Kids understanding of Gods covenant rainbow vs. lgbt symbol

[Godsgirl83]

We were driving around town recently when my kiddos noticed a lgbt rainbow flag in someones yard.
I almost cried when one of them said something along the lines of "WOW! They must really love Jesus and God if they have a flag of Gods promise in their yard"
I almost cried because of their pure innocence and understanding of Gods covenant rainbow, (so touching)
and I almost cried because of the sad reality of the lgbt symbol reflecting the opposite of what they stated.

Without getting into detail over the whole lgbt issues I tried to explain that because of the evil in this world there are people who do things against what God has said in His word, and that the flag we saw is the symbol some people use to show that.
They talked a few moments amongst themselves, puzzled about how Gods covenant rainbow could ever mean anything other that, then changed the subject (and mama bear was able to let out a sigh of relief).

It got me thinking about it though.
Just HOW do you explain this to children?
I know many are so desensitized to these issues that it hardly fazes them as they are growing up, (many growing up and just accepting it as a way of life) but my little cubbies are protected and sheltered.

One perk of homeschooling is they are not being indoctrinated in the educational system with these lifestyles.
I don't want them to grow up and go out into "the real world" and experience a "culture shock"; however, at the same time I don't want to bluntly say to them "HEY! Just fyi there are men in this world who like kissing men instead of women and girls who like girls instead of boys and men who wear dresses" etc etc.

So, what's a parent to do?????

 

[GaryA]

The very first and most important thing you can do is to make sure they know and understand - from a biblical POV ("God said.") - what is truly 'normal' and 'proper' according to the way God set it up.

Just like the thing about not trying to know how to identify every sort of counterfeit bill; rather, just know really well what the "real thing" looks like.

So that they may instantly recognize what is 'real'/'correct' or not.

 

[Lanolin]

with children you can ask them is this a real rainbow or just multi-coloured stripes?
You can check if its a real rainbow if its got 7 colours in the roygbiv pattern. And is bow shaped.

 

[Lanolin]

the flags miss out on indigo I find.

I think with children you got to be honest and say that yes some people have same sex relationships but they have to have babies artifcially, not the way God originally intended because men and women are designed to go together.


The rainbow came about because of Judy Garlands song over the rainbow. Why its connected with lgbt movement I am not entirely sure but Judy Garland had a lot of gay fans who identified with her. She would always sing over the rainbow at the end of her concerts and people would cry.

Judys Garlands father was homosexual but he died when she was 13 and she wasnt aware of it at the time. But it seems everyone else knew and the family were run out of town because he liked young boys. Later in life Judy actually did go on to marry five times and some of her husbands were not straight.

just giving you some background info FYI.
somewhere over the rainbow came from the movie 'the wizard of oz' which is an american fairy tale fantasy childrens books by Frank L Baum, I would say that movie isnt entirely suitable for children cos of the witches, wizards and general theosophy its based on. not to mention flying monkeys, but it has becme a well loved childrens film.

I generally think if children know their bible well enough then any other kind of influence will roll off them like water off a ducks back. Just give them a good grounding in the Bible first rather than try and shelter them from anything thats NOT the Bible.

 

[cinder]

We were driving around town recently when my kiddos noticed a lgbt rainbow flag in someones yard.
I almost cried when one of them said something along the lines of "WOW! They must really love Jesus and God if they have a flag of Gods promise in their yard"
I almost cried because of their pure innocence and understanding of Gods covenant rainbow, (so touching)
and I almost cried because of the sad reality of the lgbt symbol reflecting the opposite of what they stated.

Without getting into detail over the whole lgbt issues I tried to explain that because of the evil in this world there are people who do things against what God has said in His word, and that the flag we saw is the symbol some people use to show that.
They talked a few moments amongst themselves, puzzled about how Gods covenant rainbow could ever mean anything other that, then changed the subject (and mama bear was able to let out a sigh of relief).

It got me thinking about it though.
Just HOW do you explain this to children?
I know many are so desensitized to these issues that it hardly fazes them as they are growing up, (many growing up and just accepting it as a way of life) but my little cubbies are protected and sheltered.

