Ash Wednesday is soon to be observed by all Catholics, a number of Protestant denominations (Episcopalians, Lutherans, Moravians, etc) as well as a handful of Western Orthodox Churches (Celtic Orthodox Church, The French Orthodox Church, etc).
But adding to the list of those who will formally observe this solemn day of remembrance and repentance isn’t a particular Church or denomination, but a very specific demographic.
With the traditional admonishment of “Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris” (Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return), there are many within the homosexual community that believe they can somehow square the active homosexual lifestyle with Christian Sacred Writ and Sacred Tradition.
Even to the point of the ancient imposition of ashes mutating from a somber and sober act of faith and admitting to the personal accountability for past deeds, to something quite different.
In a move that pivots away from a personal act of penance to the personal act of screaming “Pay attention to me!” the LGBTQ group Parity openly advocates something they’ve tagged “Glitter+Ash.”
As reported by the overtly gay-friendly Religion News Service,
Lighten up, Ash Wednesday.
A New York-based advocacy group called Parity is asking Christians who favor LGBT equality — “queer positive Christians,” in their parlance — to show their support by wearing “glitter ash” on their foreheads to mark Ash Wednesday (March 1).
Ash Wednesday kicks off the six-week somber season called Lent that leads to Easter, and is usually marked in churches with the color purple. Traditionally, plain gray ashes, blessed by a minister or priest, are smeared on the foreheads of Christians to symbolize repentance.
“This is a way for queer Christians and queer-positive persons of faith to say ‘We are here,’” said Marian Edmonds-Allen, Parity’s executive director. “It is also a way for other people to be a witness to that and be in solidarity with them.”
Not all Christian denominations welcome openly LGBT people. The Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ and Metropolitan Community Church all ordain LGBT clergy, and every mainline Protestant and Catholic denomination has some organization that supports openly gay members, though those organizations are not officially sponsored by the denomination.
Edmonds-Allen hopes “Glitter Ash Wednesday” will make support for those groups visible in a way usually reserved for princesses and unicorns.
“For some traditions, it is true” that Christians are not supposed to draw attention to their piety, Edmonds-Allen said. “The ashes go on and the ashes go off — it is a private thing. But glitter ashes are still appropriate. It is a recognition of the reality of queer Christians in the world and the beauty LGBTQ Christians bring to faith.”
Traditionally, Ash Wednesday ashes are made by burning the palm fronds used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday service to re-enact the day Christians believe Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem. Some churches make their own, while others buy them from church supply companies.
Parity is mixing professional makeup-grade purple glitter with traditional ashes. The organization will send glitter ashes at no cost — though a donation is suggested — to any congregation or individual that requests them.
The plan is to have glitter ashes available in churches for the asking. Regular ashes will also be available.
So far, Parity has had requests for glitter ash from churches in multiple states, including California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Alabama and Georgia. The Metropolitan Community Church has committed to using glitter ashes at all of its churches.
Two examples of the contradictions Parity has with the Inspired Word of God;
From Parity’s Mission statement:
Parity is a faith-based LGBTQ-focused organization based in NYC, that creates open and nurturing spaces
– physically and spiritually to:
- Support emerging LGBTQ pastors (the forerunners of historical policy change) as they live into their callings.
- Empower LGBTQ and allied young people to integrate their spiritual, gender and sexual identities through a range of programs.
- Proclaim this message of reconciliation through the Not So Churchy worshipping community.
We work and pray for reconciliation, within our communities and within ourselves, so that we can create a world where gender or sexual identity are not barriers to living the whole, full lives that we are called to by God.
From Romans 1:26-27:
For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature. And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error.
Related:
- Videos: Gay bakeries refuse to make cake supporting traditional marriage for Christian
- UN’s ‘Gay Envoy’ slams religious freedom
- Viral video contrasts Obama’s criticism of Christianity with praise of Islam
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