Ours is a visual culture. Those who desire to attack truth and decency focus above all on the corruption of morals through the corruption of images. Our days are saturated with images and photographs, graphics, pictures, and signs. The worst abuse of images is that of man, who is made in the imago Dei, the very image and likeness of God.
One most disturbing corruption of the imago Dei is a LGBTQ+ version of an image of Our Lord Jesus Christ. At the most recent “Pride” event in downtown Tokyo, a group calling itself the “LGBTQ+ Catholic Faith Community” was running a booth in Yoyogi Park. A group member was holding aloft a large sign. At first glance, this sign appeared to be a normal image of Our Lord. But a closer inspection revealed the desecration of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The image has the LGBT rainbow colors flowing from Jesus’ chest. The words at the bottom said; “Jesus of rainbow-colored mercy, I trust in you!”
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The distorted image is the LGBTQ+ version of what is commonly referred to as the “Divine Mercy” image. There is a controversy regarding the image that dates back to the days of Pope Pius XII. No matter which side of the controversy one might take, all Catholics should agree that to associate the LGBTQ movement with Our Lord in any way is offensive and blasphemous.
A person had a conversation with the leader of the “LGBTQ+ Catholic Faith Community,” Mr. Shinya Ogasawara—who manned the “Pride” booth in Yoyogi Park where the blasphemous image was being prominently displayed. Apparently Mr. Ogasawara’s understanding of trust in Jesus is the opposite of what the Church teaches.
Mr. Ogasawara said that he believed that he was already in Heaven, and denied the existence of the Devil. He does not believe that Our Blessed Lord came to save us from the clutches of the Devil, reconcile us to God the Father, and lead us to Heaven through His Person. Denying these central tenets of the Faith is tantamount to denying Christ Himself.
Even worse, perhaps, is the blasphemous concept that a richness of “sexuality” and “identity” somehow flows from Our Lord’s precious bosom represented by a rainbow array of colors. This outrageous blasphemy appears to make Jesus the source of the LGBTQ+ behavior.
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All images portray a set of doctrines. There is some pattern of thought that motivates every visual expression. Thus, the doctrine behind this LGBTQ+ version of Jesus could be summarized in the following manner. They would have society believe that homosexual actions are not only not sinful, but flow from Jesus’ mercy and goodness. They would have us believe that Christ is not wounded or offended by our sins and that sinners need not reconcile themselves with God. They would even venture to affirm that the sin of sodomy is preferable to that of holy matrimony, purity, modesty, and virginity.
The “LGBTQ+” version of the image of Our Lord is a highly offensive travesty. It is no longer the image of the Messiah, Savior and Redeemer whose pastoral teachings on sin can be reduced to His words: “Go and sin no more.”
Unfortunately, the example from Japan is not the only such portrayal. This is symptomatic of a progressive trend today to unite the Catholic community and belief with the LGBT pseudo-community and its “doctrines.” The Rainbow Jesuit, Fr. James Martin does this in his book, Building A Bridge. Fr. Martin thinks that being homosexual is a blessing and that God created people to have same-sex desires.
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This can also be seen in the “rainbow rosary” that Fr. Martin praised so much last year. Sister Jeannine Gramick, a pro-homosexual nun, wrote a telling blurb for Building a Bridge, where she affirmed: “Fr. Martin shows how the Rosary and the rainbow flag can peacefully meet one another.”
Can there be a peaceful union between Christianity and the LGBT movement as Sr. Gramick suggests? The child of this union would be a hideous monster. Indeed, that hideousness is on full display in the LGBTQ+ “rainbow Jesus” image.
In an age of images such as ours, we must be especially vigilant. Images easily indoctrinate. We must reject both the false images and their doctrines, such as found in the “rainbow Jesus.”
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Jason Morgan is an associate professor at Reitaku University in Kashiwa, Japan. His work has appeared in Japan Review, Logos, the Michigan Historical Review, Human Life Review, Chronicles, Society, New Oxford Review, The Remnant, Japan Forward, Seiron, Crisis, Modern Age, Asia Times, and the proceedings of the Historical Awareness Research Committee.
Updated June 4, 2019.