Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Wasn't sure if this should go in current affairs or humour :DGood to see we are still capable of producing our very own nutcases, rather than always farming this kind of thing out to our muslim brethren :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

So got any names..Would be nice to know whom to avoid. ;)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Can't be a judgement..... Romford is still dry ;)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

well where i live the floods are a testiment to the idiots in the local council ,allowing an estate to be built on a flood plain, and nothing to do with the people that are housed there.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

link :)
So 'God' in all his greatness punishes everyone indiscriminately....nice :dozey::rolleyes:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

And I thought that the thinking of the middle ages was behind us...:rolleyes:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

The middle ages are now a state of mind :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Yep, there's something distinctly arrogant about this. :rolleyes:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Time to get ship building..........................

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Obviously, God allowed the estate to be built so that evil people would go and live there and then be punished.....

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Well you have at least 10 years to go then...:p:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Me? I'm in the stone age :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Shurely you meant "stoned"? ;)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Not after the lecture I attended yesterday.....about the effects of cannabis in the body :erm:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

hmmm so god works for ne lincs council...that explains the high council tax :angel:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

God works for the council.....that would explain a lot :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

As the gentleman quoted in the article was the Bishop of Carlisle, it must have been truly indiscriminate back in 2005... :erm:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Or perhaps God knows something about the bishop that we don't :disturbd:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

batty boy ?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Can't imagine why church attendancies are on the decline when you can go and listen to this sort of religious crap. What the hell is it with priests of allsorts that feel they have to butt into things at the worst possible time with rubbish. If this was god's punishment then the term benevolent seems a bit optimistic i am so glad i don't believe in any of the religious stuff.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I know some want to live in the past. What next

Witch hunts
Crusades
Wearing sack cloth



When will these story tellers realise we have grown up and don't believe there stories anymore.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Cast your bread not onto the water, but allow it to rise to the breadbin, whereby it will float itself

Blessed are the ducks

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I thought it was the cheesemakers who were blessed?

As in "Cheeses of Nazareth"......

Romani ite domum (100 times)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

i'm up for a crusade:ninja: we'll start with port talbot

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I guess there's a lot of blessing going on. Possibly on the 7th day He had a ****-up and instead of telling everyone/thing he loved them/it, He just slurred that they were blessed :erm:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Bleshshed, shurely........


(I know - don't call you Shurely....)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Well, obviously, that's not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products... ;)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

MR. CHEEKY: I was only asking her to shut up, so I can hear what he's saying, Big Nose.
MRS. BIG NOSE: Don't you call my husband 'Big Nose'!
MR. CHEEKY: Well, he has got a big nose.
GREGORY: Could you be quiet, please?
JESUS: They shall have the earth...
GREGORY: What was that?
JESUS: ...for their possession. How blest are those...
MR. CHEEKY: I don't know. I was too busy talking to Big Nose.
JESUS: ...who hunger and thirst to see...
MAN #1: I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers.'
JESUS: ...right prevail.
MRS. GREGORY: Ahh, what's so special about the cheesemakers?
GREGORY: Well, obviously, this is not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.
MR. CHEEKY: See? If you hadn't been going on, we'd have heard that, Big Nose.
JESUS: How blest are those who...
MR. BIG NOSE: Hey. Say that once more; I'll smash your bloody face in.
MRS. GREGORY: Ohh.
MR. CHEEKY: Better keep listening. Might be a bit about 'Blessed are the big noses.'
BRIAN: Oh, lay off him.
MR. CHEEKY: Oh, you're not so bad yourself, Conkface. Where are you two from? Nose City?
MR. BIG NOSE: One more time, mate; I'll take you to the ****in' cleaners!
MRS. BIG NOSE: Language!
JESUS: ...hunger and thirst to see...

For those interested LINKY

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Considering you lot think it's all fairytales, you don't half let it wind you up! :erm:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

erm, I don't believe it's all fairytales.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Amused bemusement really......till the people who believe in fairy tales hand down judgement on the rest of based on those fairy tales......thats when I get angry.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Now I'm bemused ... what sort of judgement can a Bishop possibly exercise over those who don't believe? Surely if you think it's nonsense, what a Bishop says is completely irrelevant to you.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

But if the people who do believe take his word as gospel (excuse the pun), and then start treating "others" (as defined by the Bish) as evil/bad, then it does affect those who don't believe (and btw, I do).

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

It's the fact that he even says it that bothers me. Thats the kind of thinking that gets us bombed by religious nuts of other persuasions.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

But for people to do that, they would have to accept what the Bishop says about judgment on society, whilst ignoring what the Bishop says about forgiveness and new life in Jesus, loving your enemies, and so on.

