The growing acceptance of transgender is a tragedy with ramifications yet understood. With the bounds of life determined only by feeling and possibility, sexuality and gender identity has been grossly redefined. As science advances, the possibilities continue to expand.
In "A Boy's Life" (The Atlantic Monthly, October 2008), Hanna Rosin explores the growing phenomenon of transgendered children. It is excellent. She simultaneously engages the contentious debate among medical doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists on whether parents are qualified to make these decisions for children and the heartbreaking personal stories of parents torn over the suffering of their children.
Take the time to read it in full. It is a gospel issue which needs to be engaged truthfully and compassionately. This is clear from the opening lines of the article, as Mrs. Rosin recounts a conversation between a mother and her son.
“Brandon, God made you a boy for a special reason,” she told him before they said prayers one night when he was 5, the first part of a speech she’d prepared. But he cut her off: “God made a mistake,” he said.This is the heart of the issue. Does God have the right to tell me who I am? One of the clearest testimonies to the affirmative is our very existence as male or female. We have no part in our "being" - rather, God, according to his will alone, gave us life. The life he gives comes with parameters.
Romans 9:20 reads, "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay." Yet, even at the tender age of five years, we rebel against this reality.
To rebel against reality is foolish and futile. Rosin captures this in a story of a girl who did everything like a boy.
Once, when she was 6, her father, Mike, said out of the blue: “Chris, you’re a girl.” In response, he recalls, she “started screaming and freaking out,” closing her hand into a fist and punching herself between the legs, over and over.The transgendered movement is merely a more sophisticated permutation of this little girl's rage against her Creator. And it will no more change anything than her fruitless tactic did. What destruction do we sow by telling her otherwise?
What is needed for Chris and other children like her is a belief in a Creator God who is all-kind, all-wise, all-powerful and Sovereign. He is kind: he loves her and desires her best. He is wise: he knows how to reach what is best. He is powerful: he is able to execute what it takes to reach what is best. And he is sovereign: he will do what he wills.
Is this harsh? Does it resign Chris to lifelong struggles? Just the opposite. Here lies freedom! Chris is able to live fully trusting a good, wise, powerful Sovereign Lord for all things, including his decision to create her a girl. No longer does she need to rage against that which she cannot change. She can focus on those things which she can change -- steering her heart and mind and affection toward God and others.
Again, read it in full. May it be a sobering call for faithful ministry in a dark, confused world.
9 comments:
You say that the transgender people that you have met are sad; just how many trans people DO you know? How many post-op transsexuals do you know or have you met? Just in case you do not know the definition of the terms or labels people use, here are the important ones.
Transgender - is an umbrella term used to describe gender variant people who have gender identity expressions or behaviors not traditionally associated with their birth sex. Not all transgendered persons alter their physical anatomy.
The term Transgender includes: Transvestite, Cross-dresser, Drag Queen or King, Stone Butch or No-ho/No-op, Butch and femme, Gender Queer, Boi and Two Spirits.
Transsexual - by definition is one who wishes to be considered a member of the opposite sex and/ or has undergone a sex change, ie SRS, GRS; (G) Genital or Gender; or has a desire to change their bodies by hormones to appear different than the sex assigned at birth. Can be either Pre or Post-Op (Operational).
I will not assume to know which term and definition you really were talking about when you said “the saddest people I see are ‘transgendered’”. But I can tell you that you have been looking in the wrong places. Every trans or transsexual person that I know is very happy; they are happy because they are not living a lie, they are living an honest life, filled with integrity. And Psalm 84, v 11 says, “No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity.”
I recently attended a convention and met numerous trans people who were very happy emotionally, they might have lost contact with friends, family, jobs, even the church, but because they accepted themselves for who they were; they were very happy.
Your reference to A Boy’s Life from the Atlantic, names a child who is struggling and I would say that Brandon was wrong when he said that God make mistakes. God doesn’t make mistakes but he also doesn’t “watch the pot” either, he doesn’t intervene when a child is developing with a medical problem; i.e, cleft lips or pallets, hearts outside of their chest, children born with downs syndrome, children born without arms or legs, children without brain development, children born with emotional or physical problems because their birth mother was addicted to alcohol or drugs, or even children who are Intersexed - people with chromosomal or physiological anomalies that lead to ambiguous genitalia, people with both female and male parts. The world is not made up with just people who are binary gender, if you define gender by the number of chromosomes, where do you put the people who have two X’s or two Y genes in their genetic code.
