I'd Like My City Back, Please
It’s a beautiful day in Toronto. Though it’s a little bit overcast, it is still warm and bright. It’s an almost perfect day to take in a ballgame. And, in fact, that was my plan. Once or twice a season I like to take my son down to the Rogers Center to watch the Bluejays play and today seemed ideal. The weather is great, so the roof of the stadium should be open, and yet we won’t have to worry about baking and burning in the hot summer sun. The Jays’ ace, Roy Halladay, is on the hill so the game is almost guaranteed to move along quickly and there is a very good chance that Toronto will win. The game starts at 4:00 rather than the usual 1:00, allowing us time to do our Saturday chores before we head to the game.
Just as I was going to announce this plan to my son, I suddenly remembered that there is more than baseball happening downtown this weekend. This is the weekend of Toronto’s “Pride” week, a week long celebration of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism and the like. The week culminates in a “Dyke March” today and the “Pride Parade” on Sunday. Official statistics proclaim that over a million people take in these events, though those in the know seem to indicate this is greatly over-stating the truth. Regardless, the fact is that this weekend parts of the downtown core of Toronto are dedicated to celebrating homosexuality. Whole blocks have been barricaded and celebrations are happening throughout the area.
It seems to me that it would be pretty irresponsible to take my son downtown this weekend. The stadium is a few blocks from the epicenter of the Pride celebrations, but there is sure to be revelry far beyond those boundaries. Just yesterday, my friend Ian went shopping and posted this on his blog: “I was first tipped off that something was different because there was a patio set-up in front of the store for eating, making it have the appearance of a restaurant. As of yet, I have no idea why that was set-up. There were a number of people milling about, and amongst the crowd was this man in full regalia. I really couldn’t say who he thought he was, but he sure didn’t think he was of the male gender! Fish-net stockings, a bright and shiny super-hero costume, more make-up than Tammy Faye, he was easy to pick out of the crowd. In particular because he was easy 6 ft. tall with a stocky build. With him was another man, this one less super-hero, more hooker. They made quite a pair, standing amidst a crowd of people who were trying to act as if nothing abnormal were going on.”
You see, I just don’t know that I’d like my six-year old to have to see this. And what’s more, I don’t think my son should have to see this. Like Ian, I don’t react with disgust to men like this. Nor do I respond with acceptance. I pity them, though, and hope that God extends His grace to them as He has seen fit to do with me. This exhibition of depravity is but a reminder of my own depravity. But a young boy does not need such vivid reminders. Not like this.
And so my son and I will stay home today and perhaps take in the game on television. And we’ll wait for another weekend when we can have our city back.
Comments (20) »
1. Julian
June 24, 2006
12:18 PM
Thanks for this, Tim, I was planning on going to the game as well, but now I’ve reconsidered.
You said: Like Ian, I don’t react with disgust to men like this. Nor do I respond with acceptance.
I wonder though… why not disgust? I understand that no one in that pride parade is any more deserving of the wrath of God than me and that except for the grace of God, I would be down there with them—but still the fact remains: It is disgusting.
Flagrant perversions of God’s design for creation like this are disgusting. They are.
It was disgusting when the men of Benjamin raped a man’s concubine (because they couldn’t have him) and then that man not only let them, but then cut her up and sent her body parts to the other tribes of Israel (Judges 19).
The war crimes throughout our history, genocide, pedophilia, etc., are disgusting.
I know that my sin is disgusting too… Sin is disgusting… why not call it that?
2. Elias
June 24, 2006
12:27 PM
Wow, I guess were all posting minutes from each other…
Why not get discusted? Could it be that your becoming tolerant (not to the sin of homosexuality) but to people who are not only NOT ashamed of their sin or being open about being gay, but who celebrate their rebelion for all to see?
3. Ian Clary
June 24, 2006
12:31 PM
Hey Julian, You are right, we should react with disgust at sin; be it the sin on display at Pride Day or the sin in our own hearts. And no doubt, the goings-on this weekend will easily fall under the category of disgusting. But should that be our initial reaction? Or should it be sorrow? Even more, should our disgust instantaneously draw us into sorrow? Or vice versa? It’s a complicated question, but most definitely those reactions should be in the hearts of all people who love the glory of God. Needless to say, we should be horrified at sin and use that horror as a propellor to share the grace of God in Christ.
4. Sharpe
June 24, 2006
12:37 PM
These kinds of “pride” celebrations really leave me a little befuddled. Like the previous commenters, I agree that we should be disgusted by the baseness and vileness of sin and perversion against God. I also agree with Challies that we should feel compassion on them as lost people.
In that same way, this kind of behavior just confuses me. Like Tim said, we tend to react to these kinds of people by trying to pretend like they’re not doing anything out of the ordinary…but the guy is dressed up in a superhero costume and makeup. He obviously really wants attention. I’m not saying that we should cater to his desire for flat affirmation — but it makes me wonder what in the world happened to this guy that he’s that desperate for attention and so flagrantly trying to offend others.