The entirety of Christian theology is absolutely colossal. It's not reasonable to take one single statement by one of its teachers made on one particular day and then assume that people would, or should, act solely on that.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

M'eh, you're just living in the wrong bit ;)

Actually, this must mean that everyone on Nug Street are totally righteous, seeing as the river at one end didn't breach, and the clogged drains actually managed to deal with the water this time.

Anyone else want to bask in my glory :angel: :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I can't speak for other religious persuasions. I can only speak for the Christian one, and whilst I know you're not a believer, I think you are sufficiently well-acquainted with the life and teachings of Jesus to know that he never, at any stage, advocated the use of force by his disciples to make a point. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

This Bishop apparently thinks that either he is qualified to comment on God's intentions and thoughts when it comes to happenings in daily life (which I would imagine religious people would find extremely arrogant; I'd be interested to hear what you think of this), or thinks he can use his religion to comment on how other people lead their life, which I find extremely arrogant and patronising.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Luke 19:27

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay before me.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Well, it HAS only been about 2 weeks since the last religion-bashing thread :dozey:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Shouldn't that be '...I should rain over them...' ;)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Nugget, I think you may have a point there!!

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Which begs the question of who started this. I think there is a case to be made for saying the bishop did.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Now now - we'll have no bishop bashing on this forum :disturbd:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Russ, I am not trying to bash religion (as I am a practitioner), just one person's reported comments, using his position within a religion to give those comments added weight.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I would think anybody who believed themselves qualified to comment on God's thoughts to be somewhat deluded, and possibly arrogant, maybe even a little unhinged.

The only proper position of a Christian teacher is humility and absolute reliance on God, and not reliant on a sense of personal qualifications. However that does not preclude the possibility of God asking such a person to deliver a prophetic message. In such cases the person speaking would indeed be in a position of commenting on God's thoughts on specific issues. This is why, in Christian terminology, we're told to 'discern the spirits' - know the man, know his ministry. I don't know the Bishop of Carlisle (assuming that's who it was, I've not seen a link yet), hence my reluctance to weigh in on either side on this specific issue.

It would be dishonest of me not to point out, however, that the principle of God using major calamities - sometimes military, sometimes natural disasters - as a means of exercising judgment at a national or cultural level, with the intention of causing people to reassess their lives and turn to him, is well established in the Bible. The destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Israelites to Babylon in the 6th century BC is directly attributed by both historical and prophetic authors in the Old Testament to Israel's disobedience and God's judgment as a direct consequence.

I don't expect any non-believer to simply roll over as a result of this and say 'well that's ok then' - simply to accept that such a view is far from alien to Biblical Christianity and to be just a little less surprised to hear someone mention it. Again, I stress, I'm not using this general point to validate the specifics of what the Bishop has apparently said this weekend.

To your final point - any religion which sets out to promote a certain way of life in its adherents, and to persuade other people to join up and adopt that same way of life, is inevitably going to end up saying that it believes one lifestyle is better than another. It has always been so and it always will be so. All that has changed is the current fashion for relativism and the privatisation of 'truth'. It's not surprising that a generation that has been taught that truth is a personal thing rather than an absolute would be offended when it clashes with a body of thought that holds truth to be an absolute concept.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

linky in post #5: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34341134-post5.html

No mention of a prophetic message. The word arrogance is used though.

Not surprising perhaps, but irritating and offensive (to me) nonetheless.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Right....so what exactly is it that people are objecting to here, the fact the man gave his opinion, that he believes these natural disasters are of God or what he believes is the reason for them?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

In my case, what he believes is the reason for them.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Well, one of the things I object to is that, to my mind, the man gave his opinion, but wrapped it up as divine truth. There is no mention of this being his opinion, rather we have a high ranking religious person apparently claiming this as truth. The same absolute truth which he apparently thinks gives him the right to pass judgment on other people's life. Plus, with him being high ranking, is it surprising when people think he is speaking not just for himself, but for a wider community from his church? I think the man is either extremely arrogant, extremely stupid, or both.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Thank you :)

Let's keep this going if we can....

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

depends what religion you follow.............

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Not really. When I called it "Christianity-bashing" the usual suspects are quick to point out that it's "religion-bashing" apparently.