This is the heart of the issue. Does God have the right to tell me who I am? No, but God expect us to come to him and love Him as we are. He wants us to be happy and loving. One of the clearest testimonies to the affirmative is our very existence as male or female. The God of the Bible is of indeterminate sex/gender. In the original languages God is described in neutral sex/gender terms in Genesis 1-3. Not "man" but all humanity--male, female, and everyone in between--is created in the image of God. In Genesis 1-27 “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them male and female he created them” this the first creation story. We have no part in our "being" - rather, God, according to his will alone, gave us life.
And the Scripture by Matthew and Isaiah says:
The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” - Matthew 19:10-12
and:
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant- to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. Isaiah 56:3 - 5
God also gave us a soul and reasoning. We are all called to be witness to the Word, and the Word was God and the Word is God. If we truly believe that to fulfill our witness for Christ is by our transitioning, then I firmly believe that this is my calling, to live the rest of my life as a Woman, who I know to be blessed by my Lord and is living my life with integrity. I am doing God’s work by being transgender; it is not for someone on earth to judge to quickly or to harshly, if I am wrong in this matter then it is between me and my God.
Since you have referenced A Boy’s Life from the Atlantic, I noticed that you did not mentioned the parents who were positive examples for transitioning children, and how happy the children are now in retrospect with their birth Gender Identity to their new Gender Expression. My biggest problem with Dr John Zucker, methods of reparative therapy is illustrated by the treatment of John, as well as the failed experiment, conducted by Dr. Money on a young boy who after having his penis burned off, underwent genital reconstruction so they he could be raised a girl, (read the rest).
John was one of Dr. Zucher’s “success” stories of curing someone because they felt they are transgender.
“When he was 4, the boy, John, had tested at the top of the gender-dysphoria scale….. Recently, John was in the basement watching the Grammys. When Caroline walked downstairs to say good night, she found him draped in a blanket, vamping. He looked up at her, mortified. She held his face and said, “You never have to be embarrassed of the things you say or do around me.” Her position now is that the treatment is “not a cure; this will always be with him”—but also that he has nothing to be ashamed of. About a year ago, John carefully broke the news to his parents that he is gay.”
But even his mother realizes that there was not cure and John was not happy unless he was ‘vamping’ which leads me to think that he was cross-dressed and couldn’t control his feelings, which is being transgendered by definition.
You have found sad people because you have only looked for sad people. I encourage you to seek out a transgender person who is ‘out’ and see that their happiness is shaped by their faith; sit down with the person and listen to their stories. Listen to their heart with your open heart.
Two Auntees,
Thank you for taking the time to engage me in this, and with such a thorough response. It is honorable that, after calling me to hear out transgendered persons, you do not leave in frustration with me but are willing to be that person. Thank you.
You took great care in your comment, and I hope to respond in kind. I have a few questions if you have more time. If not, then I'll go ahead with my response.
1. Do you see yourself as the eunuch in Matt 19 and Isaiah 56?
2. What are your thoughts about the failed experiment of Dr. Money? You alluded to them, but I didn't understand.
3. How does your faith shape your happiness? (cf. the last line in your response; this might be too big of a question for a comment; if so, that can be for another time.)
From wikipedia
Do you see yourself as the eunuch in Matt 19 and Isaiah 56?
Religious castration
A famous alleged example[citation needed] is the early theologian Origen, who is said[citation needed] to have found scriptural justification in the Matthew 19:12. In this passage, Jesus stated: "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (King James Version)
Tertullian, a second century Church Father, described Jesus himself and Paul of Tarsus as spadones, which is translated as "eunuchs" in some contexts.[9][unreliable source?] However, these statements can be interpreted as a metaphor for celibacy, especially given the broad meaning of the term spado in Late Antiquity
Non-castrated "eunuchs"
Hence, by Late Antiquity the term "eunuch" had come to be applied not only to castrated men, but also to a wide range of men with comparable behavior, who had "chosen to withdraw from worldly activities and thus refused to procreate".[13] The broad sense of the term "eunuch" is reflected in the compendium of Roman law created by Justinian I in the sixth century known as the Digest or Pandects. That text distinguishes between two types of "eunuchs" - spadones (a general term denoting "one who has no generative power, an impotent person, whether by nature or by castration",[14] D 50.16.128) and castrati (castrated males, physically incapable of procreation). Spadones are eligible to marry women (D 23.3.39.1), institute posthumous heirs (D 28.2.6), and adopt children (Institutions of Justinian 1.11.9), unless they are castrati.
