Fire And Brimstone, And A Kwik-E Mart

As you may know there have been a number of freakish storms this last week, resulting in the flooding of the area around Sheffield. I was due to travel up to Leeds last Tuesday but had to cancel since the country was effectively cut in half with road and rail networks down. For me it was just an inconvenience, but for the people who actually live in the area, it was pretty much a disaster, and my sympathies to them.

Of course, most people will see the events as little more than an unfortunate collision of weather systems... but not if you can get some publicity mileage out of it! Yesterday the Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle said that

This is a strong and definite judgment because the world has been arrogant in going its own way... We are reaping the consequences of our moral degradation, as well as the environmental damage that we have caused... 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.

How does such intolerance like this still exist in the 21st century? I know I was somewhat surprised at the slightly militant quality of the Deep C Divas performance at our summer concert, but I guess that because I live in the cosmopolitain and progressive bubble that is London, I have forgotten that such attitudes live on our doorstep.

I think it is time for something to perk me up, and what better than a real-life Kwik-E Mart with a shiny life-sized Apu behind the counter?