How should Christians respond to transgenderism in general and Bruce Jenner’s “transition” in particular? I think Christians are at their best when they recognize a need for both compassion and truth-telling. Compassion for those who experience painful alienation from their own bodies and truth-telling in the face of fictional accounts of gender identity. As I have written before, transgenderism is a denial of God-ordained differences between male and female (Gen. 1:26-27). It is an untruthful suppression of the sexual binary that God has encoded into every cell of our bodies. When a person feels their gender identity to be out of sync with their sexual identity, the problem is not…
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Bruce Jenner, the Transgender Revolution, and Loving Our Neighbors
The reports have moved from the tabloids into the “paper of record”—Bruce Jenner has embraced a transgender identity and is “transitioning” from male to female. The New York Times has a report today as well as a glowing commendation from Nicholas Kristof celebrating Jenner’s “courage.” Kristof writes: At first, there were snickers, but, lately, the tone has been respectful. And news reports say Jenner is planning to chronicle the transition in a program for E! television channel and in an interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC News. All this, and comments by family members, suggest that Jenner is willing to be a role model and help educate the world on…
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Some Shortcomings of Modern Views on Gender Identity
Carl Trueman has some trenchant observations about the shortcomings of modern understandings of gender identity. The public response to the recent and tragic suicide of Josh “Leelah” Alcorn is a case in point. It seems that anyone who refused to acknowledge and affirm Alcorn’s transgender identity is being blamed for the suicide—which is why so much vitriol has been aimed at Alcorn’s Christian parents. Trueman writes:
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How to think and pray about the suicide of a transgender teen
Just before the New Year, a transgender teenager name Josh “Leelah” Alcorn took his own life (see report above). In his suicide note, he said that he was despairing over the deep conflict he felt about being transgender. He also indicated that his parents were Christians and had taken him to Christian counselors for help. Here’s an excerpt from the child’s suicide note, which was posted online:
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God’s Purpose for Sexuality – Family Life Today
I am very grateful for the ministry of Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine at Family Life Today. These are faithful men running a top-notch ministry aimed at strengthening marriages and families. I recently had a chance to sit down for an interview for three episodes of their daily radio program. It was a joy to be with these brothers to talk about sex and gender issues. I will post all three episodes as they are released over the next couple of days. You can listen to episode one below or download the audio here.
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Is it cruel and harmful to acknowledge your baby’s gender?
Christin Scarlett Milloy says calling a baby a “boy” or a “girl” at birth is like playing Russian roulette with your baby’s life. Why? Because what if your baby grows up to disagree with the gender they were assigned at birth? Milloy says that such children grow up depressed and perhaps suicidal. Milloy’s argues, therefore, that we should not risk a child’s well-being by assigning him/her a gender at birth. Instead, we should just let them figure it out for themselves.
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Transgender and “Washed in the Blood”?
Alexandra Scott has a piece over at The Huffington Post that takes issue with the statement Southern Baptists made last week about transgender. Scott identifies as transgender and as a former Southern Baptist. Scott concludes with this: I am really curious why the SBC needs to establish such sharp boundaries, so many lines that cannot be crossed. Why can’t you worry about your eternal salvation and let me worry about mine? Is the sight of a transgender person or a gay couple so vexing and disturbing that somehow your world is rocked beyond repair? Why do you care if people different from you seek validation?
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10 ways to love your transgender neighbor
On Tuesday, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution “On Transgender Identity” that calls for Christians to “love our transgender neighbors” and to “seek their good always.” But what does that look like in practical terms? In light of that question, I thought it might be useful to post some reflections on how we might love our transgender neighbors. I’m sure there is more that might be added to such a list, but here are ten ways to love your transgender neighbor.
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Southern Baptists pass resolution on transgender
Last week, I wrote about a resolution that I proposed to the Southern Baptist Convention (along with my co-sponsor Andrew Walker). This morning, the resolutions committee included a revised version in their slate of resolutions for 2014 annual meeting. I think they did a fine job with it and offered many helpful improvements to the text that we sent them. The final draft of resolution #9 titled “On Transgender Identity” is printed below. The messengers just voted overwhelmingly in favor of the resolution. In fact, I couldn’t see a single ballot raised against it.
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A Resolution on Transgender for the SBC
You know you’re at a cultural tipping-point when both Newsweek and Time magazine run cover stories on your cause within the span of a single year. Such is the case with transgender, which both Newsweek and Time have declared to be the next phase of the gay rights revolution. Transgender is the “T” in LGBT, but it is not a sexual orientation. It describes those whose perception of their gender identity does not match their biological sex. Whereas transgender used to be considered a condition to be remedied, the sexual revolutionaries are telling us that is no longer the case. Last year, the American Psychiatric Association removed it from its…