The hijra of India
Hijra, a Hindi term traditionally translated into English as "eunuch", actually refers to what modern Westerners would call male-to-female transgender people and effeminate homosexuals (although some of them reportedly identify as belonging to a third sex). Some of them undergo ritual castration, but the majority do not. They usually dress in saris (traditional Indian garb worn by women) and wear heavy make-up.
Answer: No not as defined according to the description of “Eunuchs” from Wikipedia.
What are your thoughts about the failed experiment of Dr. Money? You alluded to them, but I didn't understand.
From A Boy’s Life,
In a 1955 paper, Dr. Money had written: “Sexual behavior and orientation as male or female does not have an innate, instinctive basis.” We learn whether we are male or female “in the course of the various experiences of growing up.” By the ’60s, he was well-known for having established the first American clinic to perform voluntary sex-change operations, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore. One day, he got a letter from the parents of infant twin boys, one of whom had suffered a botched circumcision that had burned off most of his penis.
He encouraged the parents to have the boy, David Reimer, fully castrated and then to raise him as a girl. When the child reached puberty, Money told them, doctors could construct a vagina and give him feminizing hormones. Above all, he told them, they must not waver in their decision and must not tell the boy about the accident.
In paper after paper, Money reported on Reimer’s fabulous progress, writing that “she” showed an avid interest in dolls and dollhouses, that she preferred dresses, hair ribbons, and frilly blouses. Money’s description of the child in his book Sexual Signatures prompted one reviewer to describe her as “sailing contentedly through childhood as a genuine girl.” Time magazine concluded that the Reimer case cast doubt on the belief that sex differences are “immutably set by the genes at conception.”
The reality was quite different, as Rolling Stone reporter John Colapinto brilliantly documented in the 2000 best seller As Nature Made Him. Reimer had never adjusted to being a girl at all. He wanted only to build forts and play with his brother’s dump trucks, and insisted that he should pee standing up. He was a social disaster at school, beating up other kids and misbehaving in class. At 14, Reimer became so alienated and depressed that his parents finally told him the truth about his birth, at which point he felt mostly relief, he reported. He eventually underwent phalloplasty, and he married a woman. Then four years ago, at age 38, Reimer shot himself dead in a grocery-store parking lot.
Answer: My thoughts are that a person’s Gender Identity can’t be defined by social constructs. It is said that General George Patton’s mother dressed and socially raised him as a girl until he was old enough to go to school, then she cut off his curls and put boy’s clothes on him. As the story of Brandon as told in A Boy’s Life, children at a very young age are very telling their parents that they are born in the wrong body and when a mother finds her young son with a knife or pair of scissors poised on their penis ready to cut it off, then that conscious emotional state must be addressed and the child should be allowed to be who they are. More than half of the young people who identify themselves as transgender commit suicide because of emotional abuse and pain inflicted in anger by their parents, students at school and by the church officials.
There are as many ways to come to accept one’s transgenderness as there are transgender (I’m being inclusive here) people; and as many varied journeys. David Reimer never adjusted emotionally to his gender identity created by medical means, and it created a lost and confused person and cost him his life. But my opinion in the defense of Dr. Money, what do you do with a child who has lost his penis because of a medical mistake in 1955; there was not much a surgeon could do in that time. Times and medical advances have greatly changed, where surgeons are doing exciting genital surgeries. In the movie TransAmerica the main character is speaking to her psychologist as says that isn’t it funny that how a person’s mental disorder can be cured with surgery.
How does your faith shape your happiness?
Matthew 22:34-46
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "`You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Answer: The above scripture was our Gospel text for last Sunday. God wants us to love one another and be happy with ourselves. I had taken prayer very seriously asking him many many times to take this burden away from me, just let me live this life and give me peace. I was not a good person or father to my three children because of the growing frustration of fighting my transgenderness, if you will. I began to drink too much, was almost violent with my children when I couldn’t find the time to be ‘Sarah”, I was sliding down into a darkness that I didn’t want to go.