One perk of homeschooling is they are not being indoctrinated in the educational system with these lifestyles.
I don't want them to grow up and go out into "the real world" and experience a "culture shock"; however, at the same time I don't want to bluntly say to them "HEY! Just fyi there are men in this world who like kissing men instead of women and girls who like girls instead of boys and men who wear dresses" etc etc.

So, what's a parent to do?????

Disclaimer in all fairness: I'm not a parent and don't expect to ever be. But here are some of my thoughts.

How into detail you go depends a lot on the age of your children. But for younger children that wouldn't be mature enough or interested in the sex side of things. I'd suggest using something along the lines of: God made people in his image and one of the ways God made / ordained for people reflect the full complexity of his image is for men and women to marry each other and start families. But because sin has infected and distorted the world sometimes two men or two women break God's design and want to form a family together. And they have tried to steal the symbol of God's promise to say that there's nothing wrong with violating God's design like that. That should prepare them for any friends they may have that have two moms or two dads but explains that it's wrong and against God's design without getting into the gory sexual details, which they should figure out fine when they're ready to learn that sex is a part of marriage.

Hope that helps.

 

[Subhumanoidal]

Really sheltering children is a disservice to them. Often times what happens is they grow up and find a whole new world exists they never knew about. And people telling then it's a good place. So because they have no defense against them, combined with the excitement of new things, they go along with them.

The sad reality is that kids need to learn a lot more than they used to, at younger ages. Even many anti-porn movements encourage people to talk with their children about it at a young age since children are being exposed to it earlier and earlier. And this is warping their minds towards sex and abuse.
And with the prevelance of the gay movement they're going to see more and more. And if they aren't educated you're going to have a much tougher time of it.

Personally I'd be more direct and straightforward. It needs to be discussed and beating around the bush won't help.

Note I'm not saying to make it normalized to them, simply to educate them before someone else does.

 

[Live4Him]

We were driving around town recently when my kiddos noticed a lgbt rainbow flag in someones yard.
I almost cried when one of them said something along the lines of "WOW! They must really love Jesus and God if they have a flag of Gods promise in their yard"
I almost cried because of their pure innocence and understanding of Gods covenant rainbow, (so touching)
and I almost cried because of the sad reality of the lgbt symbol reflecting the opposite of what they stated.

Without getting into detail over the whole lgbt issues I tried to explain that because of the evil in this world there are people who do things against what God has said in His word, and that the flag we saw is the symbol some people use to show that.
They talked a few moments amongst themselves, puzzled about how Gods covenant rainbow could ever mean anything other that, then changed the subject (and mama bear was able to let out a sigh of relief).

It got me thinking about it though.
Just HOW do you explain this to children?
I know many are so desensitized to these issues that it hardly fazes them as they are growing up, (many growing up and just accepting it as a way of life) but my little cubbies are protected and sheltered.

One perk of homeschooling is they are not being indoctrinated in the educational system with these lifestyles.
I don't want them to grow up and go out into "the real world" and experience a "culture shock"; however, at the same time I don't want to bluntly say to them "HEY! Just fyi there are men in this world who like kissing men instead of women and girls who like girls instead of boys and men who wear dresses" etc etc.

So, what's a parent to do?????

Well, my children were homeschooled prior to my wife divorcing me, and I told them EVERYTHING (she actually did initially, too) from the time that they were infants up until the present day.

My advice to you would simply be to explain to them marriage from God's point of view as stated in Genesis and as reinforced by Jesus here:

Mark chapter 10

[6] But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
[7] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
[8] And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
[9] What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

"From the beginning of the creation".

"God made them MALE and FEMALE".

"MAN" and "his WIFE".

"FATHER and MOTHER".

Anything that deviates from this is literally anti-Christ...and I've told my own children this a multitude of times.

 

[TheIndianGirl]

I think it is better to discuss with kids now, before they go to places like NYC, Amsterdam, etc, where they will get a culture shock. During pride month, where I live all the restuarants and coffeeshops etc put out gay flags. A sheltered person would be shocked.

