Sunday, May 08, 2016

Cynophobes

This is a continuation of my previous post:


I'm drawing a parallel between gender dysphoria and phobias. Now, I doubt most folks who claim to be transgender really suffer from gender dysphoria. In many cases, I think it's just a hip chic thing affect. You become a member of a protected class. Instantly raise your social status. Get sympathy and special treatment. 

In other cases, you have kids who find adolescence disorienting. Combine that with cultural brainwashing, and they may be sincerely deluded into thinking they are transgender.

However, let's grant gender dysphoria for the sake of argument. And let's compare that to phobias. If we should accommodate people with gender dysphoria, surely people who suffer from phobias have at least as much if not more reason to demand accommodations. Phobias undoubtedly exist. In the nature of the case, people who suffer from phobias have no direct control over their feelings. And phobias can be a real nuisance. But does that mean society is obligated to accommodate people with phobias? 

Take agoraphobia. Do we build cities and suburbs to accommodate their phobia? Do we outlaw supermarkets, shopping centers, multilane freeways, and airport terminals? 

And even if we could accommodate agoraphobes, there are folks who suffer from the opposite fear: claustrophobia. How do we accommodate both groups? How do we strike a balance between agoraphobes and claustrophobes? Folks who suffer panic attacks from opposite settings? That's completely unworkable. 

Likewise, you have people who love dogs and people who fear dogs. Government can't effectively accommodate both. It can't very well segregate the cynophiles from the cynophobes. People walking their dogs are bound to cross paths with people who fear dogs. 

Imagine a society that took radical measures to accommodate everyone who has a phobia. To accommodate all the different phobias of different people. Imagine that scenario in the workplace or retail businesses. The end-result would be gridlock. 

I'm not making fun of people with phobias. For all you know, I myself might have a phobia. I'm just talking about what's realistic. For the most part, individuals must adapt to society, not the reverse. 

Even if there some people are "uncomfortable" using restrooms and locker rooms that match their biological sex, so what? There's no reason society should bend itself into a pretzel to make you feel comfortable all the time–especially when your feelings are abnormal and unhealthy. 

I'm mounting an a fortiori argument (a maiore ad minus). If it's not incumbent on society to accommodate people in the greater case of phobias, then it's not incumbent on society to accommodate people in the lesser case of gender dysphoria–even assuming that's for real. 

1 comment:

  1. Although it's not directly relevant, I see that transgenders and their advocates have taken to using passages about eunuchs to apply to transgender men and women, like in this comment at the Gospel Coalition:

    "For complicated and difficult topics like this one, it is best to turn first to the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ for what they teach us about them. Matthew 19:12 is quite clear on this particular topic when Jesus speaks of eunuchs, a word for a type of transgender person in Biblical times, “For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others–and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”"

    https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/trevinwax/2016/05/03/7-questions-transgender-theories/

    This takes an unbelievable amount of eisegesis to pull off.

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