This is how I came to be happy with myself in the light of my faith, taken from my unpublished book, My Life in Heels Or With HRT you get Breast Cancer.
“When my Father-in-Law decided not to go back to dialysis, his health took a quick dive for the worse and the family was called to gather for his last days. He spent his last hours in his own bedroom with the family gathered at his bedside. Every family member had his opportunity to touch and console their father. As I was standing in the second ring of family members, I noticed that in his last hour of life that he would look at certain spots at the corner of the ceiling and walls, as if he was recognizing family members or friends long gone. I watched his eyes light up as he acknowledged each vision separately several times sweeping back and forth among his other visitors.
After his passing, the family stayed in the room with him until the paramedics came to take his body away. As they were preparing the body for removal, the family gathered to console each other in the living room with had an old gas log burner that hadn’t be turned on for years. Suddenly, the gas logs in the front room flare up and burn brightly for five minutes. Those family members in the living room called for the other members to come to the living room and see what was happening in the fire place. As we watched the fire burn brightly, it extinguished itself just as quick; we all were stupefied because we immediately check the gas valve and verified that it was indeed turned off; that no one had touched the gas valve that evening or for a very long time. Bruce was always cold in the house and would turn the thermostat up to 80 degrees during the day, which would drive Faye to her room with her air conditioning at full blast to stay cool. So when the gas logs flared up we joked that either he was in heaven and was warm and toasty, or he was in the other place. We knew for certain that he couldn’t be in that other place. We all agreed that what happened with the gas logs was by his doings, and it was his way of tell his loved ones that he was safe, warm and happy.
Another experience gave me the answer for which I had been praying for so long. My Mother-in-Law passed away after my ex and I separated. I had been one of her caregivers as she was very ill, and had to have oxygen 24-7 and needed help with other medical issues as well; and I gathered from her smile that she cared for me. Because she lived with us for long periods of times, I was the one who looked after her until her caregivers arrived in the mornings. It was only, by some small chance that she happened to see me dress up as Sarah, one morning. I thought I would just pop into the living room after I had put on one of my ex’s outfits and as I left my bedroom, Faye also happened to pop out of her bedroom to go to the bathroom. We never spoke about that morning ever.
A few days after she had passed away, I was attending a class for the ‘Alpha Course’ program at the church, which is designed as ‘A Practical Introduction to the Christian Faith’, by Nicky Gumbel who studied law at Cambridge and theology at Oxford, practiced as a lawyer, and is now ordained and on the staff of Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London. Anyway the class was watching a one of the video presentation and it had been a long day and I happen to be really tired and began to doze off. As I was beginning to nap, Faye appeared to me in a dream and told me that everything would be ok and that she loved me. I watched as she came to me and kissed me on the cheek, at which time her image changed into a male face with a beard and looked me directly into my eyes. I immediately had a feeling of such inner peace and warmth with myself and I immediately knew in my heart that my journey to transition from ‘John’ to Sarah had always been God’s plan for me and this was the right only thing for me to do.”
Please forgive the lengthiness of this post, but these two incidents I felt were my answers to my many prayers, that I should be happy and that I was suppose to transition and be his servant to the Word.
Thank you for listening or reading my thoughts. I think we can listen to others reasons which might not be your thoughts or reason, and in the end we can achieve an understanding of each others belief and in this moment we can agree to disagree.
Sorry, I didn't really explain my reasons that my belief was so important as to how and when I transitioned.
My greatest fear was how my church would react to this change of being. Being raised Catholic brings out so much doubt and mistrust and guilt of being 'sinful' in the eyes of the church. In my prayers to God to give me a sign or remove these feelings that I had, I also delayed my transition because I didn't know how the people in my Church would react. As so again after much soul searching and my experience with my Mother-in-Law, I told our Vicar that I was transgender and would wanted to be my true self at Church.
I'm sure that my coming before the membership and telling them first that I have been able to garner a stronger support in most of the membership. There were a few who refused to accept my 'decision' and left. I am not responsible for what choices or feelings others people take regarding my transition, but most stood at my side and have been my biggest supporters. Kay and I were asked to become God Mothers to one the newest member of the congregation.
