Anglican bishop claims credit crunch is God's punishment

11:34am Saturday 8th November 2008

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Thousands have lost their jobs and had their homes repossessed but an Anglican bishop says the credit crunch is a gift from God.

The Bishop of Lewes, Right Reverend Wallace Benn, believes the economic slump is God's way of punishing Britain for being too materialistic.

In the November edition of the Chichester Diocese newsletter, he said: "I believe that God ultimately has allowed this crisis for good.

"Our nation, like all the western nations, has become consumed with materialism. It has a stranglehold on our lives.

"We have found our security in 'securities' and have failed to grasp that nothing is permanent other than God.

"Our confidence has been misplaced. Something was needed to shake that and that is what we are experiencing.

"If this shakes our confidence in mammon (money) and forces us back to our creator and redeemer it will have been worth it!"

"That should be our prayers as Christians. We may all have to suffer a bit, but God is an expert at bringing good out of sad, difficult, even evil situations."

But Eamonn Butler, director at free-market think tank Adam Smith Institute, said many people who were not materialistic had lost their entire savings.

He said: "Many people, who have not worshipped money or materialism, have seen their savings disappear and their lives made poorer.

"I find little comfort in this. The spiritual world may be important to people, but they also need to feed and shelter themselves and their families."

Steve Wheeler, 34, an electrician, from Chichester, West Sussex, who has lost his job in the last month, said: "When church leaders come up with something like this it is no wonder less people go to churches on a Sunday.

"You have to ask yourself what sort of world these bishops are living in when they say the credit crunch could be a good thing."

A spokesman for the British Humanist Association added: "Perfectly ordinary people who are doing their best to look after their families have been hit.

"To imagine a God who punishes ordinary families who are trying to make ends meet because of somebody else's greed is a horrible idea."