You have commented 338 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Britain
Wacky (CofE) Bishop of London Declares Fatwa Against Flying In Aircraft
2006-07-24
Posted late Sunday, moved to Monday. AoS.
Flying abroad for a foreign holiday is "a sin" against the planet, one of the country's leading bishops has declared. Like murder, adultery and stealing, choosing to travel on jet planes has moral consequences, according to the Bishop of London because flights are doing too much damage to the environment.

In a highly controversial statement, Richard Chartres, 59 - who admits to regular visits to Russia - urged Christians to stop taking endless flights and to live a more 'eco-friendly' lifestyle. He said: "There is now an overriding imperative to walk more lightly upon the earth and we need to make our lifestyle decisions in that light.

"Making selfish choices such as flying on holiday or buying a large car are a symptom of sin.

"Sin is not just a restricted list of moral mistakes. It is living a life turned in on itself where people ignore the consequences of their actions."

But the timing of his remarks means that millions of people who need to listen to his message will not be around to hear it. An estimated 2.1 million holidaymakers crowded into Britain's airports at the weekend at the start of the school summer holidays. They will be followed by millions more over the next few weeks as Britons' love of holidays abroad continues to boom.

Figures show we are taking more holidays than ever, with the total up 6.9 million last year to 66.3 million.

No political party would dare to say anything as outspoken as the bishop for fear of losing all support among their holiday-loving voters. Resorts such as Blackpool, Brighton and the Cornish coast are still hugely popular, but millions of people will only settle for a foreign escape.

But a family of four flying to Spain comes at a price for the environment, as well as the cost of the trip. Their return flight from Heathrow to Malaga in Spain will produce about two tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the Carbon Neutral Company. To soak up its carbon emissions, the family would need to spend an extra £17.30 to plant trees to 'neutralise' their emissions.
Or they could just go to dinner at the local Texas-style steakhouse. Think ribs.
For a return trip to Florida - one of the most popular destinations for British tourists - this rises to 6.4 tonnes.

The bishop's remarks come at a time when the Church of England is desperately trying to convince people to be green. It is about to publish a booklet about the environment called Treasures on Earth and has set up 'The 40 per cent Church of England' campaign. This aims to slash the church's carbon emissions - a major contributor to climate change - to 40 per of current levels by 2050.
Wonder when the good bishop last thought about Jesus and His teachings?
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury who drives the eco-car, Toyota Prius, is also banging the green drum. He has said: "We are not consumers of what God has made. We are in communion with it."

Last month, all parish churches were ordered told to carry out an audit of current energy use in a bid to cut their usage.

The Bishop of London, who is married with four children, heads the church's 'Shrinking the Footprint' campaign. The Church of England was unable to say whether the bishop ever flies abroad or the type of car that he drives.
And they aren't going to find out for you, either.
The bishop, who also attacked people who drive big cars, was dismissed by a motoring group chief. Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "You cannot just point the finger in that way.

"Some people have larger cars for perfectly legitimate reasons so I don't think morality comes into it.

"Yes, climate change is a problem but we need an overall strategy to tackle it.

"This is rather a knee-jerk reaction from the Church. Maybe they should stick to what they know best."
"If God had meant us to fly, he would have given us Flying Nun hats, like that cute little Sally Field."
And it isn't clear what the CoE knows best anymore.
Posted by:Anonymoose

#25  "Is the Blogmeister aware that the concept of Fatwa is exclusively an Islamic word and is anthema to Christian thoughts, words and deeds?"

I believe it is something called "irony". Something obviously lacking within your make-up.
Posted by: Fordesque   2006-07-24 21:13  

#24  "To soak up its carbon emissions" (from flying to Spain example), "the family would need to spend an extra £17.30 to plant trees to 'neutralise' their emissions."

Careful, "they" might come up with some kind of "trees to cancel nighttime contrails" tax/charge. :-)
Posted by: gorb   2006-07-24 19:52  

#23  Which is why I say all Brits should stay home on Sundays thus saving the gas they'd otherwise use driving to this idiot's church.

I think that might include a few thousand people, all told. I believe that "Shrinking the Footprint" is already working, judging by active membership rolls.
Posted by: Xbalanke   2006-07-24 18:18  

#22  Priest: "Owah!"
Response: "Oooo-wahhhh!"
Priest: "Tagoo!"
Response: "Ta-gooooo!"
Priest: "Siam!"
Response: "Siammmm!"

Posted by: mojo   2006-07-24 13:30  

#21  In a highly controversial statement, Richard Chartres, 59 - who admits to regular visits to Russia...

So how does he get there?
From now on, make sure the sanctimonious prick walks.
Posted by: tu3031   2006-07-24 12:19  

#20  Seafarious,

In case you don't recognize that photo, it's actually the Archbishop hangin' loose with his self-proclaimed Druid friends.


See how bad the Druids are for the environment? They oughtta be ashamed of themselves.
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-07-24 12:07  

#19  
#16 Anguus---The poster "Anonymoose" used the term "fatwa" in the title of the article to get his point across.

