Rainbow flag stolen three times from Menlo Park church

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Make America great again by stealing from a church. Trump logic...

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He'll get Mexico to pay for the Rainbow Flag.

On behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, I want to express our gratitude to St. Bede's for its faithful persistence, and our dismay that such a warm Christian message has been met with vandalism.

The necessity for churches that welcome all, including LGBTQA folks, is never so clear as at moments like this. We are called to create a better world and it's an honor to share that calling with our Episcopal kindred up the road. Whatever we can do to support you, let us know!

Blessings!

wwjd, y'all?

"wwjd, y'all?"

Turn the other cheek.

On behalf of First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, UCC, a church which also enthusiastically welcomes and affirms our LGBTQ+ neighbors, I wish to express our solidarity with St. Bede's. Thank you for your faithful witness to God's radically inclusive welcome to all. Feel free to call on us for support and encouragement.

I hope St. Bede’s recovers their rainbow flag(s).

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We'll catch the person doing this. Just a matter of time now.

What kind of broken person does this? They need fixing.
So sad. I hope he finds love and tolerance within the light of the Lord.

One walk in the light of the Lord and he would be buying them a new flag and sobbing apologetically.
Miracles happen! Pray for the person who did this.

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It always warms my heart to drive by the rainbow flag on St. Bede's sign.

I am a conservative Christian living in Silicon Valley and fully empathize with the gay man fighting for acceptance and visibility. As a Christian, I am not allowed to have Biblical Christian values in this area without appearing bigoted, homophobic, transphobic - everything phobic and yet the people of St. Bede’s would most likely welcome Jesus, whom I follow, into their midst. I do not condone or support theft and am sorry this happened.

> As a Christian, I am not allowed to have Biblical Christian values in this area...

Odd. Of all the repression and oppression in our area, I've never felt that, nor seen it.

I'm so sorry you feel that way. I was unaware of the local repression of Christians. In California. In America.

Perhaps Christians should meet weekly. Make a plan. Carry whistles. For example, when gays were being physically assaulted and murdered for their lifestyle ("f**-bashing" being quite common back in the day) one of the things they did was carry whistles to alert neighbors for help.

Yes, buy a whistle to prevent the beatings of Christians. There may be more tactics you can think of.

I am so sorry you have to suffer through this.

Thank you Sharpie’d for the validation.

"I am not allowed to have Biblical Christian values in this area..."

I've been active in my church community for decades and I've never felt this way.
From my experiences, nobody is prohibited from expressing love and caring for all our fellow humans. Well, maybe when they stopped us from handing out food to the homeless in parks, but that got resolved.

If you incorrectly interpret Christian values as wanting discrimination against or working against certain groups of people's quest for equality under civil law simply because of who they love, that's an issue with your interpretation of Christianity, not with actual Christian Values. Also, Christian Values do not encourage theft of a symbol of unity because you oppose that unity.
Walk with the Lord and listen to him. He's about inclusive love, not exclusion.

As the social justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto (UUCPA), we were dismayed to read in The Almanac on September 4 that St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Menlo Park has three times been victimized by the theft of their LGBTQ flag and damage to their flagpole. We hereby express our solidarity with St. Bede’s and with LGTBQ people in their congregation and in the wider community. In these times of domestic and international conflict and emotional rhetoric, we cannot stay silent when such things happen. Such vandalism indicates that even here in the Bay Area there are deep divisions which need to be acknowledged. Rev. Gia Hayes-Martin, the Rector of St. Bede's, has invited people with opposing views to enter into a dialog. It is our hope and prayer that those who disagree will choose to engage in this way. Let us resolve to stand with all who seek a better world through peaceful means.

UUCPA Action Council

> Thank you Sharpie’d for the validation.

Alisa - you are welcome. I'm happy to help. We can all work together to keep you safe from the bigotry and hatred you feel you've experienced as a Christian.

I'm sure someone can donate their game camera for a few weeks to identify the thief.
Anyone?

I love to see rainbow flags outside of churches and other public building. So sorry this has happened.

Proud Christian creates a wonderful red herring, but does little to address Alisa’s point, which is that in Silicon Valley, traditional Christian (or indeed Muslim, or Jewish) values are portrayed as “hateful”. Proud Christian does a disservice to all Christians by portraying “Christian Values” as being a fixed and unanimously-agreed concept among all Christians. Of course this is not the case (consider the decades-long debates around abortion and the death penalty). Proud Christian would be wise to keep in mind Proverbs 16:18, which has cautionary advice for the overly proud.

> traditional Christian (or indeed Muslim, or Jewish) values are portrayed as “hateful”

Other than the two mentioned, what values of yours are commonly portrayed as “hateful”?

> Proud Christian would be wise...

We are so lucky to have your wise counsel - and you to tell us of such.

I'm a fan of Proverbs 16:5, myself. Proverbs 3:34 sums it up nicely, as well.

I get more oppression from vegans than I ever got for my devout beliefs.

Nor has anyone in my church been mocked or belittled.

I must admit I'm curious as to *exactly which* "Biblical Christian values" Alisa feels they are "not allowed to have", on pain of "appearing… everything phobic". While it's true that the Bible says that Christians will be persecuted for what they do in Jesus' name, it is, equally true, that Christians who behave like jerks will be "persecuted" for their jerk-like behavior, and that that jerk-like behavior has nothing at all to do with their Christian faith.