I almost had forgotten that yesterday was the official start of gay "pride" month. But luckily I was reminded by, well, virtually everything I came in contact with throughout the day.
I'd think at some point the narrative about the marginalization of gay and lesbian people will have to account for the unparalleled promotion and celebration of their existence. I'm not sure when the LGBT movement will feel comfortable moving on from the victim role they played to perfection, and finally claim their unquestioned victory in the culture war, but who are we kidding? Can anyone say with a straight face that the gay rights movement hasn't won over the hearts and minds of pop culture?
Just yesterday:
- Tony the Tiger, Snap, Crackle, and Pop, Toucan Sam, and even a little frosted mini wheat dude waving the LGBT rainbow flag graced my breakfast table as part of Kellogg's "Together" cereal promotion with GLAAD.
- A quick check of Instagram to see if my beloved Indianapolis Colts had made any trade moves to acquire receiver Julio Jones, instead gave me an important heads-up about my favorite NFL team's commitment to gay pride:
- Just moments later, the news was reported that the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See (America's diplomatic outreach to the central government of the Catholic Church in Rome, Italy) was flying the gay pride flag from their building.
Religious professor and scholar Dr. Chad Pecknold found the move to be gravely offensive to the Catholic Church:
To be fair, I can't speak to how distasteful the act is to the Catholic Church. While I'm not Catholic, I am not blind to the fact that the oldest Catholic institution of higher learning in the country, Georgetown University, boasts an "LGBTQ resource center." Ditto that kind of promotion by the country's most recognizable Catholic school, the University of Notre Dame.
Meanwhile, Father James Martin is a papal adviser on matters of gay identity, and is nothing if not utterly committed to achieving full acceptance of LGBTQ relationships within the Catholic Church. And he's certainly not alone.
If the Catholic Church as an institution isn't grieving and correcting all that, I can't say I think it will experience some communal aneurysm over the pride flag being flown at our U.S. embassy. But again, since I'm not Catholic, I am happy to defer to those who are, like Professor Pecknold.
But while I'll let someone else more qualified speak to whether the Roman Catholic Church sees the U.S. promotion of diplomatic pride flags as offensive, I can say with certainty that even if the church isn't insulted by the act, God is – and that's a far more consequential proposition.
Stop and consider the biblical origin of the rainbow. Following Noah's flood, God placed the rainbow in the sky as a sign that He would never again destroy the earth for man's depravity.
And where are we now? We are hijacking the symbol God made and using it to flaunt our depravity in His face! Think about that.
Oh, the patience God has with us!
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