In June 2023, America was bombarded by companies supporting “Pride.” From a Bud Light ad of a biological male who falsely believed he was a female celebrating “one year of girlhood” to Target’s LGBT merchandise which featured “tucking” swimsuits for children and clothing designed by a Satanist, there was no other option but for conservatives to boycott. Based on the tremendous success of those boycotts, most major corporations toned down their public support of Pride this year, including Target and Starbucks – but that doesn’t mean their allegiance to the cause has shifted. As we draw near to the end of June, it’s worth reflecting on how our society has embraced the LGBT agenda to the detriment of our children and traditional values.
One such example of this is a recent “Pride Festival” hosted in Sioux Falls, which was promoted as family-friendly, but was exactly the opposite. The event featured drag queen burlesque shows, a parade, booths handing out contraceptives and Plan B, and a drag queen story hour.
“Sandwiched in between the two burlesque shows was a drag queen reading LGBTQ-affirming picture books,” Leninist on the Prairie wrote. “One obvious goal of these events is to desensitize young children to sexually inappropriate content. In other words, they’re grooming our kids. The second goal is to introduce kids and their naïve parents to queer ideology. The purpose of queer ideology is to dismantle heterosexuality, binary sex, monogamy, traditional marriage, the nuclear family, and any other remnant of a traditional functional society related to our human sexuality.” (emphasis added)
Proponents of the LGBT agenda are not satisfied by society’s reluctant acceptance of homosexuality, transgenderism, and the idea of gender fluidity. The end game is not acceptance, it is dominance. This is a harsh truth, but one the church must acknowledge and be ready to defend against.
Another disappointing feature of the festival was the church’s involvement – not in reaching out to the lost souls in attendance, but participating in the debauchery, in the name of “compassion.” Leninist on the Prairie wrote that Shepherd’s Table, Spirit of Peace UCC, and First Congregational churches all had booths at the event and were ironically set up next to the Friends of the Satanic Temple booth.
“Is it compassionate to promote the pagan practices of child sacrifice, sexual exploitation, and debauchery?” the author questioned. “These LGBTQ-affirming churches talk a lot about love, but the Bible says that ‘love is not proud. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth’ (1 Cor. 13:4-6 [NIV]). Does Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection not free us from being enslaved to all sin: including the LGBTQ ones?”
It is shameful that these churches are so misguided in their beliefs that they would embrace the sin itself rather than the sinner. It is not compassionate to condone that which Jesus died to free us from. The most compassionate stance the church can take is witnessing to these lost individuals who are so desperately in need of grace, love, and God’s redeeming power in their life. They will not find lasting satisfaction and happiness in the perversion of the LGBT agenda.
It is the church’s responsibility to rise up in defense of the Gospel and reach out to the lost. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9:37 [ESV]) We are faced with a two-fold challenge: protecting our children and families from this dangerous agenda, and reaching out to those who have surrendered to its grasp. Will you join us in our mission to defend Biblical values in the public square?
