Note: The Rainbow Was Already Secularized

The LGBT flag secularizes the Christian sign of the rainbow, but it was already secular

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash

One of the evangelical objections to the LGBT use of the rainbow is that it takes a sign given by God and uses it for entirely secular purposes.¹ And there is a truth in this criticism. The rainbow flag does secularize the rainbow.

God initially declared that the rainbow was a sign that he would never flood the Earth again. It is a divine sign and promise. For Christians that is sacred, profound, and full of meaning. To use such a symbol for entirely secular purposes is irreligious in a sense. The meaning is lost. The promise is lost. But as with most culture war issues, the problem is much deeper, much more pervasive, and much, much less partisan than we are taught to think.

I think the rainbow ceased to function as a religious sign long ago, even for most Christians. And in that sense, the problem of a secularized rainbow is not about the LGBT movement. It’s about secularization broadly. It’s about the way we see, or fail to see, Creation.