Anyway, do you object to what he's said? If so my question in post 48 stands.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Personally, I have to say that I object to the fact that he's alluding to it being a 'punishment' for, amongst other things, the increased permissiveness within society. To be honest, I'm not bothered if that's his opinion because he's fully entitled to it, but I would prefer not to be told that it's an indictment of Western society by a 'higher being' that I choose not to believe in :shrug:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

There must be a lot of permissiveness going on in South Asia then, over 2 million people displaced by flooding there! :erm:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I can respect your stance there however if that's the case for most people, it makes you wonder why people are getting upset over something, as Chris mentions earlier, that they don't believe in.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Speaking as a godless heathen living in sin and currently covetous of a new iPod and a Wii, my house is nice and dry and my garden is nice and green. Must be some other immoral, greedy people who aroused the Almighty's wrath. I'm off to book a table at Tiger Tiger.

[Of course, people could have been on the receiving end of floodwater because it bloody rained a lot, but that would be the obvious, rational, scientific explanation, wouldn't it, and we can't be doing with that]

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

PMSL at the Google banner ad I just saw at the top of this page

http://www.cthree.org/Group/Group.aspx?id=552

:D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Just don't park too close to the entrance, or leave anything on the back seat covered with a blanket.

Out of curiousity were there many churches flooded over the last few days?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I suppose that, in my case, 'upset' is probably the wrong term in that I've got no problem with his opinion as it stands - my problem is that he's used a sweeping generalisation :shrug:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I know what you're thinking, but it doesn't work like that. Plenty of God-fearing Jews were exiled to Babylon, including Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament.

I'm still not siding with or against the Bishops here, but another observation: they are not pointing the finger at individuals, they are not claiming that Mrs Jones of 42 Acacia Avenue has had her house drenched for something she specifically has done. They are suggesting that British society is suffering a judgement from God because it has moved away from the way of life he demands.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Ah, but it's not that simple. Christianity is an evangelical religion. We've all been subjected to its teachings (against our will for many of us). It's not simply a case of just ignore them if you're not interested. They (well some of them) keep trying to interfere with our lives.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

In the Telegraph article, 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.
"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.
"The sexual orientation regulations [which give greater rights to gays] are part of a general scene of permissiveness. We are in a situation where we are liable for God's judgment, which is intended to call us to repentance."

What will we be judged on next? To quote Jeremy Hardy -
"As you clearly say, it states in Leviticus Chapter 18 Verse 22 that homosexuality is an abomination. Which reminds me—there are a couple of things I need guidance on. Firstly, If I wanted to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7, how much could I expect to make from such a deal? Also, my colleague Pete insists on working on the sabbath. Exodus clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it OK to get some outside help? Lastly, does the whole city really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side. And when I burn my mother for wearing garments made from two different threads, do I torch her whole or just a bit?”

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Well...yes it is! Did that story have to be posted here? Do you, the CF membership get evangelical disturbances on the site? The last time I remember that happening was a spammer preaching the word of God but his post was immediately deleted and is now banned.

So going a little deeper, you have to wonder why it was posted here.

So do telesales people but I don't see threads having a go at them popping up all the time :shrug:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I'm assuming you Googled to find the Jeremy Hardy quote ... you could save me writing another long essay on the application of and principles behind Old Testament Law, and how and why you decide which parts of it still apply in the Christian era, by Googling a little more. You might even come across posts I've made about it in the past on this forum. ;)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

It wouldn't be, say, because money for flood prevention works has been withheld or spent in the south (where I am, about 400 yards from the river, in fact)? It's all very well pontificating, but it doesn't help stop people's houses being flooded. Private Eye pointed out last week that it was well known that York was short of several hundred million pounds for flood barriers.

After all, rain isn't exactly unknown in the UK, the relative heights of bits of land and their proximity to rivers isn't a mystery and neither is the increased danger of flooding if you concrete over flood plains and low-lying land. Let's get some perspective on here and use our God/evolution*-given intelligence and cunning to put some proper engineering in. We're supposed to be *good* at that in the UK. Taking advice from bishops on this is as pointless as making Jade Goody professor of mathematics at Cambridge.

* delete according to taste

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

That reasoning applies to the whole of CF basement. I suppose it was posted because it is a real life annoyance.

They don't interfere with people's lives as in telling people how to live their life. Oh, and search the site for TPS and see if threads about telesales people pop up.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

OK but I'm still trying to work out what exactly people are finding to be so 'annoying'.

To be fair the vast majority don't tell people how to live their lives. Firstly they ask if you'd like to discuss the bible. A bit like the vampire story - you have to invite them in first, If you've done that then you've got no right to complain :D

I'd say there are more threads about religion than telesales...