 

[Runningman]

We were driving around town recently when my kiddos noticed a lgbt rainbow flag in someones yard.
I almost cried when one of them said something along the lines of "WOW! They must really love Jesus and God if they have a flag of Gods promise in their yard"
I almost cried because of their pure innocence and understanding of Gods covenant rainbow, (so touching)
and I almost cried because of the sad reality of the lgbt symbol reflecting the opposite of what they stated.

Without getting into detail over the whole lgbt issues I tried to explain that because of the evil in this world there are people who do things against what God has said in His word, and that the flag we saw is the symbol some people use to show that.
They talked a few moments amongst themselves, puzzled about how Gods covenant rainbow could ever mean anything other that, then changed the subject (and mama bear was able to let out a sigh of relief).

It got me thinking about it though.
Just HOW do you explain this to children?
I know many are so desensitized to these issues that it hardly fazes them as they are growing up, (many growing up and just accepting it as a way of life) but my little cubbies are protected and sheltered.

One perk of homeschooling is they are not being indoctrinated in the educational system with these lifestyles.
I don't want them to grow up and go out into "the real world" and experience a "culture shock"; however, at the same time I don't want to bluntly say to them "HEY! Just fyi there are men in this world who like kissing men instead of women and girls who like girls instead of boys and men who wear dresses" etc etc.

So, what's a parent to do?????

Sadly, people who want to fly a rainbow flag in support of God's covenant can't do it without being judged. Sadly, so many things that started out pure and good get corrupted by those who appropriated it.

Is it too late to take back the ground that belongs to us or is the rainbow flag now a permanent symbol of corruption?

 

[RosePetal1]

I think you handled it well. What some posters mentioned is true in regard to over-sheltering (I can see myself being a sheltering parent lol) , however I believe age appropriation is still very important. If it comes up again in the future you can elaborate a bit more to suit their age.

 

[GardenofWeeden]

Instead of going into detail, I answered questions with my children, as they were asked. As they got older and understood more, I explained more, and then by the time they were adults, they understood my beliefs, what the Bible says, and how the world is. From there, they have to make their own choices.

Parenting adult children is scarier and more difficult to me, than when they were itty bitty and still under my control. Now they are out in the world, and while I can offer my opinions, they are just that now, my opinions, and the girls have to work-out their own beliefs.

 

[Mezame83]

Parenting adult children is scarier and more difficult to me, than when they were itty bitty and still under my control. Now they are out in the world, and while I can offer my opinions, they are just that now, my opinions, and

I'm sure you've done a good job raising them 🙂 Though I can see why you would say parenting adult children is scarier. I guess that's when we pray and trust God that what we've taught them about Jesus and his words will guide them and prevail in the end.

 

[GardenofWeeden]

I'm sure you've done a good job raising them 🙂 Though I can see why you would say parenting adult children is scarier. I guess that's when we pray and trust God that what we've taught them about Jesus and his words will guide them and prevail in the end.

That's it exactly!! We can see what they are doing, and since they are adult they don't hide the parts they would as kids, as much. It's enough to drive the devil out of a person! I have great kids though!!

 

[Moses_Young]

We were driving around town recently when my kiddos noticed a lgbt rainbow flag in someones yard.
I almost cried when one of them said something along the lines of "WOW! They must really love Jesus and God if they have a flag of Gods promise in their yard"
I almost cried because of their pure innocence and understanding of Gods covenant rainbow, (so touching)
and I almost cried because of the sad reality of the lgbt symbol reflecting the opposite of what they stated.

Without getting into detail over the whole lgbt issues I tried to explain that because of the evil in this world there are people who do things against what God has said in His word, and that the flag we saw is the symbol some people use to show that.
They talked a few moments amongst themselves, puzzled about how Gods covenant rainbow could ever mean anything other that, then changed the subject (and mama bear was able to let out a sigh of relief).

It got me thinking about it though.
Just HOW do you explain this to children?
I know many are so desensitized to these issues that it hardly fazes them as they are growing up, (many growing up and just accepting it as a way of life) but my little cubbies are protected and sheltered.