We have assumed a responsibility to care for and educate the people of our community, so we talk to several University classes about our lives and what being a couple and transgender means to us.
I hope this helps to clarify some things that I have said or hinted to.
Thank you, again, for answering my questions with such a personal reply. It's clear that you struggled for many years before changing genders, and that this struggle brought a lot of heartache and pain to you and your family. I am so sorry. Here are a few points in reply to your concerns over my post:
1. "Perhaps the saddest people I see..." - Sadness here refers to my emotions, not theirs. Seeing a transgendered person, broadly defined, makes me sad for him or her. Perhaps reading my views makes you sad for me? I noticed that you used sadness similarly in a post dated 10-16-2008.
2. The eunuch - The eunuch is an interesting reference; I appreciate your mention of it. Like you said, I don't think I would include you as a eunuch. I think the eunuch here is simply a barren male (notice similar rejoicing of barren women in Isa 54:1). These were men who could be barren, as Jesus said, for many different reasons, and whose sadness will be relieved at Christ's coming. However, if a transgendered person should be considered a eunuch, one who had "been so from birth," Jesus expects them (in Matt 19) not to be married. The disciples ask, If marriage is so hard, why get married? Jesus replies, Only some are able to heed your advice, i.e., eunuchs. He does not advocate here marriage between anything but a man and a woman.
3. Throughout all of your replies, you uphold integrity. Transgendered persons are happy because "they are not living a lie, live honest lives, filled with integrity." For so long, you yourself confess not living with integrity, struggling to maintain a double-life. Your two visions encouraged you to come out, and you did. Psalm 84:11 is a great verse: “No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity.” If we both love this verse, then how do we arrive at such different places? I think it is because we define integrity differently.
You might define integrity as "being true to yourself," living honestly as "living according to how you feel deep down." This definition needs, in my view, more qualification. I would define integrity as living according to God's instruction, which I confess is often very different to how I feel (cf. Rom 7). But He has given us his Word, every bit of which is profitable for "training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16). We are wise to study it and to follow Him and not our own understanding (Prov 3:5).
Scripture repeatedly presents the one who does not heed the Lord as foolish and in danger. For example, at the end of Judges, when Israel has all but abandoned God, Jdg 21:25 says, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Perhaps this could be described as living true to themselves, but not in any commendable sense. They needed a king to direct them. And we have such a King.
That's why I think transgendered living is not right, because its not faithful to the King and his Word. In Gen 1, God does not create us, as you described, as "male and female and everything in between." He only creates us as male and female. Likewise, God is not gender-neutral. He is Father and Son. Your two visions, no doubt very powerful experiences, must still conform to God's Word. My fear is that your faith does not shape your happiness, but your happiness shapes your faith. You have added to Scripture to adjust for how you feel.
But you don't have to add to scripture, because you already sense that scripture understands. You are right to connect GID with cleft lips and downs syndrome. We live in a fallen world; sin has wreaked havoc in every area of our lives, producing things like GID. Because of sin, I cannot yet lay claim to your definition of integrity. I long for it -- I long to live true to myself when being true to myself is being true to my Father God! Right now, though, I cannot because the sin inside me would lead me away from him. Until we are made perfect, I will strive to live true to Him and His Word, trusting that Christ has paid for my sins and freed me from the power of sin to live my life for Him.
You are right, though, when you connect integrity with accountability. You affirm that this is your decision and you will stand before God alone for him to judge, and that is true. I will stand before him for these views and this response. May God be merciful to us both. I'm thankful for you and for your patience with me. I pray that our hearts have grown for one another even if we are not able to agree.
This is the other half of the Two Auntees. Sarah answered some questions for you. Would you mind answering some questions for us:
● How many transgendered people have you met?
● Have you had conversations with people who are transgendered (I am using this as the umbrella term)? If so, what amount of time did you speak with them?
● Do you know any transgendered children?
● Have you been in any social situations with transgendered people or worked with any?
● Have you had the experience of counseling any transgendered people?
● Have you read any other articles or books about the subject of transgender?
● I see that you go to a Baptist seminary. Does that mean that you are of the Baptist faith and is your goal to become a minister?