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

If - hypothetically - God wished to show his displeasure with the UK by bringing extreme weather and flooding to our shores, then any or all of the factors you have cited could have been subject to the Divine intervention necessary to bring those decisions and conditions about.

The precise means by which human will and divine purpose coexist in the universe has been argued over for centuries but theologians generally agree that it does, and I doubt any of them would be persuaded to abandon their faith as a result of a humanistic view of events such as the one you offer.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

If only... It's ingrained in society. I spent 6 years of my life at a fairly religious secondary school. Start (and occasionally end) the day with bible reading and prayer. Sing psalms in music lessons. There was little choice there, apart from choosing another school, which was not viable for academic reasons. I've had my fair share of uninvited discussion.

Perhaps that's an indication of how annoyed people are with the two? :) :jk:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Would I be right in assuming the majority of the CF populous have left school behind?

Well it's an indication of something, I won't be so cynical as to suggest anything of course..!

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Quite the contrary in fact. I get the impression many people here would not look out of place in a nursery :D

Seriously though. It does indicate how ingrained in society religion is. It's difficult to escape it, invited or uninvited.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

If what you say is true, it's still hardly intrusive. You can chose to live your life without religion causing a major inconvenience, surely?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Are we saying we cant discuss religion on the Forum? or we should be deterred from doing so?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Well, I think it is only fair to say that my spell at secondary school has caused a bit of resentment, so perhaps I've grown somewhat allergic to it.

Incidentally, it appears to have done so with quite a few of my class mates who were brought up in a religious manner but decided against it. 'Hardly intrusive' are not the words I would use to describe the experience some of them had.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Unless you are gay, and an Anglican Bishop preaches that your lifestyle is morally degraded and illegitimate, and it is reported widely in the national newspapers and broadcast media - I would call that "inconvenient", myself.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

So by commenting on something which you considered unpleasant, you're actually bringing it all back yourself?

I'm not having a go or anything, I'm just trying to work out why people feel the need to comment on something what the Bishops have said when it doesn't really impact on their lives.

Yes - experiences they had. But are not currently having as they've all left school pressumably?

---------- Post added at 12:45 ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 ----------

Well I'd call it inconvenient when people have a dig at my lifestyle too - but I take it on the chin.

So does that mean your objection is what he says is the reasons for these 'judgements'?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Also, do we not have a Pope who has decreed that all Catholic politicians are required to vote against pro-abortion legislation wherever it arises? This caused a bit of an outrage in some RC circles I believe?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I think Russ people comment on this sort of thing because it comes from someone who has no right to say a thing about anyone does he know me you or any of us on this forum. Just because i don't choose to follow the teachings of some fairytale does not mean that i or anyone else is a bad person or deserves some sort of judgement. I have no problem with people that want to believe in religion each to their own but personally i wish religion would stay out of everyday life as it doesn't seem to help much. You are who you are because of your personal choices not some devine guidance but people make choices and then if they are not good choices grab the comfort blanket of an excuse to cover that choice the two bigest blankets being religion or politics.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Russ, I don't believe a major figurehead in politics or religion has called your lifestyle "morally degraded" and "illegitimate" on national news and the newpapers, so that isn't really a fair comparison, is it?

I have already answered that question earlier (post #49).

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

OK so it's more a case of these peoples' positions which has caused the objections?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Doesn't this happen all the time with "Mad Muslim Mullahs". I mean one of them just has to say something similar or even worse, without the benefit of spin, say, and he's vilified in the press etc, even though what he says doesnt have any impact on non muslim lives.

Now Im not talking about your extreme fundamental imams who preach jihad and want to kill all westerners blah blah blah, but I can guarantee that if someone from the MCB for exapmple, had said that the flooding in yoirkshire was caused by the immorality of people in the UK, a lot of you would be recommending he board the next PIA flight back to the stone ages.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I'm not sure what you mean there.

Let's turn that around for a moment: why does the Bishop feel the need to comment on something that doesn't impact on his life?

True, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a major event for them.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Sorry, Russ, I don't understand - what peoples' positions (not being obtuse, I just don't understand if you mean the Bishop or other people)?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

By discussing something which you found unpleasant several years ago, you're bringing all the memories back yourself?

I believe he does feel it impacts on his life. A bishop is in a position of 'guidance' and is in the business of 'saving souls'. If he perceives something is threatening those souls then of course he'll feel it's his business

I'm not saying otherwise :D

But they could try to put it all behind them?

Sorry - trying to work and post at the same time :spin:

I mean is it more to do with the fact that someone with the social standing of a Bishop is making these comments.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

I know, mate - I am in the same position myself :monkey: (working from home today through the VPN).

