Is flying a sin?

There's a lot of polemic being hurled around about what is a sin and what isn't in the church -- and that's usually about sexual morality. And so it was most refreshing to learn about a bishop who is asking us to look at the sinful excesses of our carbon footprint on this earth. Take a look:

The Bishop of London, who was criticised last year when he suggested that flying to go on holiday was sinful, has agreed not to fly for a year to prove his point.

In a move causing his staff problems rearranging his travel schedule, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, one of the Church of England's leading spokesmen on environmental issues, said he would not fly to meetings nor, since he took family breaks in Devon, to go on holidays.
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A Channel 4 documentary next Monday entitled God is Green will show the film-maker Mark Dowd persuading the bishop to sign a pledge not to travel by air. Bishop Chartres hesitates only momentarily before choosing the "gold standard" of no flights at all.

Last July the bishop was criticised when he claimed the "selfish" choices of flying on holiday and having a large car were "a symptom of sin" - of ignoring the consequences of one's actions. It led to questions about his air travel and his chauffeur-driven car, which the bishop insisted he needed for his diocese work - and which turned out to be a hybrid model.

Of course, being in Britain, he can get places by train. Not possible in most parts of the US, I'm afraid.