1. Along the way > Likes and Comments

1. Use this thread for general comments while you read "along the way" or to discuss topics not covered by other threads.

Hello everyone.

As you will be reading the introduction pages and first chapters of my book, you will understand my mindset regarding my career as a teacher, trying to navigate a culture of unbelief and ideological theories, on a daily basis. You will also understand how I live this reality in my everyday life, including outside the school setting, within my own family and my acquaintances.

Bearing this in mind, going against culture/society is very difficult, given the aggressive pushback and animus against Christian values and conservatism.

Therefore, as Catholics, how can one remain charitable, yet truthful, in the face of dissent from the opposing side?

I didn't realize that many of the LGB folks reject being linked with the T's! A brother-in-law who had surgery to be more like a woman later confessed that all he was really experiencing was same-sex attraction and that he realized too late that being attracted to other men isn't equivalent to being a woman.

Just to play devil's advocate, I'm not sure believing gender isn't fully determined at birth amounts to "rejecting God." We separate Siamese twins even though God made them that way.

At some points the author seems to lump redressing racial injustice in with wanting to sweep away gender distinctions. Not at all on the same level--unless you believe God created an "inferior" race!! I also believe you can embrace the value of diversity (in a workplace, school setting, etc.) rather than claim to be treating everyone equally when in fact things in our society are set up to favor already-privileged groups.

Replying to Message #3, from Jill.

I address each of the issues raised in Message #3.

a) The premise of "rejecting God" does not come from the persons suffering from gender dysphoria. It comes from the ideologues who are pushing transgender surgeries as a means to "change" the sex of the person who is suffering, instead of helping them with proper psychological care. The author provides numerous citations and footnotes from experts in the psychiatric field to explain this. (The brother-in-law apparently had not received the counselling and help he needed, before undergoing surgery. With proper help, he could have realized what he now knows, before it was too late.)

It is the author's opinion that one of the underlying reasons that doctors/ideologues/advocates are pushing transgenderism, is the fact that they are denying that sex is binary. Whether they are aware of it or not, they are in effect denying the established creation, which was established by our creator, who is God.

It is reminiscent of the story of Dr. Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, who wanted to "create life". It is not man's purview to "create" life, or to "change" the sex of vulnerable, suffering people. Man should not be "playing God".

b) "Siamese twins" is not a transgenderism or gender dysphoria issue. It is not an ideology which denies that sex is binary. Conjoined twins are a physical, medical condition which can potentially be alleviated through surgery. There is no comparison between the two concepts.

c) The author does not address racial injustice in this book. There is no comparison between race and sex in these essays. The author affirms that there are only two genders: male and female. There is no allusion to race. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman, regardless of race. Every single human being is made in the image of God.

There is no question whatsoever of "inferior races" at all, in this book, nor in the author's mindset. Quite the opposite. The author affirms the beauty of God's creation of male and female human beings. To imply otherwise is to impugn the author's integrity and reputation.

d) "Privileged groups" and "diversity" are not discussed in this book. Again, "diversity" is multi-faceted, in every setting. The fact that sex is binary (male and female) in no way takes away from the diversity of ethnicity, religion, talents, etc...

The author does not employ ambiguity when writing her essays.
Numerous quotes and citations, from verifiable sources, are used to justify the opinions and arguments expressed.

e) Regarding "playing devil's advocate", one has to be careful what one is advocating for, and on whose behalf. The devil's aim is precisely to have well-meaning people advocate on his behalf.

There is no advocacy which can justify such evils as abortion, euthanasia or transgender surgeries (especially on children/minors), among many other evils.

While loving one's friends and family members is laudable, this does not mean to advocate the sins or evil acts they may be involved in, whether involuntarily or wilfully.

Jill wrote: "We separate Siamese twins even though God made them that way."

Jill, that's a pathology. I'm sure you're not saying that all babies who are born with some pathology should not be treated, because that's how God made them.

I wasn't advocating anything, just saying someone could make a comparison, pointing out that we don't always let alone "the way God made us" when there's obviously something amiss that medicinal science could repair. Those who believe sex is malleable might say God seems to have made some people with a mixture of male/female characteristics, external or emotional, and those can be "fixed".

Jill wrote: "I wasn't advocating anything, just saying someone could make a comparison, pointing out that we don't always let alone "the way God made us" when there's obviously something amiss that medicinal sc..."

As Jill rightly points out, there is a small percentage of people who are born with outward characteristics of both sexes (i.e. dual looking genitalia). Nowadays, with the advancement of genetics, DNA tests would settle the actual sex of the person, so that proper medical intervention could be assessed and applied.

For "emotions", proper psychological help is an option. For example, Dr. Miriam Grossman is a psychologist who has worked extensively with gender dysphoria, specially in minors.

Marie wrote: "Nowadays, with the advancement of genetics, DNA tests would settle the actual sex of the person, so that proper medical intervention could be assessed and applied."

There are some people with XXY or X0 chromosomes, and other strange cases, as I explained in the link I provided in another thread: https://populscience.blogspot.com/201...

The problem is not in those cases, but in telling children (and adults) that they can be what they want, whatever their chromosomes, and acting in consequence.

Manuel wrote: "Marie wrote: "Nowadays, with the advancement of genetics, DNA tests would settle the actual sex of the person, so that proper medical intervention could be assessed and applied."

There are some pe..."

And in insisting that others must agree with the ideology which says the emotional identification as the opposite sex is real.

Although Planned Parenthood profits a great deal from promoting abortion, there's a certain appeal to their contention that people should become parents only when they choose to be, and not just "fall into" it. One of our grandsons, a very pious young man, had pointed out to him that those exploring a religious vocation go about becoming Father in a very deliberate way whereas biological fathers often don't consult God at all.

"Marriage" in our society doesn't have an unambiguous one man-one woman definition. If you view it as a permanent institution establishing a new unit, that could include same-sex couples or even multi-person groups confining sexual intimacy to among themselves. Of course I think that's wrong, far short of God's intention, but it gets harder when you have serious Christian friends in a same-sex union they treat as marriage.

I think it's at least debatable whether the immorality of the artist invalidates the value of his work. Perhaps the work needs to be removed to avoid scandal, but couldn't it have beauty on its own merits? After all, a priest living in sin can still consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ.

I've not seen the work, but I have mixed feelings about The Crowning as you describe it. Mary was a human being who gave birth in the normal way, which is a painful and beautiful process God created. Why would God deprive her of the fullness of that magnificent experience? Having given birth to six children, I'm always bothered when theologians suggest that Jesus' birth didn't rupture his mother's hymen. I also hate the line in Away in a Manger that says, "The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes." If he didn't cry, how did his mother know he was hungry or needed his diaper changed?