The sin of Pride

It's Pride Month once again, and there's rainbows everywhere. In Philly they even painted rainbow crosswalks in some areas. So I thought this would be a good subject to cover.

There's good pride and bad pride, depending on the sense of it's context. Many words and terms have this dual quality. I often hear Christans condemn "Gay Pride" by saying "Pride is the sin of Lucifer!"; or the first of the 7 deadly sins.

However, pride in that sense refers to arrogance, hautiness. It's more accurately termed "hubris". This is not the sense of the meaning of the word when people refer to "Gay pride"-- in that sense,  it not a feeling of superiority, it's simply an acknowledgment that one should feel no shame in who they are.

Properly speaking, one should have pride in one's actual accomplishments. But I digress. Pride here is used because for centuries homosexuals have been shunned, persecuted and jailed, even put to death, simply for being who they are. This has often been done in the name of religion and God. It is no wonder, then, that many LGBTQ folks have an adversity towards religion.

It is the Church's job to evangelize, not persecute and condemn. I've even heard heartbreaking cases, one close to my own family, of religious parents kickng a child out of the house when they dared to come out to them. What kind of parent does that?

As the Great Commission is to win souls for the Kingdom, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. Condemnation and quoting Scripture at people is the wrong way. If one has any real concern for human beings, befriend them. Let them know you're religious, but don't be pushy about it. Simply wearing a crucifix, or causally mentioning a Church activity you're involved with, such as Choir, a food bank etc. is enough to make it obvious.

Be a friend, not an enemy. Hostility only pushes people away from the Church and Christ. Take a gay out for coffee today. It's far more effective evangelization than telling them they're damned degenerates hated by God.