6-27-26<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As June draws to a close, so does Pride Month. It is worth noting the celebrations or festivities or whatever we are supposed to feel, or do, to honor homosexuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many groups and nationalities and causes have parades these days, and even associated holidays, some to honor peoples\u2019 heritage, and some to pander to voting blocs, or both, in the American spirit of multi-tasking. It strikes me that, among the flags and lapel-pins there is no White Month or WASP Parade, but some might respond that every day and month in America is an affirmation of White-Majority Christianity; but that statistic is rapidly losing validity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have attended, but not marched in, Steuben Day parades in New York City, being of German ancestry. The tradition began in Ridgewood, Queens, a few blocks from my parents\u2019 home when I was a kinder pre-garten. It is now held in Manhattan, centered around the formerly German neighborhood of Yorkville on 86th Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I love, and attend, ethnic festivals of all peoples, and do so frequently. I genuinely love seeing blacks attend St Patrick\u2019s Day events; Poles at Columbus Day festivals; and other cross-cultural happenings. It confirms the basic goodwill of the American people, despite stereotypes of the nay-sayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are still some people, however, who say Nay regarding aspects of some types of group-ID festivities. I suppose I share the bewilderment of Norm Macdonald, who pictured a Gay Pride parade where a father bragged about his son who was Number One in his class at Harvard and loved to fondle other men\u2019s privates. What else, really, is Gay Pride?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still resent \u201cgay\u201d being hijacked as a word, but my thoughts this month are centered on the \u201cPride\u201d part of the phrase.
Of course there is a type of pride that is legitimate, like being proud of your child winning a race. That is a human emotion \u2013 a reflection of love \u2013 that cannot offend or presume. The Bible warns against other forms of pride\u2026 and this armchair theologian holds the view that pride can be regarded as the chief sin. To my way of thinking, pride is the underlying motive for other other sins enumerated by God in the Garden, prohibited in commandments, and warned against by Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back to Pride Month. In the contemporary world\u2019s parlance, I understand that homosexual relationships are what\u2019s being celebrated; and to quote one of the most legitimate of bumper-strip theological truths: I don\u2019t hate the sinner, but I do hate the sin. And the Bible clearly preaches against the practice of homosexuality. A fuller exegesis is that I pray against the transgression, and for the transgressor. No false humility: in the sense that Paul referred to himself as chief among sinners, I frequently sin and I am aware that God despises all sin. Oh, I am conscious of it, and pray for \u2013 and accept \u2013 forgiveness all the time. I love, and pray for, fellow sinners. That\u2019s what Jesus has us do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But our sins are properly matters of regret, remorse, and repentance. God forbid that we ever turn them around and build holidays around them or organize parades to brag about them. Who would attend Shame Day parades?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 actually, in this life, there are virtual Shame Days, Shame Months, and Shame parades all the time. How many do we march in, unknowingly or intentionally?<\/p>\n\n\n\n