The Christian View on Transgenderism

[jochanaan]

I remember how I was bullied in school simply because I was a skinny kid who liked to read the encyclopedia to relax.

Had you been in Miss Peebles' geometry class in Austin, we could have fought over who got to read the big dictionary during lunch period...

...Bullying can be brutal, teasing is on the same spectrum but much milder, Internal turmoil and the ability or inability to deal with the inner turmoil can make a huge difference on how much from the outside is too much. So when you use a strong word like "driven", there has to be a judgement call as to what constitutes driven and by whom. Simple rejection especially when done by the majority of the group can push some people over the edge. Rejecting someone because they behave in a manner greatly different from one's self may cause the rejected person distress but it can be as much or more the doing of the rejectee and not the rejector. I firmly reject the Getto Blaster and Boom Car idiots in their obnoxious vacuous "look at what I can get away with" attitude and behavior So, I am not willing to jump to placing blame on the rejector. The whole situation is a spectrum for both the rejectee and the rejector.

Personally I reject obnoxious scornful preachy Athiests right along with "way of the master" street preachers and with equal disdain. Most frequently applying Prov. 26:4"Answer not a fool according to his folly....." to both equally.

Points taken. We should always remember that behind every number there is a story.

[Maverick]

A note: suicide attempts among transgenders averages 40% of their demographic. That's 2 in 5 transgender people attempting to commit suicide.

There is a contradiction inherent here. Attempting suicide is not the same as committing suicide.

My mistake. Statement amended.

I encourage you all to check out the executive summary of the report I linked. Here it is again for reference: http://cnvillage.org/posting.php?mode=quote&f=10&p=62996

A summary of the executive summary:

Overall, the most striking finding of our analysis was the exceptionally high prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts reported by NTDS respondents across all demographics and experiences. Based on prior research and the findings of this report, we find that mental health factors and experiences of harassment, discrimination, violence and rejection may interact to produce a marked vulnerability to suicidal behavior in transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. More research on suicidal behavior among transgender and gender non-conforming people is needed.

No facts to back this up as far as I know, but I imagine that the deep depression and suicidal tendencies associated with transgenderism begin with a disconnect between the transgender individual's perception and reality (i.e. a biological man believing he is actually a woman). From there, if the transgender individual seeks "treatment" to make the outside conform to the inside, the experiences harassment, discrimination, violence, rejection, etc. come in. If not, the inside/outside disconnect itself might be enough to drive them into deeper depression. The McHugh article I originally posted mentioned something about how many transgender people still feel battle depression even after hormone treatment and surgery to "become" the other sex. They got (or think they got) what they wanted but realize it is not satisfying. Perhaps they realize that, no matter how hard they try, they will never be the person that thought they should have been. I think the inner struggle is always great, but because they often are not affirmed (that's an understatement) by others, the perception!=reality paradigm is reinforced.

I believe at the root of all of this is the search for something that fulfills. People who view porn are never satisfied because porn will never provide the ultimate satisfaction the people want it to. Same with transgenderism, as with anything else. The only thing that satisfied is a relationship with Jesus Christ, and I think that's what transgenders (and the world) need to hear.

And I don't think God makes mistakes when he makes people. You were born a man/woman/intersex because that's how He created you, and you are loved and special in His eyes.

Also, I think this is a great response to the issue, from Brian "Head" Welch of Korn: http://loudwire.com/korn-brian-head-welch-urges-christian-fans-open-hearts-transgender-community/
And for full disclosure, I'm not a Korn fan, but I like Welch.

[Bare_Truth]

I have just finished looking at the survey from which the 40+% number was reported for suicide attempts by transgendered persons.

The summary seems to have been written by 2 PhD's from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and another PhD from the UCLA Law School. This is from the cover of the report.

However Page 1 Paragraph 1 informs the reader that this:"
"National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS)",
was conducted by the:
-- National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
and
-- National Center for Transgender Equality

What ever the expertise of the writers of the report:
I can hardly attribute a "bias free" status to the conduction of the survey by the two groups who stand to gain from a particular outcome from the survey and report.

Both the groups conducting the survey stand to benefit from an assertion of "victimhood" and resulting "sympathy effect".

I would not expect:
-- a survey run by bankers about the fairness of interest rates on loans to be unbiased
--I would not expect a survey run on customer satisfaction run by used car salesmen to be unbiased,
or
-- a survey run by military recruiting officers on recruit satisfaction to be unbiased.
So why would I expect this suicides among transgendered to be unbiased when it was run by sexual minorities who benefit based on sympathy that might be generated .

I am not saying that these organizations are made up of all dishonest persons but rather that a natural inclination, possibly even subconscious, to find shocking cause for sympathy is too prone to be present. And if the membership of such groups has been reasonably charged with bias or dishonesty and manipulation of statistics previously, the survey and hence findings from it are too suspect to base public policy on. (does any one remember the "10% of all men are exclusively homosexual" statistic bantered about from the days of the Kinsey report ???)

Even if the real suicide attempt rate was 40% or so; one might wonder if the cause was result from pressure applied by society at large or if instead it was partially or extensively from a comorbidity arising from the same mental disruption that caused the gender dysphoria in the first place. Hence one might question that maybe it is not correctable by accommodating the gender dysphoria by sexual reassignment surgery.

I would question if either of the noted groups doing the survey would be inclined to consider the suicide and the dysphoria arising from a common mental illness. I believe that the 40% suicide rate can not be used as justification for abetting gender reassignment for this population without some more trustworthy research.

I am reminded of a corollary to Murphy's law: "In any scientific research the probability of the researcher finding a particular result is directly proportional to the desire of that researcher to find that result.".

I realize that this report could have some degree of validity based on "Where there is smoke there is fire"
But likewise it may fall into a different category of "Where there is smoke, first look and see if someone is blowing that smoke!".

[Ramblinman]

I inhabit the body of a middle-aged person and yet I am a young adult at heart.
Can I have chronological reassignment surgery to make my time-worn visage conform to the inner youth?

[Bare_Truth]

I inhabit the body of a middle-aged person and yet I am a young adult at heart.
Can I have chronological reassignment surgery to make my time-worn visage conform to the inner youth?

The good news is.....
that yes, you actually can . and,
the additional good news is.....
that they have gotten pretty good at doing that in many ways!
The bad news is
that you will need to bring plenty of money and it is often painful and recuperation takes a while
and the additional bad news is.
While you may achieve the appearance of youth and vitality, you will still have the same worn out joints, and marginally functioning muscles and organs that you brought to the process .

[Ramblinman]

]While you may achieve the appearance of youth and vitality, you will still have the same worn out joints, and marginally functioning muscles and organs that you brought to the process [/b] .

And shortened telomeres at the root of it.

Looking the part, but not being able to act the part of a young man.

I would like to eat from the tree of life and be truly renewed.
And one day we will my friend! There won't be just one such tree, but many that will be lining the river.

[jochanaan]

]While you may achieve the appearance of youth and vitality, you will still have the same worn out joints, and marginally functioning muscles and organs that you brought to the process [/b] .

And shortened telomeres at the root of it.

Looking the part, but not being able to act the part of a young man.

I would like to eat from the tree of life and be truly renewed.
And one day we will my friend! There won't be just one such tree, but many that will be lining the river.