It's subtle, like the p in swimming.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2006-07-24 11:43  

#18  Next fatwa will forbid to eat beans, chickpeas and even potatoes because this produces greenhouse gasses.
Posted by: JFM   2006-07-24 11:15  

#17  "To soak up its carbon emissions" (from flying to Spain example), "the family would need to spend an extra £17.30 to plant trees to 'neutralise' their emissions."

It's all nonsense, but if a family can afford to fly to Spain, they can easily afford $50 to plant a few trees. Might even be fun. So . . . fly around and plant trees. Sounds like a plan.
Posted by: ex-lib   2006-07-24 10:40  

#16  Is this really another batty idea from the Church of England? I want to look at it from another point of view.



I suppose that the C of E believes that:


a. global warming exists. It is of man's making and it is a bad thing for the Earth (there is
something in Genesis about God handing over the responsibility for looking after the Earth to
man)


b. individuals should then behave more responsibly towards this problem.



Note that the Bishop does not call flying specifically a sin, but a symptom of sin and with
regards to the meaning of sin itself, one could do no worse than read his second quote from the
article:



"Sin is not just a restricted list of moral mistakes. It is living a life turned in on itself where
people ignore the consequences of their actions."



It is regrettable that the comments on the blog make no mention of these reasonable points.



P.S. Is the Blogmeister aware that the concept of Fatwa is exclusively an Islamic word and is
anthema to Christian thoughts, words and deeds?

Posted by: Anguus   2006-07-24 10:35  

#15  Sounds like kind of a fly-by-night theory to me...
Posted by: Flinelet Angavitle5908   2006-07-24 09:38  

#14  I've begun to see "statistics" cited by "all the right people" that *nightime* contrails are bad and contribute to global warming, *daytime* contrails are good 'cos they reflect sunlight.

Sayonara, redeye flights to Europe and East Coast...
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-07-24 09:30  

#13  I agree, we should all be more eco-conscious. Which is why I say all Brits should stay home on Sundays thus saving the gas they'd otherwise use driving to this idiot's church.
Posted by: Broadhead6   2006-07-24 08:55  

#12  'The 40 per cent Church of England'

They are easilly going to eliminate 60% of current membership to make the goal.
Posted by: Inspector Clueso   2006-07-24 08:52  

#11  gorb, actually it was 2 degrees when the contrails were absent after 11 Sep. Naturally the good bishop wouldn't care to have actual facts get in the way of his self-righteous argument...

Posted by: Swamp Blondie   2006-07-24 08:46  

#10  The Bishop of London, who is married with four children, heads the church's 'Shrinking the Footprint' campaign

Shrking gis church's footprint I would say. Or enlarging Mr Bishop's assprint
Posted by: JFM   2006-07-24 08:15  

#9  #5 Seafarious,

In case you don't recognize that photo, it's actually the Archbishop hangin' loose with his self-proclaimed Druid friends.

Apparently, Anglicanism isn't enough for him; he has to dress like a pre-Christian "druid" and pretend to be some sort of priest from Stonehenge.

Like a sad group of Trekkies speaking "Klingon", if you ask me (and no one has). I believe the proper term in the Queen's English is "wanker".
Posted by: JDB   2006-07-24 04:54  

#8  These clowns must be suffering from delayed jetlag. When I fly my plane on holiday, I only get proplag, so I must be exempt from the fatwa, heh.

So if you fly a broad on a foreign holiday, you are a sinner, ya say? What about yer wife-o? Is that OK? And what about flying from London to Stornaway? In country, is that ok? I've got a million of them, but Ima gettn bored.
Posted by: Al Aska Paul, Resident Imam   2006-07-24 02:47  

#7  Has anyone seen anything about temperatures across the US going up an average of 3 degrees on the days that all the planes were grounded after 9/11? Something about the con-trails reflecting enough sunlight energy back into space that it actually made some noticable difference? I don't believe it, but it might be interesting if it were true.
Posted by: gorb   2006-07-24 02:44  

#6  Typical elitist hypocritical crap. Some goof takes his family to Spain, and that's a sin against the planet. But his trips to Russia are ok. No wonder the C of E can't get butts in the pews.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie   2006-07-24 02:03  

#5  Those cassocks look rather snowy white. It must take a great many pounds of greenhouse emmissions to heat the many frivolous gallons of water necessary, plus the ghastly oceans of bleach to properly dazzle your dull-witted constituents. I'd also like to see the union cards for your beleaguered laundresses, undoubtedly labouring away in inhuman conditions for your superfluous and petty vanities.

Have you no shame?
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-07-24 01:10  

#4  I saw these morons on tv the other day, giving a service. They were talking about how 'green' Jesus was. It's kinda sad how desperate they are to fill the empty seats.
Posted by: Kali   2006-07-24 00:55  

#3  #2 xbalanke - it appears "what they know best" is making complete public asses of themselves.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-07-23 21:19  

#2  "This is rather a knee-jerk reaction from the Church. Maybe they should stick to what they know best."

As a former Episcopalian, I still don't know what they know best, and I'm pretty sure they don't either.
Posted by: xbalanke   2006-07-23 21:11  

#1  Prime example of why organized religion fails it as far as I am concerned. Though not as bad a condoning murder, rape amd pillage it's just as stupid.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2006-07-23 21:09  

00:00