Christians have taken back the rainbow

[slartibartfastsbeard]

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?

I've reached a point where it feels like I can't wear, or let my kids wear, anything rainbow without people assuming it's a sign for something

I think in many world cultures rainbows are/were signs of hope in their mythologies as they appeared with sun after rain and they seemed a bit magical so its kind of reasonable that they would then appear in the religious stories of whatever culture it was
Rainbows don't belong to any group in particular and belong to everyone in general to use or not use as they like they are generally thought of as Happy hopeful encouraging signs

Christians cant take back the rainbow. It never belonged to them.
Do I really have to say in the year 2020 that no one group 'owns' rainbows?

What a weird conversation to have!
Everyone likes rainbows!

Rainbows have merely been hiding for a few decades (though recently in plain sight on children's clothes, usually being skipped through by their friends, the unicorns. Plus we've had I think 25 years of the uniformed mini-Brownies)... since the joyful days of my childhood and our delight in the prophet Jeffrey, supported in his work by his disciples Zippy, Bungle and George.

There is also the irony saying "Christians have taken it back". Pretty much all of the stuff in Christianity has been taken/appropriated from other cultures & religions.

I can see what she means. I dont think she isca dick. The rainbow has been totally claimed by lgbqt+/_ so if she christian and not lgbqt+/-, she wants to be able to use it again.

I dont care either wsy but i get it kind of.

GoddessOfGettingThereInTheEnd I totally get it too.

The irony is it has not been reclaimed by Christians it has been maybe 're-branded' for the NHS. Temporarily, which is fine to me.

It's a meteorological phenomenon. It does belong to everyone and always has done.

Yes, the representation of the rainbow colours certainly has been used by the LGBT+ community a lot. At least in the west, it has. Although they miss off one colour, not sure if it is indigo or violet.

It's also associated in different places with different things. The Japanese traditionally associate rainbows with bridges. The rainbow bridge is the crossing for pets over from life to death, or so I believe.

And the song Somewhere over the Rainbow is sometimes used when remembering babies who are stillborn.

Really the rainbow is so much to so many people. I do love seeing it on windows for the NHS now too.

Just wondering why 'sun dogs' or 'parhelia' (an optical phenomenon that occurs only in winter) isn't more used.

I once knew someone who used to go on about taking back the rainbow. He was a fundamentalist types who uses to go on about gay people being sinners. Very unpleasant.

There was a thread on the feminist board about how glad the poster was the rainbow was being reclaimed from the trans people, folk laughed at her.

Just to let you know if you type NHS rainbow into Ebay folk are selling pride merchandise under that label, your friend would have a fit if she saw that!

Christianity is 2000 years old. I suspect rainbows were around for a few billion years before that. No doubt religions and civilisations much older than Christianity associated the rainbow with stuff long before Christianity existed.

If Christians have "reclaimed the rainbow", maybe they should return it to whoever they nicked it off.

We do go through phases of something being so prominent in the media it gets a message of its own, like when Union Jacks virtually mean British National Party but the Olympics sort of neutralised that. I'm old enough to remember Christian festivals in the 1980s with a whole stall of rainbow merchandise. Inclusive is a great idea but it should cut both ways.

Rainbows are big enough to look after themselves IMO.

Inclusive is a great idea but it should cut both ways

I’m sure this is just badly worded, but ‘cutting both ways’ with inclusion is embracing... exclusion?

The LGBT flag and associated colour scheme has never been a full rainbow and it does annoy me to see pride merchandise sold as NHS supporting stuff, especially as the NHS itself recently has launched some stuff specifically related to LGBT inclusion that private individuals are profiteering from.

On a different note, I’ve never met a Christian who has been vocally anti LGBT inclusion to any degree who hasn’t been a dick in some other capacity. Most people can deal with both coexisting.

Sorry it is just brief. I'm a Christian, I'm not anti LGBT and I think the vocal minority do no favours. I meant both sides should respect the others lifestyle. The sizeable LGBT Christian community would probably agree, double rainbow I guess.

A rainbow is a sign of hope and a thing of beauty. Does it matter who wants to use it? We all see things from a different point of view. As a Christian I haven't heard any one say we are taking it back. It is there for all to share and brings a smile to your face whatever it personally means to you.

*ClaudiaWankleman8
Inclusive is a great idea but it should cut both ways

"I’m sure this is just badly worded, but ‘cutting both ways’ with inclusion is embracing... exclusion?"

I don't know who said that but I don't think it is badly worded. I think it means that inclusion should include everyone, including Christians, that's what I assume

Christians are people who others sometimes seem very happy to be rude about and take the piss out of.

Cutting both ways doesn't mean doing the opposite of something.

I don't think the rainbow should be allowed to be exclusively reserved for one group or another.
I love it being used as a universal symbol of hope, of 'one day things will get better' etc.

I don't want it reserved for LGB, LGBTQI, Christians, the bereaved or anyone else.

I'm a Christian and think it's a powerful universal symbol which should remain universal.

picklemewalnuts I completely agree, and I also love pickleme walnuts!

Christianity is 2000 years old. I suspect rainbows were around for a few billion years before that
No, the Bible teaches us that God created the rainbow approximately 8,000 years ago. To apologise for drowning every human being on the entire planet apart from Noah, his wife and their children.

No, the Bible teaches us that God created the rainbow approximately 8,000 years ago. To apologise for drowning every human being on the entire planet apart from Noah, his wife and their children.

He always did have a temper on him!

So many new posts since last time I checked!

I came across something last week in my locality (to do with rainbows) and I posted on FB saying how lovely it was to see, and how the rainbow has been a symbol of hope for all peoples and religions for at least ten thousand years. She liked my post!

I wish I was a bit quicker off the mark and replied to her original comment with some thing along the lines of shouldn't the Christians give the rainbow back to the Jews seeing as Noah's offspring begot children who became the Jews of the Old Testament?