Joshua Harris does Pride

Fresh from making international headlines with his announcement that he was taking a break from Christianity, Joshua Harris decided to make some more. The ex-“purity” guru famous for his monster 1997 bestseller I Kissed Dating Goodbye, showed up at the annual Pride parade in Vancouver BC (where he lives).

Christian media reported on it, horrified.

But Harris seems happy? That’s what matters.

On July 26, Harris had announced he and Christianity were breaking up, and included a special note of apology. “To the LGBTQ+ community, I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality,” he wrote. “I regret standing against marriage equality, for not affirming you and your place in the church, and for any ways that my writing and speaking contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry. I hope you can forgive me.”

The Christian Post reported: “Harris’ announcement sent shockwaves through the evangelical Christian community and sparked a widespread debate regarding the doctrine of salvation.”

That didn’t seem to be a subject discussed in Vancouver.

Harris met up with Matthias Roberts, host of the Queerology podcast, and Trey Pearson, the gay Christian singer. “Enjoyed swapping stories, gentleman!” he captioned the photo.

“I was happy to grab a beer with him, talk about his progression in faith, and his journey,” Roberts reports on Twitter. “He mostly wanted to hear mine.”

Meanwhile, The Christian Post and Evangelical media outlets reported on the visit, none more charming than Pulpit and Pen:

Christians had been wondering if Harris would soon announce himself a homosexual after denouncing Christ, denouncing purity, and apologizing to the sodomy-centered community for anything he might have previousy done, said, or written that could have hurt their feelings.

Apologizing for hurting people? That doesn’t sound too Christian.

Monitoring the fallout from Harris’s fall from (Christian) grace, I’m amused by the wars happening in the comments.

“So, he might be back and jump on the worldly and heretical and satanic bandwagon of ‘you can be gay and be a Christian,’” one guy says.

The reply: “But you CAN be a jerk and be a Christian. Just not gay.”

Evangelical writer and radio show host Eric Metaxas writes: “I happen to agree w/most of what he wrote in his book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. To see him slide to where he now is painful.”

Heath Lambert, of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, announced he’d be removing Harris’ foreword from his 2013 anti-porn manifesto, Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace.

Curious at what the world will be missing when Harris’ forward is removed, I take a look at the foul words.

Harris had written: “Using simple, no-nonsense language, Heath Lambert walks into the pornography-defiled room of your life with a huge box of tools. He gives you a shovel. He hands you an ax. He pulls out a blowtorch!”

No more axes and blowtorches? Is that even religion anymore?

Harris updates days later:

This photo has caused a lot of speculation and I want to clear some things up. There has been a lot of inaccurate reporting and rumors that are frankly not true.

⁣First, several media outlets have stated that I am holding a multi-colored cake. This is false. It is a multi-colored donut. I don’t necessarily recommend eating sugar-laden carbs but it was delicious. ⁣

Second, by wearing the shirt pictured here I was not endorsing everything the British Empire has done in its history. I was born in the United States and I am still upset about the whole taxation without representation thing. ⁣

I guess the big takeaway is that you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the media. I also want to say that it was an amazing experience marching in the Vancouver Pride Parade.

Message to Evangelicals: Let them eat cake!

See also:
Joshua Harris: the trainwreck reality T.V. show
Joshua Harris’s wife finds her voice