Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
So says Anglican Bishop Graham Dow. No, not Pat Robertson, an Anglican bishop. In England. Seriously.
"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."..."In the Bible, institutional power is referred to as 'the beast', which sets itself up to control people and their morals. Our government has been playing the role of God in saying that people are free to act as they want," he said, adding that the introduction of recent pro-gay laws highlighted its determination to undermine marriage.
Yeah, where did we ever get that crazy idea that people had free will and stuff?
Comments
If he had stuck with the "floods are the consequence of being morally degenerate and not taking care of the environment" meme, then I could possibly have gotten behind his message. I think that taking care of the only world we have is as important as taking care of the only body we have. But that's not his point at all...sigh...
I'd love to know through what warped logic he is trying to make homosexuals more responsible for environmental disasters than your everyday average joe!
Madness...
Posted by: Kate | July 4, 2007 10:02 AM
If god is pissed off that we're being too nice to gay people, why doesn't he just tell us? As things stand, it could just as easily be heavy seasonal rain coupled with a lack of investment in flood defences.
And this was much worse and happened when it was still a criminal offence to be a practicing homosexual. So perhaps god is actually pissed off that stupid bishops are still preaching homophobia.
Posted by: Tycho the Dog | July 4, 2007 10:21 AM
"In the Bible, institutional power is referred to as 'the beast', which sets itself up to control people and their morals."
This guy doesn't understand what he himself is a part of.
Posted by: skblllzzzz | July 4, 2007 11:02 AM
I thought we had cleared out most of our religious nuts and dumped them in the States a few centuries back. Obviously, a few slipped through the net
So the Bishop worships a God who visits death and destruction on innocent people because a few homosexuals want to get married? Even if such a being existed, it might be feared but it would certainly not be worthy of worship - whatever that is supposed to mean.
Posted by: Ian H Spedding FCD | July 4, 2007 11:35 AM
I'm as happy as anyone who frequents here to have a go at religious zealots and their irrational ways but this guy actually has a point underneath what he's saying. If you ignore the largely tiresome anti-gay rhetoric what he's basically saying is that "morally bad" acts have caused damage to the environment and that this has caused flooding. Now, all religious views aside, for certain values of "morally bad" I don't personally think that's a ridiculous claim to make...
Posted by: David Durant | July 4, 2007 11:51 AM
I don't think the problem is with his logic - his error is in his assumptions. Given:
1. God exists, and has set down rules for us to live by.
2. We're violating those rules en masse through current behaviors and legislative changes.
3. God punishes the society as a whole for the transgressions of a part.
If you accept those assumptions, then his conclusion is fairly clear. Especially since he can pick and choose his moral disasters to match natural disasters. Tycho, I feel sure that SOMETHING was going on in 1952 or '53 that Bishop Dow could point to as worthy of Divine Retribution - for instance, it was in 1952 that Bill Haley and the Comets got that evil Rock and Roll started.
Posted by: BobApril | July 4, 2007 12:13 PM
Religious leader says someting stupid. This is news?
Posted by: MAJeff | July 4, 2007 12:30 PM
"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. "
Um, I think this guy needs a serious history lesson. The fall of the Roman empire came several hundred years after the New Testament.
Posted by: Ginger Yellow | July 4, 2007 1:37 PM
Time was that Anglicans were seen as Catholics without an infallible Pope or an immaculate Virgin: a place where you didn't have to leave your brain at the church door.
Increasingly, they have become knee-jerk fundamentalists in drag, to the point where they fail to read their own scripture, except where it reinforces the party line.
Luke 13:1-5
1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they have suffered these things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (ASV)
Time to shop for a new church.
Posted by: Farb | July 4, 2007 2:13 PM
Wait, back up. They control people by saying it's okay to do whatever you want? That's very pomo.
Posted by: Coin | July 4, 2007 2:27 PM
We do have free will. But if we choose to use in a way that God disapproves of, God will fuck us up.
Check this Hymn out, it lays the deal out real well
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/502114
Posted by: comradebillyboy | July 4, 2007 4:48 PM
I'd love to know through what warped logic he is trying to make homosexuals more responsible for environmental disasters than your everyday average joe!
Yeah really. How come he doesn't go on and on about, oh, stuff that hurts people. Stuff like stealing hubcaps or floods or something like that. He complains about a lack of respect for the planet but he doesn't complain about his monster god going around and causing floods and earthquakes, lol.
Posted by: 386sx | July 4, 2007 4:56 PM
Graham Dow is the CofE's highest-ranking Charismatic, and he has strong beliefs about demons and spiritual warfare. From a 2003 profile:
A couple of years ago he was blaming floods on a medieval curse.Posted by: Bartholomew | July 4, 2007 5:52 PM
comradelittleboy wrote:
This claim, of course, contradicts the excuse many Christians use for why the Old Testament no longer applies. The argument goes that now that Jesus has come back, God reserves all punishment until the end. The Mosaic law is no longer enforced because God has given us the opportunity to accept Christ before we die and absolve ourselves of those sins, so we have total free will while we are alive and we are judged at the end based solely on whether we accept Christ and repent. The other problem, obviously, is that if God "fucks us up" by sending floods, he's also fucking up a lot of people who didn't do anything wrong at all.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | July 4, 2007 9:56 PM
God has given us the opportunity to accept Christ before we die and absolve ourselves of those sins, so we have total free will while we are alive and we are judged at the end based solely on whether we accept Christ and repent.
Repent for what. Being born? Well excuuuse me god for being born. Real monsters could only dream of being such a monstrous monster. And then apologists try and claim that the real point behind all of that has nothing to do with fear. It's about love. Give me a break.
Posted by: 386sx | July 4, 2007 11:27 PM
The truly disturbing part of this is that this bishop is part of an established church, in the 1st Ammendment sense of established. At least Pat Robertson needs to go through normal political channels to have influence.
Posted by: James | July 5, 2007 1:38 AM
Maybe Bush will have to alter his idiotic mantra 'Terrorists hate our freedom' to 'Christians hate our freedom'.
Should make the choice of who to bomb next quite interesting.
Posted by: Matthew Young | July 5, 2007 8:29 AM
Matthew: At least if they bomb English cathedrals no one will get hurt.
Posted by: kehrsam | July 5, 2007 10:11 AM
Well they already have to bomb Glasgow, Bradford and Oldham for harbouring terrorists so they may as well get it all out of the way at once.
Posted by: Matthew Young | July 5, 2007 11:03 AM
Actually the group most at threat from the bombing of English cathedrals might just be American tourists.
Posted by: Matthew Young | July 5, 2007 11:05 AM