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Original poster

Christians have taken back the rainbow

70 replies

slartibartfastsbeard · 29/04/2020 20:13

A friend sent me a photo of a rainbow that she had drawn and was going to put up in her window. In the message she said that one good thing had come from this virus - Christians have taken back the rainbow again. I asked her to clarify what she meant and she said it has been taken back from the "LGTs whatever" people.

I wanted to say that I thought that was the most unchristian sentence I'd ever read but held my tongue. I always think of Jesus' teachings being about kindness and tolerance to all people no matter what their status and situation in life. I think of him as being a champion of the underdog and someone who would be pleased that the rainbow is being used as a symbol of hope for a group which has historically been persecuted (although I do wonder if he would struggle with some of the sub groups that have developed over the last few years).

Does anyone else feel that the rainbow has been misappropriated by the LGBTQ movement since the 1970's?

OP posts:
ItsGoingTibiaK · 29/04/2020 20:14

I now associate rainbows with young children. 🤷‍♂️

mostlydrinkstea · 29/04/2020 20:18

Short answer no. Longer answer nnnooooooo.

AnotherEmma · 29/04/2020 20:21

It's lovely that the rainbow has become a symbol for the LGBT movement but I do find it mildly irritating that when people see rainbows on anything they say "oh nice LGBT-friendly "... Er no it's got nothing to do with that, I just like rainbows!

Having said that I would not say that rainbows have been "misappropriated" by the LGBT movement and I agree that your friend was very unchristian. Rainbows are for everyone including gays and Christians (and boys! if you're buying kids clothes only the girls get rainbows FFS!)

FTMF30 · 29/04/2020 20:22

I agree that the rainbow has been reclaimed. When I was very little I do recall it being associated with Christians in a loose sense. Perhaps it was hijacked by LGBT people.Now I'd just associate it with the NHS tbh.

PurBal · 29/04/2020 20:25

I am a Christian. You shouldn't have held your tongue. What a horrible thing to have said.

WyfOfBathe · 29/04/2020 20:31

Nooooo.

I'm a Christian and rainbows have always been used for God's hope/promise (eg Noah's Ark), but they've been also used by LGBT community since at least the 70s. They're also used for other things - the city of Cusco in Peru and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia both have flags very similar to the pride flag.

Unfortunately there are still a lot of Christians, even in the UK, who think "gay = evil" and so anything "the gays" do is wrong and an attack on them.

Original poster
slartibartfastsbeard · 29/04/2020 20:34

I was brought up in a Welsh speaking non-conformist chapel (not actually in the chapel obviously Wink and I don't remember the rainbow being of much importance. My friend is Pentecostal so maybe they put more importance on the rainbow?

She's also the type to talk about what God does for her life rather than what she could do to carry out God/Jesus' work. She was horrified one day when I stopped for a chat with the Big Issue seller in our town while buying the magazine and will complain about the homeless, how they've brought it on themselves and that the council should be doing more to move them on.

OP posts:
AnotherEmma · 29/04/2020 20:37

Well she sounds just full of God's love Grin

(I'm not even religious btw I should probably confess!)

LilQueenie · 29/04/2020 20:38

you can't take what doesn't belong to you. you can however use it but a rainbow will mean different things to different people. How very christian of her to determine what a rainbow may be used for!

ErrolTheDragon · 29/04/2020 20:39

Rainbows belong to science!Grin
Physics and meteorology.

Good reminder of the story of god being a genocidal, animal drowning bastard though.

eddiemairswife · 29/04/2020 20:39

They are beautiful, caused by the sun's rays being refracted through raindrops.

Chillipeanuts · 29/04/2020 20:40

Nasty callers on Any Answers often begin with “I’m a Christian”.

The rainbow means whatever you want it to (which is sunshine and rain at the same time, to me).

ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords · 29/04/2020 20:41

I do find it mildly irritating that when people see rainbows on anything they say "oh nice LGBT-friendly "... Er no it's got nothing to do with that, I just like rainbows!

I agree with this and am glad that rainbows maybe won't be assumed to be making any statement about my, or anyone else's, sexuality now, but I don't think they belong to Christians either.

LastTrainEast · 29/04/2020 20:42

Ah yes the Christian Rainbow. The reminder that their god once drowned every man, woman and child in a fit of rage. Not something I'd be wanting to draw attention to or claim ownership of.

Not that I think the rainbow should be 'owned' by anyone else. It belongs to everyone.

WantToBeMum · 29/04/2020 20:42

I never realised it was a Christian symbol, but I'm not a Christian. To be honest I don't associate a rainbow with LGBT either - the rainbow colours in a flag form, yes, but not an actual rainbow. I just see it as something lovely to see in the sky when it's raining.

Original poster
slartibartfastsbeard · 29/04/2020 20:44

AnotherEmma she does, doesn't she Grin

She's the type though who doesn't think too hard beyond headlines. I don't think there's much point debating with her because she lives in a little rainbow hued bubble. She's had a very easy life and maybe just can't put herself in someone else's shoes because she's had no experience of difficulties in life.

OP posts:
LangClegsInSpace · 29/04/2020 20:46

Nobody owns rainbows.

daydreamdaisy · 29/04/2020 20:51

Another key thing that comes to mind for me is a 'rainbow baby' born after loss - I think a lot of people in the infertility community have strong associations with that

Original poster
slartibartfastsbeard · 29/04/2020 20:51

WantToBeMum I don't associate the LGBT flag with an arched rainbow either as they are straight horizontal lines and not quite the same colours as the actual rainbow. I read somewhere that each colour of the LGBT flag represented nature, sunlight and spirit amongst other things.

OP posts:
Elphame · 30/04/2020 10:20

Ah the rainbow.

The symbol of Iris, messenger to the Gods.

The symbol means many things to many people and belongs to none of us

1555CC · 30/04/2020 14:33

Rainbows were around billions of years before humans and will be around for billions of years after humans. The planet doesn't give two hoots who thinks they own its natural phenomena.

PorpentiaScamander · 30/04/2020 14:37

Rainbows belong to gay Christians who work for the NHS obviously.

steppemum · 30/04/2020 14:46

my dd is gay, and one of her favourite sayings is - the curved rainbow is just a rainbow - the gay rainbow is straight.
And then she falls about laughing at the irony of that statement.

I wish it wasn't ONLY associated with LGBT. As pp said, if you use a rainbow on anything, it is assumed to be LGBT, and I would like to use a rainbow without it being associated with anything - just a rainbow.

eddiemairswife · 30/04/2020 14:56

'My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky'. Wordsworth

aerosocks · 30/04/2020 14:59

I wish it wasn't ONLY associated with LGBT

It isn't, and never has been. To most people it is either a meterological phenomenon or a sign of hope.

The association with Christianity goes back quite a long way, and more recently it was closely associated with Greenpeace, the Rainbow Warrior and the environmental movement.

The LGBT thing is relatively new.

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