LGBT activist attacks Christians for cultural appropriation of rainbow in Christmas display

LGBT activist attacks Christians for cultural appropriation of rainbow in Christmas display
Image: Ken Ham

This may be the most puzzling and ironic story of 2016, and it happened as the year was drawing to a close.

The cast of characters includes Ken Ham, the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis and the creator of the amazing Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Ky, where he is also a leader in the conservative evangelical community.

Ham and his team recently made the decision to use a rainbow color scheme for their Ark Encounter Christmas celebration. As the website explains:

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[T]he Ark at dusk … [is] illuminated with rainbow colors as a testament to the true meaning of the rainbow. After the Flood, God designated the rainbow as the sign of His covenant to never again destroy the whole earth with water.

The decision didn’t sit well with some LGBT activists, who view the rainbow as their personal symbolic property. One of them wrote a letter to the editor of the “Cincinnati Enquirer,” expressing shock over this “theft.” Titled “Ham trying to poison a symbol of love,” the letter — penned by Ellen Hackman Ziegler — appears below, followed by the text:

rainbow_letter

I found it quite disheartening to read that Ken Ham of the Ark Encounter is trying to poison the original intent of the rainbow coalition as a symbol of love and inclusiveness of all — regardless of race, religion, gender identity — by using it to promote bigotry Dec. 24.

I very much doubt that this is what Jesus and Christianity represent.

Although I had never intended to visit the ark in the first place, now wild horses could not drag me there. I urge others to think about what they are supporting before visiting this theme park.

The letter is at once ignorant and offensive. The writer obviously has no idea about the history of the rainbow in Christianity, nor does she realize that the LGBT movement’s own appropriation of the rainbow as a symbol is a relatively recent development.

Here is the response to the letter Ham posted on his Facebook page:

Cross-posted at Constitution.com

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