Chasing Rainbows
The storms of life lash and overwhelm us and we search for rainbows as the storm passes. When we find one, we head for it. The colors draw us in. We bask in their presence, feeling refreshed, happy, and peaceful, however briefly. But the colors pass away with the raindrops. We want more of that beauty and peace and happiness. We want to nestle in it.
Rainbows
So, we chase our rainbows, believing the next one will bring us a peace that does not pass and happiness that holds us forever. The endless chase tires us. But on this side of heaven few, if any of us, reach that lasting rainbow. We can only cherish the brief memories of the rainbows we experience.
We all have our personal rainbows, but cultural rainbows also hold sway over the masses. In America today two rainbows dominate: the God rainbow and the Pride rainbow.
God Rainbow
The God rainbow is a central image of the Judeo-Christian tradition that has dominated Western Civilization for over two thousand years. The God rainbow is recorded in Genesis, chapter 9. Here, several thousand years ago, God established a covenant with Noah and his descendants, promising “that never again shall all creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” Because of the wickedness of mankind, God had sent a flood to destroy all living things on earth except for Noah, his family, and the creatures saved through the ark. As a pledge of His faithfulness, “God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” This “bow in the clouds” has always been interpreted as a rainbow.
God has fulfilled his promise and has not destroyed mankind since the flood, despite its continuing wickedness. Some believe in moral progress, that mankind has steadily become less wicked throughout the centuries, but only God knows the answer. A strong argument can be made that wickedness peaked in the 20th century thanks to the evil, atheistic ideologies of fascism and communism.
The God rainbow is one of many events and symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Though prominent it has less significance today than other symbols of the faith, such as the cross, which is not accepted by all God rainbow people. But this rainbow is a quick and easy way to identify the Judeo-Christians under it.
Pride Rainbow
The Pride rainbow is the central symbol of the LGBT movement. The colors reflect their belief in the diversity of human sexuality and gender. They take pride in being gay, in being trans, in having a sexuality different than the great majority of people across the world, now and throughout history. They take pride in tearing down the sexual guardrails that have guided and protected humanity throughout history. Especially children.
The Pride rainbow has neither history nor numbers on its side. Less than 50 years old, it is an infant on the world stage, especially compared to the ancient God rainbow. And though no more than 5 percent of people live the LGBT lifestyle, the Pride Rainbow has gained astonishing prominence on the world stage, especially in America.
The use of the word “pride” in describing the LGBT rainbow causes followers of the God rainbow to tremble for they see pride as a two-edged sword. Good pride is when we feel pleasure or satisfaction in our achievements or in others with whom we are close. It is part of self-worth and self-respect.
Bad Pride
What is bad pride? It’s an excessive love of self to the detriment of others. It stamps out humility, a virtue essential to the spiritual life. Bad pride often begins with good pride but corrupts it, making it an enemy of the truth and human fulfillment. Pride can quickly morph from good to bad.
Pride-rainbow people seem unaware of bad pride, which God-rainbow people believe to be a flaw in human nature. It is so serious it is called one of the seven deadly sins. Many believe pride is the deadliest sin and leads to a multitude of sins and self-destruction.
Bad pride is shaking your fist at God, spitting on his truth, and creating your own. The architect of bad pride is Satan himself, the fallen angel of light who used his free will to shout at God: I will not serve.
Bad pride never ends well, whether related to sexual activity or any other human behavior.
The terms “gay pride” and “LGBT pride” bother and unsettle God rainbow people. We have our own sexual sins but would never publicly proclaim our allegiance to “fornication pride,” “adultery pride,” or “pornography pride.”
Two Rainbows
Can a person follow both rainbows? No, because they are mutually exclusive. Yes, some followers of the God rainbow support the Pride rainbow, but that is only because they are misinformed, failing to understand either their own rainbow or the pride rainbow. Some believers in the Pride rainbow try to maintain an allegiance to the God rainbow but over time realize they must give up one or the other.
How can followers of these two rainbows live together in a modern society” The “Live and Let Live” approach has served these two groups well in the past, but this truce is falling apart. In recent years the Pride Rainbow crowd has become aggressive, demanding affirmation and support for its beliefs and lifestyle. They have openly attacked and mocked Catholics and other members of the God rainbow coalition They have gone so far as to proselytize the young and demanded the inclusion of sexually explicit changes in school curriculums. Some pride marchers have openly proclaimed “We’re coming after your children.” These encroachments on the God rainbow lifestyle have engendered a pushback. Some in the God rainbow followers have begun counterattacking the pride rainbow people.
So how should faithful God rainbow people respond?
The Catholic Wise Guy offers a few nuggets of wisdom.
1. Pray. We should pray for peace between these two factions and among all conflicting groups in our society. We should especially pray for the physical, spiritual, and mental health of members of the LGBT community.
2. Protect our children. We must protect all children in school and elsewhere from the LGBT propaganda. Preserve their innocence.
3. Don’t cast stones at the sexual sins of the Pride Rainbow People. Or speak loudly or shout in the public square. Our model is Jesus’ treatment of the woman caught in adultery. First, he does not throw stones at her or encourage anyone else too. Second, he tells her to “go and sin no more.” This leads us to our next action.
4. Never affirm or approve of LGBT sexual beliefs and actions. Here we follow the second part of Jesus’ teaching of the woman caught in adultery. We cannot allow our empathy for the physical, mental, and spiritual struggles of our LGBT brothers and sisters to prevent us from speaking the truth in love. Lying or failing to speak the truth can never be a good long-term solution to any situation. But if the right moment arises to teach our LGBT brothers and sisters about their sins, we must do it with absolute humility, conscious of our own sins, sexual and otherwise.
5. The wise members of the God rainbow must instruct the unwise – the nominal followers of the God rainbow – to help them understand the dangerous and devilish problems of the Pride rainbow. Should we apply the profound theory of “love is love” to all situations? Traditional sexual morality – at least the Catholic brand – is a beautiful, intricate fabric woven with logical and deeply religious threads designed for human fulfillment and social order. Once you begin untying and cutting threads, everything becomes loose and eventually comes apart. The approval of one set of sexual sins necessarily leads to the approval of others, such as fornication and adultery. Is this what we want? I don’t think so. The nominal God rainbow people must become true believers and stop their direct and indirect support of the flawed Pride rainbow. Otherwise, our sexual sins will multiply like rabbits.
May God lead us to live in truth!
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