Gay pride event in our town

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Eric_Hyom

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Our town is arranging its first gay pride event with the backing of our local council; and there seems to be little we can do to oppose it. The event will happen on the green across the road from our church. The council have said we could have a stall at the event. We would be allowed to talk about the benefits of marriage for life, but we would not be allowed to talk about what we are against.

I am in the process of talking with our local interfaith group, to see if together, we can represent conventional marriage in some way at this event. Whatever stance we might take, seems fraught with dangers and confrontation.

Any thoughts.
 
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No gar’s allowed!

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On a serious note, I’d ignore the council. Marriage is between one man and one woman. I’d hang a big banner across the church stating such. Degeneracy needs to be opposed, not sanctioned.
 
I was gonna say, why shouldn’t gars be proud? They’re the stuff nightmares are made of: an impressive feat given how small most are.
 
Eric_Hyom said:
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Alex337:
Be respectful to the people at the event, don’t be hateful.
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That will be our aim. But I sense people with fairy extreme views from many sides will turn up.
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No doubt. All the more reason to be a kind voice of reason.
 
Remember that most of the people at that parade have absolutely no reason to believe that gay marriage is wrong, OR have every reason to believe that (even if sinful) pursuing gay relationships is central way for them to live meaningful lives. Given those false beliefs, a parade makes sense for them.
 
JanSobieskiIII said:
I’d hang a big banner across the church stating such. Degeneracy needs to be opposed, not sanctioned.
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Any banner would have to be carefully chosen to avoid a Westboro-like appearance.

The booth idea, while having drawbacks, does a human to human conversation.

Perhaps being across the street and combining those together in some way would be optimal.
 
JanSobieskiIII said:
On a serious note, I’d ignore the council. Marriage is between one man and one woman. I’d hang a big banner across the church stating such. Degeneracy needs to be opposed, not sanctioned.
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The “Degeneracy” would be the legalization of same sex marriage - the evil action of politicians, most of whom are not gay. The fact that someone has same sex attraction is not degeneracy. I would make that distinction clear.
 
If it’s anything like the gay pride parades I’ve seen on tv the degeneracy will be out in the open
 
(responding to a suggestion of banner affirming marriage is between one man and one woman)
Alex337 said:
That will only stop people from engaging with you, which seems detrimental to evangelizing.
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Nobody really engages with a mirror. If the Church simply reflects what the secular culture is doing, why should anyone bother with the Church? My city is full of friendly, relevant, trying-to-engage, Catholic and Protestant mainline churches that are mostly empty.

If the Church has nothing to say that is not in the daily newspaper, why bother with church at all?
 
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commenter said:
(responding to a suggestion of banner affirming marriage is between one man and one woman)
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Alex337:
That will only stop people from engaging with you, which seems detrimental to evangelizing.
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Nobody really engages with a mirror. If the Church simply reflects what the secular culture is doing, why should anyone bother with the Church? My city is full of friendly, relevant, trying-to-engage, Catholic and Protestant mainline churches that are mostly empty.

If the Church has nothing to say that is not in the daily newspaper, why bother with church at all?
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I’ve not seen anyone one over by banners like that. They just end up being shown as more proof that the church “hates” them.
 
Alex337 said:
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commenter:
(responding to a suggestion of banner affirming marriage is between one man and one woman)
40.png
Alex337:
That will only stop people from engaging with you, which seems detrimental to evangelizing.
Click to expand...
Nobody really engages with a mirror. If the Church simply reflects what the secular culture is doing, why should anyone bother with the Church? My city is full of friendly, relevant, trying-to-engage, Catholic and Protestant mainline churches that are mostly empty.

If the Church has nothing to say that is not in the daily newspaper, why bother with church at all?
Click to expand...
I’ve not seen anyone one over by banners like that. They just end up being shown as more proof that the church “hates” them.
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In 2018 America or Canada, the CROWD is going to “hate” the Catholic Church no matter what we do. That hatred is already at 100%, and won’t be increased by any banner. That is partly a result of the media. But within the crowd are individuals, both gay and non gay.

Believe it or not, some younger individuals have not really heard the message that Christianity has anything to say in the matter of marriage or sexuality. Some individuals who have a leaning towards Christianity may be slightly moved closer to the Church, if it does have something to say.

There needs to be a balance here. Yes, the Church needs to be flexible and open, trying to “engage” with people. But there needs to be something definite here , a reason to engage. The message in too many Catholic and Protestant churches is “come as you are, stay as you are”.

The Church will never convert the crowd, which opposes the gospel because it calls us to change. The Church can convert individuals, if they see there is something here, something the crowd does not offer.
 
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I’m afraid that’s simply not the case. Lots of lgbt+ folks in my town don’t hate the Church. But displays like the one you suggest certainly make them far less likely to bother talking to us.
 
Banners are not effective evangelization. They are impersonal.

Take a booth at the event and talk to people. Be kind. Be a good listener. Show them their stereotypes of nasty Christians are unfounded.
 
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Yeah, a banner would be such a bad idea. For once, it can come across as hostile. And also, you can’t fit the whole teaching of the Church in there. It literally won’t do anything…it won’t convince anyone who does not believe in it. All it would do is to create a viral picture and create more opportunities for people to attack us.
 
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