Matthew Neal wrote: I’m fully aware that I may incur the ire of many fellow naturists who have appreciated my other works on this blog, but I’m going to name the issues that I believe must be separated from the issue of naturism:
Sexual Immorality… in any of its forms:
-- Fornication (pre-marital sex)
-- Adultery
-- Homosexuality
Unbiblical Social Stands:
-- Same Sex Marriage
-- Transgenderism
-- Abortion rights
Any rejection of the authority of the Scriptures as God’s truth for His people
And I must say that I am right there with Matthew Neal but with some ambivalence/equivocation on one point. The point I think needs more examination is the topic of "transgenderism". I am not sure that I have yet seen it expounded to the point that I could classify it as sexual immorality.
If a child was born with one leg slightly shorter than the other and what was a 1/2 inch deficit, suddenly, when the growth spurt of puberty came along, developed into a 6 inch deficit, and the person were moderately tall, who could object to correcting this defect by:
-- Shortening the long leg
-- Or lengthening the short leg
-- Or maybe transplanting about 3 inches from the long to the short leg.
People are born with defects and customarily they are fixed or improved, when possible, and very few would attach any moral stigma to doing so.
Now before trying to extrapolate the foregoing example to something sexual. Please allow me to make a layman's definition of terms.
To Me:
A homosexual is:
-- someone who is male,
-- who wants to be male
-- and exclusively wants intimate and/or sexual relations with a male.
OR:
-- someone who is female,
-- who wants to be female
-- and exclusively wants intimate and/or sexual relations with a female
That needs to be contrasted with:
A transsexual is:
-- someone who has the genetics/genitals of one gender
-- who does not want to be that gender but rather the other gender
-- and after transitioning exclusively wants intimate and/or sexual relations with the gender that is their new opposite gender, (which happens to be the gender they formerly were).
The transsexual's argument is that they psychologically are one gender while they physiologically appear to be the other gender. What they believe does not match, is their psycological self with their physiological self, and they want it to match in much the same way the person with the mismatched legs wants their problem fixed; (albeit the proposed fix may be a bit more complex and unreliable and less than a perfect fix).
Now there is one more point that needs to be considered before trying to make the case one way or the other for the "potential transsexual". I refer here to the case of those born inter-sexed. In these cases we often know that there is a genetic or hormonal measurable anomaly.
Taking the two variant cases of Complete or Partial Androgen Insensitivity (CAIS and PAIS).
-- In the complete case a person with X and Y chromosomes, their cells simply cannot respond to the male hormone Androgen and their bodies and brains are formed almost completely on the female pattern except that they have no uterus, usually a shallow vagina, and their gonads are internal testes rather than ovaries.
-- More problematic is the case of those with the partial insensitivity. These individuals tend to have female pattern development but with a masculinized form of some parts, such as a very large clitoris that approaches the size of a penis.
Androgen insensitivity is not the only form of inter-sexuality. Historically almost all these individuals have been subjected to sexual reassignment surgery shortly after birth. Worse yet the reassignment is usually to female as the doctors rather crudely say that "it is easier to build a hole than a pole". and alas female reassignment, or any reassignment at all, may not have been the best choice.
The intersex cases are relevant because the transexuals are effectively arguing that they are also intersex but the the divide is along the psychological/physological axis which is in their view has a birth defect and they have strong argument in some children who have from the age of toddlers manifested a strong and persistent desire to be the opposite sex.
From my view point I see the transsexuals as being "arguably" closer to the intersexed than to the homosexuals, (leaving out the issue of the drag queens to not unnecessarily complicate this discussion). If a transsexual has actually fully transitioned I believe they are all the more closer to the intersexed.
Accordingly I tend to see the transsexuals as mostly the gender they have transitioned to, provided that they have had the (so called) "bottom surgery". They have tried to have fixed, what they perceive is a birth defect, to the best standards that medical science has to offer.
Now maybe my perception of this is wrong, and I am willing to be persuaded by rational reasonable argument. But perhaps you will forgive me if I reject the argument that, "God doesn't make mistakes" as rational proof that their situation is inherently a delusion. Such a curse as gender dysphoria would not have to be a mistake of God. God promised the Israelites that if they turned against his ways then:
And I think most here would allow that our society today has run amok far enough that we may have earned this curse for our society by not meriting God's protection from it.Deut 28:18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body,........
WHAT I AM SEEKING HERE is an explanation why trying to cope with Gender Identity Disorder (what ever that really is) should be placed on a par with chosen actions contrary to God's clear commandments, statutes, and judgements.
I am finding that classifying a "completely transitioned transsexual" as comparable to a Homosexual is not a "slam dunk" and the comparison may be a closer fit with the intersexed (though the jury may still be out on that one).
So then, if anyone would care to offer enlightened proof or even respectfully submitted opinion. I would very much like to read what might be offered.
(Do you suppose there is a reason that is in there 3 times)Proverbs 11:14, & 24:6 in the multitude of counsellors there is safety
&
15:22 in the multitude of counsellors they are established