The hidden dangers behind the rainbow flag

The United States was already a nation at odds with its Christian values and acceptance of openly gay persons into the society long before President Barack Obama bathed the people's White House in the distinctive colors of the rainbow flag—a symbol of gay pride. As confirmed by his own legislative record, President Obama did more to facilitate the incursion of the gay rights agenda into mainstream American society and politics than any other U.S. president before him. Obama's actions gave the gay community the ammunition it needed to launch a full assault on America's values, morals, and ultimately, its culture. This wholesale endorsement of homosexual rights, coming from the leader of the free world, enabled what is happening now in America to play out strategically in other countries around the world. According to Christian author, Dr. Michael Brown, "As America goes, so goes the world."

You see, our nation has had an incredible, unprecedented impact on the world, both for good and evil, and if America has a complete moral and cultural collapse the ripple effect will be felt around the world. —Dr. Brown

The ripple that started in America is spreading rapidly to cities around the globe. It's commonplace nowadays to see images of the gay lifestyle and see openly gay characters portrayed on television and in social media, movies and commercial advertisements, often with implicit sexual overtones. More and more businesses and commercial interests are displaying the rainbow flag or its colors in a welcoming nod to the LGBTQ community. The rainbow flag has become a strategic weapon in the arsenal of the gay rights movement.

Historically, flags have either symbolized the conquest of an enemy after a war, or been used as markers to indicate territorial rights to occupied land. Similarly, the rainbow flag is a symbol of  conquest and of victory in recognition of gays having fought for and won their place in mainstream  society. The rainbow flag is both a visual and a visceral sign of the gay community's growing influence in our society. On a recent trip to London, Lisbon, Barcelona and Tel Aviv, the rainbow flag was prominently displayed nearly everywhere I went, including  atop some government and public buildings, in the windows of  homes, and on commercial and business establishments. And as if that weren't enough, pride organizers pushed to have the rainbow flag flown atop American embassies abroad during gay pride month, but were denied by the State Department. Still some embassy officials defied the order and flew the flag anyway. The U.S. embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil, and Latvia are among those embassies that requested permission to fly the rainbow flag on their flagpoles. 

One has to wonder, where is this all leading? What does the gay community really want?  What's behind the gay agenda?

Nothing so far would suggest that the gay community is satisfied  with cultural acceptance,  protected class status under the law, or having certain equal rights on par with heterosexuals. Of course not, they want much more. Ultimately, gays want to transform America into a pro-gay society with all the rights and privileges this would entail. Could this really happen? Some like social analyst James R. Aist say the possibility is there:

The ultimate and most all-encompassing goal of the gay agenda is to force our society to fully accept their lifestyle as morally, socially, and religiously equivalent to the heterosexual lifestyle. This goal is for not only acceptance, but also affirmation and celebration of homosexual behavior as normal, natural, healthy and desirable.

So what's their plan? Gay strategists, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, outlined the agenda for gay activism some 25 years ago in a gay magazine article entitled, "The Overhauling of Straight America." In the article, Kirk and Madsen suggests a series of strategies aimed at "desensitizing the American public concerning gays and gay rights." Gay activists have been employing the strategies laid out by Kirk and Madsen with good results. According to the plan, gays have been manipulating the attitudes of heterosexuals from being adverse to 'gay rights' to being staunch defenders. And we see this happening now. Gay activists tell us that they simply want the same right as heterosexuals to love who they want. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. They also want our children. Gay writer Daniel Villarreal wrote in Queerty magazine:

They accuse us of exploiting children and in response we say, “NOOO! We’re not gonna make kids learn about homosexuality, we swear! It’s not like we’re trying to recruit your children or anything.” But let’s face it—that’s a lie. We want educators to teach future generations of children to accept queer sexuality. In fact, our very future depends on it.

I and a lot of other people want to indoctrinate, recruit, teach, and expose children to queer sexuality AND THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. —Queerty, May 2011

Having influence over the sexual development and natural selection of pre-adolescents is a perfect strategy for gays because it ensures the continuation of homosexual ideals and practice into future generations.