It would be anyone making those comments; but anyone wouldn't have been reported so widely in the national press and broadcast media; with great power comes great responsibility :D (I actually believe he is trying, in his own way, to help/"save" people, but I disagree with his viewpoint (as I am sure he disagrees with mine)), and believe these sort of proclamations could raise ill-feeling against gays.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Not really, I was just telling you what has brought about my dislike of evangelical religions. Don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with people being religious, as long as they keep it to themselves.

And there you have your answer. He feels it's his business, and I feel that my life is none of his business. Kindly stay out of it, intrusively or unintrusively.

I'm sure they have. ;)

Obviously, the fact that he is a senior person in the church has a lot to do with it.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

And I'm sitting here being distracted by my female supervisor's VPL but that's not important right now.

People with perceived extreme views pop up in the media all the time, I'd suggest it's almost impossible to avoid them all - I just don't see what's so different about this example, other than possibly he's being rather un-PC.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

To demonstrate the absurdities that can be generated by religious thinking...and it was funny; as I said in post #1, I didn't know if I should put it in humour or current affairs. I decided to put it in current affairs because the proclamation seemed to have a degree of smug nastiness to it...



link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
etc....:)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

And compare those to the number (and frequency) of religion bashing threads? :)

edit: and to be fair, 3 of your examples are just about how to deal with them - not actually bashing them. Nice effort though :)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

My opinion as a young gay woman is this. I pay my taxes, look after my family and friends, I'm nice to old people, I love animals, I've never broken the law, never cheated on a partner. Basically I've lived a good life and generally been a good human being. So it really gets my goat when some idiot says the reason so many hundreds of people have lost their homes is because of people like me. I think not. It disgusts me that people of all religions continue to manipulate the teachings of their gods/idols to segregate the people of this world.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Are you sufficiently familiar with 'all religions' to be able to say who is manipulating their teachings and who isn't? Do you know what the orthodox Christian position on homosexuality is? Or the view of other religions?

The Bishop in this case cast his net far wider than you're giving him credit for. He didn't say that gay-friendly laws are the be-all and end-all of the problems he sees in society, although he certainly used them as an example.

Seeing as you're apparently interested in the genuine, un-manipulated teachings of religion, allow me to quote you a line from the Bible:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans chapter 3 verse 23

The link will give you the entire chapter so you can see it in context and satisfy yourself that I'm not manipulating anything.

God's standard for spending your afterlife as a guest in his house is extremely high - in fact, if it had a pass rate, it would be 100%. Nobody qualifies on their own merit, no matter how much tax they pay or how many grannies they help across the road. ;) Even being a married heterosexual with two kids and a mortgage doesn't make you qualify. There is no point trying to make yourself good enough by doing good things, because you can't possibly do it well enough to satisfy the standards of an utterly perfect, spotless being such as God.

If that is of any concern to you at all, then the Christian's answer for it is also in Romans chapter 3. If it isn't ... then I'm puzzled why the ramblings of an out-of-touch old religious bigot should bother you in the slightest.

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Thanks.....that wasn't all of them, just the ones I found easily :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Cracking good post - just as I've got to go out as well :D

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

1. I'm pleased you agree he's an out-of-touch old religious bigot.
2. Doesn't it bother you that the CoE elects out-of-touch religious bigots into senior positions?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

Slightly O/T, but I have to say that, even though I have no religious leanings whatsoever, it does annoy me when people feel fit to use words such as 'fairytale' when refering the Bible (as I assume this reference is). It's somewhat unfair to use the phrase in a thread like this, whilst also objecting to the comment that the thread is about.

Fair's fair, it's your opinion, but it's somewhat condescending to those who do follow a faith, particularly taken in the context of this thread.

Just my :2cents: , but there you go :shrug:

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

But the Bish said that :
That would indicate that god isn't quite so spotless or utterly perfect (since he is rather indiscriminate with his punishment)

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

The same reason that the ramblings of a young gay woman shouldn't bother you in the slightest? Thank you for the RE lesson but there really is no need. I don't believe in God. And I didn't aim any of my comments at anyone who has posted in this thread, just passing comment on the way I reacted to the comments of the bishop in the OP. And if no-one reacts to these out-of-touch bigots how on earth are people like me ever going to be equal to our peers in todays world?

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

:clap::tu::) Well said!

Re: Floods are a judgement on society, say bishops
 

But surely the fact that, using this thread as an example, most people (religious or not) have pretty much agreed that he's out of touch, why would you think that you're not equal to your peers. I can't speak for anyone else obviously but, in my opinion, you are anyway :)