(Letter to the Editor - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

I understand there has been some backlash for comments a local pastor made about “taking back the rainbow.” I do not know the man, but what he said is absolutely true. The rainbow was given by God as a sign that He would not destroy the Earth by water again, after what is called “Noah’s flood.” That is what it means and it has been hijacked by the homosexual community as their symbol of their lifestyle.

The rainbow flag was designed in 1978, and has meanings for each stripe of color on the flag. It appears that freedom of speech is OK, IF, it is what a certain group believes. Well, freedom of speech is an absolute; you are allowed to say the truth, whether some like it or not. In the John Peter Zenger trial in 1733, the defendant had printed some stories in the newspaper about New York Governor Cosby. In the trial he was found not guilty of libel because what he had said about the governor was true. The Zenger trial would lead the way for the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1791, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The Bible, in Genesis 9:11-15, says “the rainbow is the sign of a covenant that God made with the whole earth: He will never destroy the earth again with a flood.” The rainbow is literally correlated to rainfall.

What Zenger was accused of is libel, printing something in the newspaper. Speaking against something is slander, or the spoken word, of which the truth is allowed. Nothing the local pastor said was not true. He was simply stating what God had already said. If someone does not like that, then they have a problem with God, not the local pastor. It is time for people to speak up about topics that are wrong in society.

The solution for this whole issue is to turn to the Bible, which clearly states how people are supposed to live, like it or not. The homosexual community needs to find a different symbol, along with a different word than gay. That has been ruined also.

Robert Sadler

Marietta