I guess what I am looking for is what informs you in writing this blog; personal experiences or research. Is this something that you have studied in seminary?
To answer your specific questions: I have some limited experience with transgendered/GID persons and families through my work (counseling office) and have had conversations with a local clinical psychologist about the subject, though this is not his specialty. There is no one to my knowledge in my family or in my social network. The topic does come up in seminary, under the subjects of biblical humanity, including manhood and womanhood, sexuality, and gender. My goal is to become a minister, probably within a Baptist church.
To answer your general question: Personal experience, reflections and my understanding of Scripture inform the opinions expressed on this blog. Because I have minimal knowledge of recent studies in science or psychology about GID (besides what I've gathered from reporting from a few news outlets like The Atlantic Monthly - you can be the judge of quality), I don't presume to discuss those areas. My comments center on a biblical-theological understanding of gender and living. I wouldn't call it expertise, but it's where I've done the most study.
If you're asking about the blog as a whole: This blog is not very old, and by the title you can assume I don't presume a great readership. Sometimes its just for pointing out interesting things I've heard or read. At other times, it is a place where I can attempt to connect what I read and see and hear with the Bible's teaching and with the local church. It helps so much to write things out. In that attempt, though, I hope for visitors to encourage, challenge and criticize.
I admit to being surprised at your finding my post. But it's a good surprise - I've profited from "listening" to your responses and am thankful for your patience.
Does that answer your questions?
Thank you for responding. I find it helpful if I know a little about the background of how someone comes to their conclusions. Most of the questions you did answer. However, on the question about the number of transgendered people you have encountered, the answer was a little fuzzy. It appears that you have seen transgender people on in a counseling situation and I'm not sure how many you have seen.
I met John through church. (I refer to Sarah’s male name in the past. I am very clear about who she is now.) We sang in the choir together. I knew that he was going through a divorce. I knew John to be a sad and almost reclusive person. I also knew that he was going through some sort of struggle that I thought had to do with maybe not wanting the divorce and missing his family. One Sunday I told him that I had had him on my mind and in my prayers because it was apparent to that he was going through a difficult time. After a short discussion, he revealed to me that he was transgender. He revealed that he had prayed to God to take this need away.
I knew very little about people who are transgender until Sarah revealed herself to me. My background is that I am a Women’s' Health nurse practitioner. The first thing I did was research through the internet (of course), medical information, and contacts that I had in the medical field, etc. Sarah invited me to go with her to a transgender group in a nearby town. I met the most interesting, happy and deeply content group of people I have ever met………..warm, caring, accepting loving from a number of different faith traditions.
I will admit that not all transgender people happy. Most all seem to really struggle when they realize that something is different about them. I know that I saw Sarah go through a great turmoil but as she recognized who she was and began to accept and acknowledge the fact that she was transgender there was a peace and happiness that came with it. This was accompanied with lots of prayer, information and appropriate psychological counseling. As Sarah began her transition, I saw a peace, comfort and happiness come to her. I have seen this in many other people as they begin to go through their transition. The sadness and pain they usually have come from people in their lives who reject them. I also know that family, friends and others have a difficult time in understanding gender identity and experience the transition as a loss, even the death of the person they knew. B
I say all of this to tell you that not all transgender people are sad and if they are they do not always remain sad. You say that “So much effort and care is taken to mask what is plain to everyone. These men and women tell themselves that makeup or short hair or hormones will change something that is written clearly in each and every one of the trillions of their cells.” There is so much that we do not know about the human body. We do not know what is written in their cells, we do not know what is in their brains, and the list goes on. Just as genitalia may be ambiguous or appear to be the opposite sex (yes, that can happen………I have seen it with my own eyes), I believe there can be a similar mismatch in the brain, spirit, soul. I remember a family doctor from my childhood making the statement that if you listen to your patient that they will diagnose themselves. I have found this to be true throughout my career as a nurse practitioner.
I do not have the training to speak to you theologically and obviously our beliefs are different. I would ask that you be respectful of “the other” that you find in your life. I was reared as a Baptist, even went to a Baptist school for my nursing education. I know that there are many people who are Baptists who are Christian and godly people as evidenced by their lives. For me the Baptist tradition did not work. In fact, I found it to be contradictory and abusive. One incident that stands out in my mind is being in the hospital room with my mother who had just had a mastectomy and our minister coming in and asking her what she had done wrong to have this happen. If this insensitiveness had been limited to one minister and/or one remark, I would have dismissed it. Unfortunately, it was not and I finally left the Baptist church and have found a church home elsewhere.