What can stand in the way of  the gay community achieving everything it wants?

To gay America, Christians pose the biggest threat to homosexuality achieving total acceptance by the Church. Christian opposition to the gay lifestyle is based on scripture that condemns sexual acts between persons of the same sex. Understanding this, Kirk and Madsen  devised a strategy to cause division among churches along denominational lines over their interpretation of the scripture and acceptance of homosexuality. Some denominations going so far as to allow homosexuals to hold leadership positions in the church, while others strictly forbid even church membership. To further neutralize opposition, gays have branded  Christians as homophobic, and have filed lawsuits against Christians who refuse services to homosexuals that conflict with their religious beliefs. All of this is intended to silence the objections about homosexuality from within religious circles. As a result, fewer church leaders and pastors are speaking out against homosexual behavior whether in society, or in their own congregations. As long as mainstream churches are divided in their views about homosexuality as sin, they will never be able to present a united front against the practice, which is exactly what gays want.

How should Christians respond to the gay agenda?

The answer is "the same as Christ would." Jesus Christ condemned sin of all kinds, but never the sinner. And those whom He freed from their sins were told to 'Go and sin no more.' As followers of Christ, we are not under denominational constraints. We can choose to follow Christ instead of man. Those of us who have received God's grace for our own sins, should extend that same grace to the homosexual who is no different from us in his or her need of  the Savior and of salvation. Jesus  promised He would settle everything when He returns. In the meantime, we are to continue sharing our testimony about God's love and mercy for all sinners, and lead those who would seek Him to find peace with God.

How Jesus' resurrection takes the fear out of dying

Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but an open door which leads man into life eternal.— Dr Martin Luther King Jr

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Several years ago, I was talking with a friend, and just happened to mention that a famous Broadway producer we met on a cruise had died. My friend looked straight at me and said, "I'm ready." I didn't realize what she meant until a few days later when I received a call that my friend had died. As shocking as the news was, I took comfort in the fact that she didn't fear death. You might say she looked forward to it because she was a Christian.

Christians die like everybody else, and often from all the bad things in this world that kill everybody else. The difference is when Christians die, they know they won't stay dead forever. According to Christian belief, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will never really die. This truth is rooted in God's unshakable promise of eternal life to anyone who accepts his Christ.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

I haven't faced the moment of death personally, but I have been present when others have. You can tell a lot about a person by how they face the moment of death. Their last words, the look on their face say a lot about the kind of life they lived. For instance, some people curse God as they are dying, others make last-minute pleas for forgiveness, which God does honor.

And then, there are the true Christians. You can tell by the radiant look on their faces, as they lay dying, that they must see heaven open up and angels descending to take them home. When my mother died from MS at age 83, she had that look. I was happy for her, and I admit a little envious because I knew without a doubt she was heading for a place where she'd be more alive than she'd ever been in life. For the believer in Christ, death is the fulfillment of this scripture:

And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 TLB

Easter marks a sacred time on the Christian calendar because it symbolizes Christ's victory over death, and by association, the victory of every believing Christian. Essentially, that's what Jesus' resurrection means in a world of believers and non-believers. Refusing to believe doesn't change or negate the reality of what Jesus accomplished. The scriptures tell his story:

Jesus died a physical death on the cross and was raised by God's spirit from the dead. Christ's resurrection is evidenced by the empty tomb in Jerusalem, by the written testimony of his disciples in the Gospels, and by the more than 500 sightings of others who encountered Jesus after his resurrection prior to his ascension into heaven.

What Jesus did made death merely an event, not a dead end. Christ's resurrection took the sting out of death. No wonder Christians don't view death in the same way others do. Christians see death as a home-going. Christian songwriters write songs like Soon and Very Soon, I'm Going Away and I Can Only Imagine that celebrate the certainty of an afterlife. Christians know that one day they will see this Jesus, who died not only for their sins, but also for the sins of everyone. No one needs to hold onto a fear of death because Jesus is alive.

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 NLT

This article is dedicated to the family and friends of the 150 people who died tragically in the Germanwings airliner crash (March, 2015).