This article just goes to show that religious nuttiness surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage is not unique to the United States. A British city councillor recently claimed that current severe weather in the UK is God's retribution for the passage of a same-sex marriage bill. I'll ask the question one more time, since I never get anything resembling a satisfactory answer. If homosexuality really is the main issue that the Christian God cares about, why did Jesus - who was the Christian God, according to mainstream Christian theology - say nothing about it?
The difference between Britain and the United States on this issue, then, appears to be that across the pond nobody takes David Silvester very seriously, not even his own party. In many regions of the United States, political parties continue to stand behind people who make similar ridiculous statements. If God really strikes back whenever a law contrary to the Gospel gets passed, it's hard to see why he wouldn't be angrier about laws that reward the rich at the expense of the poor - which get passed all the time both here and in Britain. But maybe those are causing some of the bad weather too.
"The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war," wrote David Silvester to his local newspaper, the Henley Standard. "I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same-sex marriage bill." He assailed the Prime Minister David Cameron for his arrogance "against the Gospel" and said "It is his fault that large swathes of the nation have been afflicted by storms and floods."
An unusual shot of old-timey religion in the arse of Britain's smarmy, well-groomed political scene, Silverster was initially supported by his party. After news reports appeared, however, he was suspended by the UKIP, which released a statement condemning his remarks. “We cannot have any individual using the Ukip banner to promote their controversial personal beliefs which are not shared by the party,” said Roger Bird, the party's regional chairman.
The difference between Britain and the United States on this issue, then, appears to be that across the pond nobody takes David Silvester very seriously, not even his own party. In many regions of the United States, political parties continue to stand behind people who make similar ridiculous statements. If God really strikes back whenever a law contrary to the Gospel gets passed, it's hard to see why he wouldn't be angrier about laws that reward the rich at the expense of the poor - which get passed all the time both here and in Britain. But maybe those are causing some of the bad weather too.
Other reasons for the poor weather...
ReplyDelete1. people wearing garments made of wool and linnen, this too is prohibited
2. people not chasing away the mother bird when collecting the eggs or young birds
3. etc
Selecting specific verses from scripture to promote personal prejudices is as old as scripture itself and leads to very dark places.
UKIP is a new party and is attracting a lot of people with non-mainstream ideas. They do not appear to be very good at screening of candidates.
I'm not very familiar with UKIP, but yeah, this guy is clearly not ready for prime time. Even his party acknowledged it when it became clear the narrative had turned against them.
ReplyDeleteNobody ever brings up this sort of divine retribution for anything other than homosexuality, which is quite telling as far as their prejudices go. There are many prohibitions in Old Testament law that are far more serious, and a lot of those modern Christians completely ignore.