He Got It From His Mama? The Christian Case for Transgender Equality

A dissenting view: The problem with the ideology of unlimited sexual autonomy is its nihilism. Nihilism, in the words of the great prophet of nihilism, Nietzsche, “there is no truth.” (Or to quote the Beatles: “Nothing is real / And nothing to get hung about / Strawberry Fields forever.”)

If you deny that one’s sex is a reality which we are given, not concept which we construct, then sure — let people define themselves. Bob is a boy, Greta’s a girl, Tomi’s transgender, and Marsha’s a Martian. But if in order to be happy with the happiness provided by God’s love requires accepting reality and truth as it is — not as I wish it to be — then the only way to love someone is to help them come to grips with truth.

No one (Christian or non-Christian) disagrees that everyone should be happy, and everyone should be who they are. What you are so awfully mistaken about is the faith that whatever one believes is real for them. If I believe I am a woman or a Martian or a cat then you cannot disagree? You cannot dispute it? Metaphysical nihilism usually combines with such logic-free constructivism. In a tragic twisting of the phrase, you seem to believe that it will be done to each of us according to our faith.

You assert without argument that “transgender people are clearly happier and healthier and more fully alive when they are allowed to be transgender”. I deny the assumption that people who believe they are transgender are actually transgender. I deny your Nietzschean, Beatles-esque nihilism.
I appreciate that you attribute the psychological disorder known as gender dysphoria to the creative act of God. I attribute it to a much more mundane source: original sin.

There are men and women, and there are many physical and psychological disorders that corrupt our original design. As evidence of my claim, I do not cite Genesis: I appeal to the mammalian kingdom, modern biology and anthropology, and the universal cross-cultural human tradition of masculinity and feminity (See Carl Stern, the Flight from Woman). There certainly exist people who believe they are transgender. There are people like Stefonknee Wolscht who believes he is a 6 year old girl. There are people like Nano who believes she is a cat. We do them no favors by cooperating in their delusion.

Thanks for your post!

The birth was miraculous. Really odd to suggest that Mary ought to have Y-chromosome also. I am not sure if you are aware, but virgin birth does not happen naturally on humans.

“Since Jesus had no human biological father, and since God, his heavenly Father, lacks a body, then Jesus was a man who likely had no Y chromosome”

That strikes me as a very unorthodox view of the incarnation and the power of God.

Thanks for your thoughtful and theologically challenging reflection, Katie. Let me propose a scenario and ask for your ethical reflection: in psychology there’s a real thing called “extended adolesence,” We also talk about age being a “state of mind” and youth or old age being social constructs. Let’s say somebody who’s 50 decides that they’re really 16, and wants to be treated like somebody that age and enter into relationships with others that age. How would you litigate a sexual transaction between somebody who is sixteen and somebody who feels sixteen. In most states, there’s a distinction between being a minor and being at the age of consent.

I ask this question because I’m hesitant about your position on transgenderism. I use the age example because it also gets at the tension between autonomy, subjective feelings, and what some consider an insurmountable biological reality. It also blurs the lines by suggesting a scenario in which autonomy doesn’t apply (pre-adults). I’m particularly concerned about the transgender question because there was a New Yorker article a few years ago that stressed how transitions were best performed pre-puberty.

Thanks in advance to you and the rest of the blogger team for your hospitality.

“To be entirely human, and an entirely human male, therefore, God would have given Jesus both chromosomes.”

As do I. Was hoping for a reasonable rebuttal instead of a condescending reply.

It is certainly true that God can do anything, but to my knowledge, and, I suspect, to yours, he has never created a human male without at least one X and one Y chromosome. We know Jesus was a human male.

You need to provide some plausible reason why God would give him two Y chromosomes. For what purpose and to what end would he modify human biology? God is not capricious.

Without some additional evidence to support the “possibility” that God wanted Jesus to have two Y chromosomes, your argument is no more sound and valid than one that states, because God can do anything, it’s possible he gave that tree in your front yard an X and Y chromosome. While possible, it is not likely.

Thank you for continuing this conversation. I like the challenge, and appreciate your civility and responsiveness.