I’m just thinking out loud, but it seems like the problem with being “disgusted with the sin” is that it keeps us from being able to ask questions of “why is this person acting this way?” because we’re so distracted by the behavior.
5. Joe L.
June 24, 2006
1:26 PM
Tim, this weekend in Seattle are the “pride” festivals as well (read: let’s all get together and celebrate our sin! Yippie!! Oh, and all you folks that aren’t like us, well you just have to deal with it, because, you know, we are tolerant!!!). Now, Seattle is already gone, I can’t have it back. I have lived in the Puget Sound area my whole life, and it just seems to get worse each year. The only thing keeping me here is the natural beauty of the place. :-)
Have fun at home, it’s were I will be as well!!! :-)
6. Derek
June 24, 2006
1:53 PM
I think a better question to ask than, “Why is this person acting this way,” is “Why am I not acting this way?” We should be more suprised by the fact that we are not acting as they. If it were not for grace I would be standing on the street dressed in drag. I think we need to let these times be reminders of our own wretchedness. May we not just state that we are what we are only because of grace, but may we feel a deep poverty of spirit, and truly recognize that I should be that man in the siper hero costume, but by a divine miracle alone I am not.
Jonathan Edwards helps us here with one of his resolutions:
“Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and to let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sin and misery to God.”
7. Wordlover
June 24, 2006
3:32 PM
A thought and a question. First, regarding our response to such people, Peter mentions that Lot was delivered from them after being “vexed” (other translations say oppressed, distressed, worn down, harassed, tormented) in his righteous soul by “the conduct in lasciviousness of the impious.” (II Peter 2:7,8 YLT) Lot wasn’t a perfect man, but the righteousness in him abhorred what it saw.
My question is this: where do these homofolk think they came from? Certainly not from Darwinian evolution, which assumes the survival of the most reproductively fit. Nor from the Genesis God who made them to “be fruitful and multiply.” I remember some years back hearing the phrase “sexual preference,” but today this has been replaced with “sexual orientation” (i.e. they have no choice). Well, then, whence this mandate?
I personally grieve, not so much for these defiant exhibitionists, but for the young children who are now being taught to decide which gender they are.
Diane
8. Susan
June 24, 2006
3:37 PM
As I read the post, I must confess that I winched at the thought of the man in his “full regalia”. More and more, we as Christ’s followers are challenged into looking at heartbreaking situations such as these. Situations that require a holding of the tonque and deep thought as we look for knowledge shared in God’s Word.
It is so easy to want to turn in disgust or lash out until we remember that God looks upon ALL SIN in the same way. HE HATES IT! But He loved man so much that HE OFFERED THE SUPREME SACRIFICE OF HIS SON, so that all our sins could be forgiven. (John 3:16&17)
I will close with 2Peter 3 as a warning and an encouragement on where we need to keep our focus.
2 Peter 3 The Day of the Lord 1Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
9. Brennan
June 24, 2006
5:17 PM
Hey there,
Just passing by, and I thought I would say something. These get-ups are certainly an issue for families and people going about their day. I am not sure how it could be resolved so that people could do go about their day happily without having to explain to their kids things that they may not be ready to understand or in the way that the parents want to explain it to them, and still have a big event in the same vein. I guess the important thing to remember is that most people at a Pride Parade are generally very good people (I guess I’m just an optimist, and believe in the inherent goodness of people), even if they aren’t necessarily all well dressed. Pride Parades, from what I understand, are supposed to be about self-expression, and so, yes, it is no holds barred. =P
I do think it’s important for such events like Pride Festivals, though, otherwise we limit ourselves into misunderstandings and fear, when there’s nothing to fear. We stand testament to our own values by the way we feel for and about them. I disagree strongly with the vein of thought that “Clothes make the man” here. Granted, they make our appearance, and for kids, appearance is often their reality. But for adults, there’s more, and there is always more for Christians.
I really like your site.
10. 4ever4given
June 24, 2006
7:23 PM
Many use the horridness of this blatant sin for an excuse to be hateful and violent. Ian wrote: “we should be horrified at sin and use that horror as a propellor to share the grace of God in Christ.” YEP. Derek wrote: “If it were not for grace I would be standing on the street dressed in drag.” GOOD POINT. Diane called them “homofolk”… I think we need keep ourselves from this even though everything inside of me would like to resort to name calling. It leads to nothing God-honoring. Susan wrote: “It is so easy to want to turn in disgust or lash out until we remember that God looks upon ALL SIN in the same way.” EXACTLY.