One perk of homeschooling is they are not being indoctrinated in the educational system with these lifestyles.
I don't want them to grow up and go out into "the real world" and experience a "culture shock"; however, at the same time I don't want to bluntly say to them "HEY! Just fyi there are men in this world who like kissing men instead of women and girls who like girls instead of boys and men who wear dresses" etc etc.

So, what's a parent to do?????

The children were right. The rainbow is God's covenant sign, whether or not it is hijacked by Satanists. Those who worship Satan want to deliberately forget God's judgement, so try to redefine the sign that should warn them to repentence as an encouragement to sin. As it was in the days of Noah...

 

[Lanolin]

well I havent actually seen a TRUE rainbow on a flag

I made up a picture of a rainbow in the library (bow shaped, 7 colours, with clouds) and nobody questions that it is not a rainbow, or associates it with LGBTQ. I had noahs ark picture next to it.

The hard part is getting all seven colours when indigo is hard to find, but cutting it into a bow shape is easy.

 

[presidente]

Moses read the Torah to the people and Ezra read the Torah to the people. The law was to be read to the people every seven years. This included the babies, the toddlers, all the way up to the oldest people.

The law talks about circumcision, virginity, menstruation, not committing adultery, not having sex with near relatives, two men not having sex, not having sex with animals. A lot of stuff it forbids is pretty nasty. But the law was to be read to the little children in their hearing. In Ezra's time, they had priests translating, probably explaining it in Aramaic. The people were to understand it.

I know when I was a kid some Christians, including my household, seemed to have this idea that if you talked about sex openly, that was a bad and sinful thing. So a lot of things weren't discussed. It is also not uncommon for parents to feel uncomfortable talking about sex.

But kids need to know enough about sex when they are little to keep from getting molested in this perverse world, anyway. They can know it involves their private parts and that it makes babies without going into too much detail.

 

[Nehemiah6]

Without getting into detail over the whole lgbt issues I tried to explain that because of the evil in this world there are people who do things against what God has said in His word, and that the flag we saw is the symbol some people use to show that.

A very simple way to compare God's rainbow with the LGBTQ abomination is to plainly tell children that God's rainbow represents His promise not to destroy the world with another Flood, but the false rainbow of sexual perverts is to tell the world that they are in rebellion to God. It is a symbol of rebellion, and that is what children need to know. One can then go on to say that evil-doers have had many symbols of rebellion -- all the idols of the pagans, the golden calf made by Aaron, the Nazi swastika, the hammer & sickle of the godless Communists, the upraised fist of Black Radicals, etc.

 

[Mii]

The rainbow has been used for many more things than what it is currently known for in pop culture.

Surely your children are familiar with skittles and while the "taste the rainbow" thing may be before their time (idk if they still run that commercial) you can still find videos of it to use as an example.

Perhaps that's a decent way to help them understand.


Like a slogan for a candy

Same thing with rainbow dash in MLP (my little pony)

Or even Pink Floyd (which doesn't count because I think that's a prism) still though there are plenty of other examples of people using the symbol before it's current nearly mainstream use.

Lucky Charms also.

I won't get into why these representations bother people considerably less (or not at all).

Funny how many references are out there just thinking back. The more I think about it...I think dragon tales had rainbows quite a bit and so did carebears? I digress.

I like Lanolin's post a lot though as ROYGBIV is typically not represented and idk what I looked at recently (may have been a flag) but it struck me to count the colors and it was missing one so I can confirm that at least one instance is lacking. So that is at least another approach to consider perhaps.




I have been surprised to find that people that grow up in the church and in Christian households don't even know that the rainbow is a sign of God's covenant (as per scripture) so consider the blessing that perhaps this is good evidence of the Word dwelling within them.

 

[Godsgirl83]

Thanks for all the replies.
Certainly are a lot of positive angles to approach the issue from.

ROYGBIV......
I forgot about that
We homeschool and I try to tie a biblical worldview into things (makes things like science all the more fun and understandable).............
making note to point out indigo when we get to rainbows.

 

[Nehemiah6]

ROYGBIV......
I forgot about that

VIBGYOR is at least can be pronounced.