In the latest instance of conservative Christians treating the celebration of diversity as a threat, three pitchers on the San Francisco Giants wrote Bible verses on their Pride-themed caps, ostensibly as a way to reclaim the symbol of the rainbow from the LGBTQ rights movement.
Major League Baseball told the players that writing on their caps violated the league’s uniform policy. Conservative Christians cried foul. The vice president of the United States posted, “Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore.”
This is all further proof that Americans’ conservative Christian persecution complex thrives on trivial controversies.
This is all further proof that Americans’ conservative Christian persecution complex thrives on trivial controversies. The religious right is trying to stretch this weak grievance into extra bases.
But something is missing from this tired narrative of gays vs. God: These players committed an unforced theological error. Genesis 9:12-16, the verse players inscribed on their hats, teaches us the opposite of the condemnation these de facto anti-LGBTQ activists wanted us to hear.
Let’s actually read the Bible, instead of using it as a prop:
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
I get the simplistic take here: reclaiming the rainbow as a Christian symbol and prying it out of the hands of the godless LGBTQ movement. The rainbow, in this view, is a zero-sum game that is either a symbol for or against the dignity of LGBTQ people.
But what this ancient and holy passage actually teaches is that God creates a covenant with all of God’s creation and promises never to destroy the Earth again like in the Great Flood. “Every living creature of all flesh” is about as universal as language gets. It’s the opposite of exclusion and zero-sum thinking. God’s love is for everyone. Who are we then to limit it and make exceptions?
And it’s not just this passage. The passage is part of the dominant narrative throughout the Hebrew Bible and New Testament that reflects God’s love for all people.
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is vice president of programs and strategy at Interfaith Alliance and the author of “Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity.”