If I made an unkind or insensitive remark about people my mother would always tell me, “there but for the grace of God go me.” I hope that you may be able to embrace my mother’s advice as you go forward in your work. I always found her to be a wise woman.
As an Episcopalian, this is what I believe as written in the Book of Common Prayer:
From the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker o heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, pro proceeds from the Father and the Son.
We believe in three persons in the Triune; One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each one of the other; all equal.
From John 16: v7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate (Holy Spirit) will not come to you;…”
And from v 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
No, I am not adding scripture as you suggest, however my study of scripture is guided by the Holy Spirit, because the Word of God is a living Word, and we are washed in our God, and Son, and Holy Spirit, One in Three and Three in One.
From the Introduction of The Bible, A Biography, by Karen Armstrong, she writes:
“Because scripture had become such an explosive issue, it is important to be clear what it is and what it is not. This biography of the Bible provides some insight into this religious phenomenon. It is, for example, crucial to note that an exclusively literal interpretation of the Bible is a recent development. Until the nineteenth century, very few people imagined that the first chapter of Genesis was a factual account of the origins of life. For centuries, Jews and Christians relished highly allegorical and inventive exegesis, insisting that at wholly literal reading of the Bible was neither possible nor desirable.”
And again she writes; “From the very beginning, people feared that a written scripture encouraged inflexibility and unrealistic, strident certainty. Religious knowledge cannot be imparted like other information, simply by scanning the sacred page. Documents became ‘scripture’ not, initially, because they were thought to be divinely inspired but because people started to treat them differently. This was certainly true of the early texts of the Bible, which became holy only when approached in a ritual context that set them apart from ordinary life and secular modes of thought.”
The Rt Rev Gene Robinson is the Bishop of New Hampshire and he writes:
This is the God I know in my life - who loves me, interacts with me, teaches and summons me closer and closer to God's truth. This God is alive and well and active in the church - not locked up in scripture 2,000 years ago, having said everything that needed to be said, but rather still interacting with us, calling us to love one another as he loves us. It is the brilliance of Anglicanism that we first and foremost read scripture, and then interpret it in light of church tradition and human reason. No one of us alone can be trusted to such a process because, left to our own devices, we recast God's will in our own image. But in the community of the church, together we are able to discern God's will for us - and sometimes that may mean reinterpreting and even changing old understandings of things thought settled long ago.
You did not acknowledge the existence of persons who are Intersex. They are persons who are both Male and Female
From a post by Mercedes;
Genesis 1:27 (KJV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This scripture is often used to reassert that only two genders exist, and that variance is unnatural. However, even God can’t deny the existence of intersex.
The prevailing belief, of course, is that there are two genders. It’s supposed to be as simple as that. Either you’re born with XX chromosomes and become a girl or born with XY chromosomes and become a boy. God is not supposed to make mistakes.
It doesn’t explain Intersexed births, in which a person can have biological tissue form in ambiguous or mixed gender permutations. There are currently upwards of 50 known and documented forms of intersex.
Your restatement: “"Perhaps the saddest people I see..." - Sadness here refers to my emotions, not theirs.” I say that it does not refer to your emotions; I say it qualifies your view of transgender, ‘saddest people’. If you had said, “ I am saddened when I see, or meet a transgender…” that would refer to your emotions.
I am, however, very disturbed that you claim that it is because of ‘Sin’ that children are born with physical abnormalities. Who has “sinned”,? It can’t be the children’s fault, and we have no right to accuse the Mother of such children of ‘sinning’, because we can’t possible know her spiritually.
From the Web Site, Transgendered Soul: and Mr. P.
Is Becoming Who I Am Inside a Sin Before God?
To understand whether we are sinning, one must first "know" what we are, and what we are doing. What is a transsexual/transgendered person? We are individuals who feel that our brain gender is opposite to our body gender. We think, feel and process life from the opposite genders perspective. This disharmony causes us great distress, depression and pain. We feel we
must change our body to be in harmony with our mind, to feel "whole" and be at peace.
