Come out of the closet baby Jesus! That’s what the Church of St. Matthew in Auckland, New Zealand is hoping will happen. The church has put up billboards across the city urging the son of God to admit he’s gay.

The billboard in question has a picture of baby Jesus in the manger with a rainbow halo. In plain white text it reads, “It’s Christmas. Time for Jesus to come out.”

According to the Daily Mail, the church is not trying to spark any controversy but instead promote social tolerance. Reverend Glynn Cardy claims his purpose with these billboards is to ask if it would change anything for the church faithful if Jesus had been gay. He points out:

“The fact is we don’t know what his sexual orientation was.”

Oddly enough, this is not the first time the Church of St. Matthew has been caught in a billboard controversy. For Christmas 2011, the Reverend hung billboards around Auckland with a picture of the Virgin Mary shocked at the results of a positive pregnancy test.

Last year’s Virgin Mary billboards were torn down by an angry protestor. Because of continued social intolerance, it can be assumed the same fate will come down on the Gay Baby Jesus billboards.

In defense of social tolerance, Reverend Cardy is quick to point out that the word homosexuality did not exist until the 1800s.

Moreover, one of Cardy’s fellow Reverends, Clay Nelson, supports Cardy’s view:

“Some scholars have tried to make the case that he might have been gay. But it is all conjecture. Maybe gay, maybe not. Does it matter? There is almost nothing in the record of his teachings about sexuality while there is plenty about the perils of being rich. Certainly he always supported the marginalised in society.”

For reference, here are pictures of both billboards. The top photo is the new billboard with baby Jesus and the bottom photo is the Virgin Mary billboard being ripped down.

What do you think of the Gay Baby Jesus billboard?

Gay Baby Jesus? New Zealand Billboard Features Rainbow Halo is a post from: The Inquisitr