When we start defining ourselves against the physical evidence, against what our bodies tell us, then frankly anything is possible when it comes to self definition. Frankly, the pastoral side of me is deeply worried about self-determination run amuck which leads people to have major psychological problems and distortions about their identity. One could paraphrase C.S. Lewis who once warned, ‘just because someone sincerely thinks of themselves and deeply believes they are a poached egg, doesn’t make them a poached egg.’ There has to be some objective criteria to determine gender identity, not merely self-perception or ‘how I feel about myself’. Why?
The first reason why is because feelings while they can be intense and genuine are a notably bad guide to reality, to truth, to what is good. The other day I watched a program where a black journalist was interviewing a white supremacist. The white man seemed calm, cool, and reasonably rational, and there was no doubting his sincerity when he said “black people are simply not meant to be in law enforcement, they don’t have the constitutional personal discipline to do the job right”. That deserves a wow of course. But the man was utterly convinced and deeply believed he was right. Feelings can be deep, they can come from the innermost part of who a person is, they can be profound, and they can be no reliable guide to what is true about others as well as what is true about one’s self. Self-perception must be balanced with how others perceive us or else our narcissism reigns supreme.
And that brings me to the second poison poured into our current cultural stew— narcissism. It’s not just self-determination that is stirring up things in our cultural drift, it is pure narcissism. Self-centered behavior based in a self-centered worldview.
The first reason why is because feelings while they can be intense and genuine are a notably bad guide to reality, to truth, to what is good. The other day I watched a program where a black journalist was interviewing a white supremacist. The white man seemed calm, cool, and reasonably rational, and there was no doubting his sincerity when he said “black people are simply not meant to be in law enforcement, they don’t have the constitutional personal discipline to do the job right”. That deserves a wow of course. But the man was utterly convinced and deeply believed he was right. Feelings can be deep, they can come from the innermost part of who a person is, they can be profound, and they can be no reliable guide to what is true about others as well as what is true about one’s self. Self-perception must be balanced with how others perceive us or else our narcissism reigns supreme.
And that brings me to the second poison poured into our current cultural stew— narcissism. It’s not just self-determination that is stirring up things in our cultural drift, it is pure narcissism. Self-centered behavior based in a self-centered worldview.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/05/11/watch-college-students-dont-know-difference-sexes/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
ReplyDeleteI agree with what this website has said about transgenderism, but I have a concern.
ReplyDeleteConservatives rely a lot on a few articles by Paul McHugh for their views of transgenderism. The problem is that trans activists can point to many critiques of McHugh and peer reviewed published studies which suggest that hormone treatment benefits transgendered person's psychological health and also suggest that transgenderism has some biological basis.
There has been absolutely nothing, that I've been able to find, by way of responses to these criticisms of McHugh's or studies which support the trans narrative. It seems to me like Christians losing this debate is another foregone conclusion unless they start interacting with the other side.
I suspect that's mostly due to fear of reprisal. McHugh is an emeritus prof., so there's not much the trans fascists can do to him. The challenge is for working professionals who might privately dissent, but are reluctant to going public lest that be a career-killer. And, of course, peer review becomes a weapon to enforce conformity.
DeleteI might do a post on the implications if transgenderism has some biological basis.
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