The Bishop of Stafford has said: "our refusal to face the truth about climate change" makes us guilty of "locking our children and grandchildren into a world with no future and throwing away the key".

In a pastoral letter for June's parish magazines throughout the Diocese of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Gordon Mursell described the "Monstrous and revolting" crimes of Josef Fritzl as representing an extreme form of a very common philosophy of life: "I will do what makes me happy, and if that causes others to suffer, hard luck."

He also commented on the recent local election results which saw Labour suffer their heaviest losses for many years. He said: "The decline of one large political party need not in itself be bad news, whatever your personal preference: bad results can often galvanize politicians into doing better.

"More worrying is a widespread sense of drift: pollsters report increasing numbers of people who feel disaffected with all the mainstream parties, and either don’t vote or vote for the BNP instead. Again, it’s easy to disapprove. A wiser course would be to consider how to promote a better alternative."

And he said the best response Christians can make to the moral decay and political apathy is "to offer, and live, Christ’s vision for a new and better world."

He said: "The Bible is full of stirring visions of a new cosmos - not just a new church, but a new world. Revelation 21 is one example; Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is another. A third is Isaiah 65:17-25, in which God promises to build a new Jerusalem in which ill-health will be unheard-of, everyone will be properly housed and employed, and even animals will live together in peace.

"A fantasy? That depends on us. And anyway, we need good and attractive fantasies which will draw people away from the sick perversions of a Josef Fritzl and the empty slogans of so many politicians."

ENDS

The full text of the Bishop of Stafford's Pastoral Letter reads:

Following our dream

Two events dominate the media as I write this. The first is the horrifying discovery of the crimes of Josef Fritzl, in the Austrian town of Amstetten: he imprisoned and abused his own daughter, and several of the children he fathered through her, in a soundproof underground cellar beneath his own house for 24 years. The second is the local election results, in which Labour have suffered their heaviest losses for many years.

These two events have more in common than we might think. It’s easy to demonize Josef Fritzl. And it’s certainly hard to imagine a more monstrous or revolting crime. The publication of photographs showing him sunbathing in Thailand while his helpless daughter and several young children were locked in his basement is bound to make us ask: how could anyone do such a thing?

And yet Josef Fritzl represents merely the most extreme form of a very common philosophy of life: I will do what makes me happy, and if that causes others to suffer, hard luck. In fact you could argue that, by our refusal to face the truth about climate change, we are as guilty as he is – we are in effect locking our children and grandchildren into a world with no future and throwing away the key. We are right to be disgusted at these crimes. But mere disgust is too convenient. There are lessons for all of us to learn.

And what about the local elections? The decline of one large political party need not in itself be bad news, whatever your personal preference: bad results can often galvanize politicians into doing better. More worrying is a widespread sense of drift: pollsters report increasing numbers of people who feel disaffected with all the mainstream parties, and either don’t vote or vote for the BNP instead. Again, it’s easy to disapprove. A wiser course would be to consider how to promote a better alternative.

And this, surely, is where Christianity comes in. The Bible is full of stirring visions of a new cosmos - not just a new church, but a new world. Revelation 21 is one example; Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is another. A third is Isaiah 65:17-25, in which God promises to build a new Jerusalem in which ill-health will be unheard-of, everyone will be properly housed and employed, and even animals will live together in peace.

A fantasy? That depends on us. And anyway, we need good and attractive fantasies which will draw people away from the sick perversions of a Josef Fritzl and the empty slogans of so many politicians.

For a really compelling dream or vision draws people together in a common cause. As I write, one other event has hit the headlines. Stoke City have been promoted to the Premiership; and the whole of North Staffordshire is celebrating - as I’m sure they are down the M6 in West Bromwich too!

But if football can draw people together, so can faith; for God has entrusted to us a tremendous vision of how the world can be remade in obedience to Jesus Christ. The best response to the moral decay and political apathy we see around us is to offer, and live, Christ’s vision for a new and better world.

Gordon Mursell
Bishop of Stafford

    • See also "Bishop clarifies environment comments"