1453). Go figure this one.
Interestingly, Carlisle is perhaps the most flood-prone city in the UK. An alternative explanation of Carlisle’s ongoing problems may be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/articles/2005/03/02/carlisle_cursing_stone_feature.shtml
Is he talking about the flooding of New Orleans? It is now known (though not universally agreed to) that New Orleans was grossly negligent in using the moneys provided to buy Casinos rather than invest in the levee upgrades. It is also known that the Corps of Engineers failed to properly do the requisite drilling in order to determine that the footings of the failed levees were sunk deep enough into the subsurface mud to withstand the computed storm pressure.
Does the Bishop of Carlisle wish to stipulate that following Biblical teaching will bring an end to all environmental problems? That would be an assertion which I would love to see him defend.
The only disaster-free natural order I ever heard of from the Bible is the New Heavens and the New Earth of the New Jerusalem.
So God had taken a laissez faire tact with His creation #1?
T
I only skimmed this story, so missed the fact that this is from the Bishop of Carlisle, thank you #5.
WOW, he said something one way or another! This is the man who forbid my uncle from entering any none TEC parishes after the CANA 11 votes last year (he resident under another bishop but lives in Carlisle in retirement). It suspected that he sleeps through House of Lords meeting. So the fact he come out with a statement like this is Earth shattering, maybe a bit absurd, but the guy seems to be a not-rock-the-boat-bishop, so out of practice on how to make a solid stand. I’ll be impressed that he spoke.
(#1 The pews are empty in this guys area because the money comes from the state as historical funds, thus there is no investment by parishioners [see passages about tithing and hearts where the treasure is and all that] so the Baptist and Catholics are doing well in the area, but proving Scripture to be true … )
Genesis 9: 8-17
I call bovine manure. I dare that man to come to North Texas right now, and sit himself down in the middle of one of the MANY now disaster areas because of the flooding we’ve been experiencing for the last STRAIGHT MONTH! We have not had a single day without a torrential downpour at some point of the day. Usually around 2 or 3 pm I can look out the window and see the biggest, blackest clouds I’ve seen in my life forming overhead. And I’m in the Fort Worth Diocese!
The fact that there is any educated person alive who can even remotely make this argument is the REAL reason civilization is in decline.
Rain falls on the just
And the unjust too.
It hates to, but must –
Rain falls on the just.
The unjust have sussed:
Whatever they do,
Rain falls on the just
And the unjust too.
‘Nuff said.
T
The version I learned when younger, Tikvah, was:
The rain it raineth every day,
Upon the just and unjust fellah,
But chiefly on the just, because,
The unjust’s got the just’s umbrellah.
Sigh. If only we could build a portable pipeline to go from flood areas to the drought or fire areas the assist in relief for all three.
I’d like to offer a response to this topic I recently saw on another blog from the Rev. Br. Tobias Haller:
Gotta love a church where you’re still allowed to believe in, oh I dunno… physics maybe ? 😉
Oh yes, hurricane season. But why are there storms? Tornadoes? Earthquakes? Volcanic eruptions? etc? Perhaps because this is a fallen world, no longer perfect? Perhaps that’s why we can say these things are God’s judgment on us all.