.Are We Sinning When We Change Our Bodies?
What is sinning? Sinning is disobedience to God's will. How could an on looker know if changing our body is against God's will for us? Could we be designed by God to do this very thing? How could one know that we are not here at this time, for the very purpose of challenging the world's understanding of God and His love that extends to us as we are, and become? Of all the trans people I have talked to, I have found none of them felt rejected by God for transitioning. They did on the other hand, feel rejected by their families, and society at large.
But God Doesn't Make Mistakes!
Well meaning individuals, tell us that God doesn't make mistakes! By this statement, I gather they think that we should not be changing what God gave us. By that logic, no one should be getting nose jobs, boob jobs or any other corrective surgery, because God doesn't make mistakes. One gets what they get, because God designed it that way! We probably shouldn't even try to prevent dying! After all if that's what God wants, why fight it? Now, does that logic really make any sense to anyone? We live in an imperfect world. Birth defects happen. God gave us intelligence and the gift of understanding his creation, and we know He doesn't make mistakes! So why shouldn't we use His "gifts" to correct birth defects, fight disease and more?
Transsexual/transgendered people agree that God didn't make a mistake when He made us. Many of us who live through this insanity, of having our mind and body gender not match, have come to view this as a gift from God. Even though it is a difficult burden to bear throughout our lives. We understand things about what it is to be female and male that others will never understand. We come to appreciate our differences and attributes. God did not make a mistake no matter how difficult this life is.
It is family, friends, church, and society make this life unbearable for us.
.Does It Really Matter If This Change Is sin?
Does it really matter if changing our bodies is a sin? I say no. Why? Because before God, all sins are equal. One sin is not worse than another sin. That means that if a person told a lie today or mistreated their spouse or child, they sinned and stepped outside Gods perfect will for them! So why is our (alleged) sin greater than others? Both actions would offend God if they were not His will for our lives. So sin is sin! As a transgendered person, if I sin, I sin in ignorance. God will forgive me.
From your last comment: “That's why I think transgendered living is not right, because its not faithful to the King and his Word. In Gen 1, God does not create us, as you described, as "male and female and everything in between." He only creates us as male and female. Likewise, God is not gender-neutral. He is Father and Son. Your two visions, no doubt very powerful experiences, must still conform to God's Word. Can you say that my two spiritual experiences does not conform to God’s Word? My fear is that your faith does not shape your happiness, but your happiness shapes your faith.”
Is there a difference between happiness and faith? Aren’t we supposed to be as children before God? My Faith and my Happiness are singularly connected, each one fueling the other. My God wants me to be a happy person, a loving person, a forgiving person. I have always been one person; female. I have always been a female gender person in a male body, and by transitioning I am female gender presentating with my female wired brain that I have been lugging around for so long
From 1 John 3: 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure.
Matthew 5: 8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for there is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account…..”
Again find and talk to transsexuals, have an open minded discussion with psychologist who works with parents to accept and encourage their transgender children to be who they really are.
Reference to read and reflect on:
The Mystery of Gender, Newsweek, May 12 ’07, pg 50
Sexing the Body, Gender Politics and the construction of Sexuality, by Anne Fausto-Sterling, Author of Myths of Gender , Published by Perseus Books Group.
The Riddle of Gender, Science, Activism, and Transgender Rights, by Deborah Rudacille, Published by Pantheon Books, New York
Evolution's Rainbow, Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People, by Joan Roughgarden, Published by University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London
Crossing Over Liberating the Transgendered Christian, by Vanessa Sheridan, with forward by James B. Nelson. Published by The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland
Trans-gendered, Theology Ministry and Communities of Faith. by Justin Tanis, Published by The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland
True Selves Understanding Transsexualism, for Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professional, by Mildred L. Brown and Chloe Ann Rounsley, Published by Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Company
More Than Welcome Learning to Embrace Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Persons in the Church, by Maurine C. Waun. Published by: Chalice Press, St. Louis, Missouri
Our Trans Children A publication of the PFLAG Transgender Network (TNET), www.pflag.org
Made in God's Image A Resource for Dialogue About the Church and Gender Differences, by Ann Thompson Cook,
www.dumbartonumc.org $5.95 each
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