The Pride Parade - Why It was a Chilul HaShem

Last year's gay pride parade (JNS)

I get it. I really do. In fact I actually sympathize with their plight. A plight based on centuries of being seen as outcasts and victims of persecution for what was considered abnormal behavior. Behavior based on sinful inclinations. Until the early 70s this is exactly how gay people were viewed - by the medical establishment, by the public, and of course by the bible which declared it as the word of God:

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." (Vayikra 18:22).

After the medical establishment (APA) removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, it was determined that those who are physically attracted to members of the same sex  cannot change. Thus homosexual sex became as acceptable as heterosexual sex. In direct contradiction to the bible.

This attitude quickly spread by way of the mainstream media and the entrainment industry. It took the public a while longer to think in those terms, But over time it has become the majority public view. 

But not by religious people who view the bible as the definitive word of God. There is still a sizable minority (I among them) that feel that way.  For us the bible’s directive overrides the medical establishment’s opinion.

While I have no basis to dispute the medical establishment’s view that homosexuals cannot change who they are, I do dispute the fallout from that to normalize homosexual sex. It is impossible that what God says is an abomination - should be considered normal. 

It is this combination of facts that causes me to have compassion for homosexual people while rejecting the kind of sexual behavior they are drawn to. It is why I continue to insist that they not be discriminated against and treated with the dignity deserved of all humanity created in the image of God.

None of this is new. I have been consistent in this view ever since it became an issue. I mention again now because of the recent gay pride parade that took place in Jerusalem. From JNS: 

The Jerusalem Pride and Tolerance Parade took place on Thursday amid heavy security.

Approximately 2,000 Jerusalem District police officers and Border Police officers, including undercover agents, were deployed along the route for the 21st edition of the parade.  

First let me say that I am happy that the police were out in force to prevent the kind of violence that occurred in the past. Like the following: 

The parade has seen violence in the past, most notably in 2015 when Yishai Schlissel stabbed marchers—killing 16-year-old Shira Banki and wounding five others. 

That said, this parade should have never taken place. Jerusalem is the city that houses God’s presence here on earth – the Shechina. God’s presence has never left the area that houses it.  It is a Chutzpah of the highest order to express pride in behavior that is considered an abomination to God in the city where His house once stood and where the Shechina still resides.

Like I said, I get that homosexuals no longer want to experience rejection, pain and humiliation once associated with their sexuality. I don’t blame them for feeling that way. They are right about that.  

However, religious people cannot accept the part of their agenda that insists their behavior as normal. On the other hand too many religious people treat the sinner like the sin. That is evil too. No one of should be judged exclusively by their sins. Including homosexuals. 

I am told that gay pride parades are about their desire to not be discriminated against. But at the same time, those parades almost certainly includes their desire to normalize their sexual modalities. I am for the former. But I am opposed to the latter. 

To a religious individual the sinful behavior associated with a homosexual lifestyle cannot be supported. Their very desire to do that indicates a fundamental rebellion against the word of God as expressed in the bible. Which means that they either do not consider the bible valid or they are ignorant about what the bible actually says

 As I keep saying, empathizing with their struggles - as I do – cannot include normalizing a way of life that is in direct violation of God’s will. Attempting to do so in the holiest city on the face of the earth is the epitome of a Chilul HaShem. No matter how justifiable their reasons for doing so might seem to be.