“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Before we moved to where we are now, we lived in a cul-de-sac where I had 5 neighbors within the circle. I was, as I am now, a homeschool mother of 6 children. The 5 neighbors consisted of a Catholic family, an atheist, a Jehovah’s Witness family, a lesbian couple that was right next door that had huge parties every weekend (and one of the lesbians had 2 children that came every weekend that were from a previous marriage), and a family that said they were Christians but never went to church and were often found screaming at each other outside. As I got to know the neighborhood, for we were there for 3 years, I would often plead that the Lord would help me see it as a mission field for that is what I prayed for… that the Lord would send us to a neighborhood mission field. But I was not ready for my children to be exposed to such things as homosexuality. But we had no choice. The Lord used that time to teach our family not only about the deep depravity of man, the deep depravity of our own sin apart from the saving grace of Christ, but provided a fervent and broken heart for those who know not Christ and His true peace. Sorry to go on… but after much frustration from the loud parties, etc. The Lord allowed us the opportunity to be a part of a girl in our neighborhood becoming a genuine bliever. Within a year, because of that little girl, her dad became a genuine believer, and then she recently contacted me to tell me her grandmother became a genuine believer. We still pray for the children with the Lesbian neighbor. We still pray for the Lesbians. No, we did not get to see the Lord work in them. But God-willing the Lord will draw them to Himself and I will see them in Heaven.
To God be ALL the glory.
11. 4ever4given
June 24, 2006
7:26 PM
oops… I meant to say that we still pray for the children with the lesbian mother… (not lesbian neighbor)
12. nlwhite
June 25, 2006
12:12 AM
The thing that most disturbs me is the willingness of individuals to be defined by such sin.
A mark of believing we came from monkeys but can achieve much more than our “ancestors” who do not delve into such fornacations themselves.
However knowing my own past and deliverance I can only say with Paul…”such were some of you” & “we also once were foolish ourselves”
13. seeker
June 25, 2006
6:18 AM
The best thing I can say about this, it is a mission field. For every 100 prideful gays, there may be one ready to hear the gospel. Certainly there are many young, hurting people in such a crowd. Xians ought to be out there with kindness and offering love and saving truth to anyone who is ready.
Some can preach and be obvious, while others can be wallflowers and merely offer service in Jesus name, and everthing inbetween. I have often seen the good-evangelist/bad-evangelist thing work very well. God can use us all.
And the God hates fags people should stay home.
14. TigerBotEdge
June 25, 2006
9:07 AM
I believe that Tim’s precise words were as follows: I don’t react with disgust to men like this. (emphasis added)
Tim’s lack of disgust, then, isn’t at all a sign that he’s becoming accustomed to or sympathetic with sin, but rather that (however disgusting the sin itself is), the PEOPLE who commit it are still created in God’s Holy Image and are being held captive and deceived by the spirit of this age.
He’s quite right, in my opinion, to feel pity rather than disgust.
15. Chris U
June 25, 2006
10:17 AM
we are aliens and foreigners in this world. is any city/county/COUNTRY ours to get back? do we have that spiritual right?
legally, we have no more right than they (IMO).
our disgust as evangelical or conservative or pious or whatever kind of christians we are with this kind of sin is expected, we def don’t need to do any more shouting about it. hopefully in discussions like this blog, or personal conversations, we can air this to each other, and then discover a way to truly be revolutionary as christians reacting to the sexuality issues of our day. one thing i have learned/been told is just to listen. if we listened, not to a figurehead, but to an individual in that parade, what might they say?
maybe we could promise to pray for them over the loss of a beloved family member
16. debtor2grace
June 25, 2006
3:36 PM
Immeasurably sad that sin has now become a reason to have “pride” and throw parades, etc. How long, O Lord?
17. Chris
June 26, 2006
7:36 AM
I’ll leave out the language. Maybe you won’t delete my comment this time, Tim.
What in the world makes you think that Toronto is your city? What sort of divine right were you given to demand that these sort of things don’t happen?
As much as I don’t like it or don’t approve or wish it didn’t get so much attention, you really have as much say as each of us does in what is celebrated in our city.
18. Larry
June 26, 2006
8:30 AM
Being in bondage to sin is one thing. Being proud of sin is quite another. Pride in sin is a sign that a culture has indeed sunk to incredible depths of depravity. Homosexuality is certainly sin and, since all sin separates us from God, it is equal to all sins in that respect. However, open blatant homosexuality is on the far end of a continuum of depravity in a culture. It was rampant in Canaan when the Israelites took the Promised Land and it was rampant in Rome as that culture slipped into decline. It is the culmination of the rejection of God resulting in extreme self-focus and hedonistic pleasure seeking taken to new heights. This is something unknown in our culture prior to about 30 years ago. Sure there were homosexuals and always have been but this openness and lust for acceptance is a sign we’ve moved to a new level of depravity. Only the Grace of God can deliver us from the implosion our culture is headed for.
Here in the US, I just read a story about the Governor of Maryland who appointed an open homosexual as a family court judge after having just fired a city employee for speaking against homosexuality on a local cable show.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20
19. david
June 26, 2006
9:55 AM
Chris,
Tim didn’t delete your comment, I did.
There is absolutely never any reason for profanity. The fact that you prefaced your profanity with “excuse my language but…” makes it even less excusable, not more.
20. billmelone
June 26, 2006
11:49 PM
Funny, but Jon Stewart on Comedy Central had the same thoughts for the gay pride parade in Greenwich Village.