Randy Thomas has a history of speaking about transgenders without any real knowledge of the subject. So it was only a matter of time until he showed his ignorance and lack of any real knowledge on transgender issues once again. A while ago, he was interviewed on Prime Time America along with Russell Moore, self-styled trans authority who knows almost nothing about the complexities of transgenders. Mr. Thomas was asked to explain some of the factors that can lead people into the “transgendered lifestyle.”
Quote:
Thomas: From the experiences that I had with friends who have dealt with this issue, it could be anything from a complete defensive detachment from their gender identity. There might have been significant trauma or sexual abuse where they just completely rejected their own gender for shame reasons or fear of becoming what their abuser was, maybe a little boy was strongly identifying with women because they were his only role models that exhibited strength and power and intelligence. Maybe he was indoctrinated with mysandry, which is hatred toward men. What we do know about sexuality is that it’s very complex, and there’s always a high combination of factors for why people struggle with what they struggle with.
Mr. Thomas has a propensity toward reusing the tired “sexual abuse” theory, often parroted by Exodus International as a cause of homosexuality, and expands it to include transgenders. But he failed to mention increasing evidence that in most cases transgenderism is caused by biological conditions. And since he accused transgenders last year of ignoring their genetic destiny, evidence of a genetic component to transsexuality has been found, and researchers are confident more will be discovered. With such mounting evidence of the innateness of gender identity, how ridiculous do Mr. Thomas’ claims look?
Quote:
Thomas: For transgendereds, they have to deal with what all of us have to deal with and that is, struggling to find an identity in Christ and Christ alone. With transgendereds, my friends have struggled with what it means to be male, what it means to be female, why God would create gender complimentarity, and how to embrace that gender that they were born with and to thank God for allowing them to experience that as a man or as a woman.
But an identity in Christ has nothing to do with being male or female, and transgenders already embrace the gender they have, man or woman. The only struggle they have is with their sex, and not God. If only Mr. Thomas would take the time to learn the difference between gender and sex. He shows that he is completely oblivious to what transgenders are, when he uses “transgendered,” a word which means people of gender variance, as the name of some sort of a struggle.
Quote:
Thomas: What I see in the church is a complete disconnect with people who struggle with transgendered. It’s always a cultural aspect that we’ve not really consciously adopted into our churches but it’s there. It’s this feeling of I cannot relate to you at all. And the first thing I would say to the church is that’s a lie. If you use to struggle with your identity, or your sexuality, and whatever way, you know what it means to turn to God to explain and to love you into who you truly are. And empower you to steward your life in a way into that honor him and honors everyone around you so if you know what it means to have a saviour. You can relate to this person.
Russell Moore believes a person’s gender identity is something that needs to be repented from. He hopes to impress people with his opinion by re-enforcing masculine and feminine stereotypes . He is also hoping that more transgenders will show up at churches so that they can be “saved,” even though transgenders have done nothing wrong by simply being man or woman.
Quote:
Moore: There are a number of pastors who are dealing with it right now and my only lament is that there are not more pastors dealing with this right now. Because we have large number relatively speaking of transgendered persons in our society. The only reason why more pastors are confronting the issue is that we don’t have more transgendered persons queing up in our churches asking what must I do to be saved. And that is a problem for us. My hope is that more, of these situations will take place as more of persons who are damaged and wounded in various ways come and see a need for Christ.
Instead of letting transgenders who seek God simply have a personal relationship with Christ, Mr. Moore feels there is a need for his students to aid “repentance” by focusing on the external, a person’s identity, with a change of clothes and name. He clings to the myth that a person’s gender can be “damaged” or “wounded”. And when he is asked how pastors should counsel a transgender person who comes to faith in Christ, he says:
Quote:
Moore: What he will need to do is to take the active work of repentance in all the areas that he can change, which is the case for everyone. IF you have someone who is coming to faith in Christ and he is separated from his wife. Then what you are gonna say is that repentance means let’s try to reconcile this marriage. If on the other hand, he is remarried, well now you can’t do that, you can’t go back and do that, so you move to the point where the person is. I do no think that having another reassignment surgery is what I would counsel this man to do. I will instead say to this person, let’s decrease those female hormones in a way that’s medical. safe, let’s start dressing like a man, living like a man, taking back a man’s name, and step by step, this is not going to be an overnight process, but step by step, let’s move towards, living as a man, I think that’s what necessary, not a re-mutilation of his body.
As much as I respect his consistency in believing that divorce and remarrying is wrong, what has “divorce”, an action between one or two parties, got to do with a person’s innate gender identity? Transgender experiences are far more complicated than Mr. Moore’s assertion of “living like a man” or woman. He makes a grave error in judgment when he confuses male and female stereotypes with clothes and how a person should be addressed. He exposes his ignorance when he reduces male and female to stereotypes about clothes and how a person should be addressed. It may be that he really does not know anything about gender, which he insists on calling a “lifestyle”.
All of these misunderstandings and opinions, lacking any basic knowledge, are tiresome for transgenders to hear, as most of us already have to struggle – not with faith or identities as Mr. Moore implied, but with a society that is oblivious to what gender is. And to attempt to turn the church into another place of prejudice and imposition of “change” is demeaning for those who already knew from the start their gender identity and are believers in Christianity.
Randy Thomas and Russell Moore represent transgenders’ greatest violators. Hiding behind the “love” of Christ, they have demonized transgenders in this broadcast by saying repeating tired myths and insisting that our lives should be run as they see fit. Repentance has always meant a 180-degree turn from sin; but simply existing as a being with biologically rooted gender variations, some with intense distress and needing to live out their true gender, hardly constitutes sin. I believe both Mr. Thomas and Mr. Moore seriously need to reevaluate their misguided opinions which continue to reduce transgenderism to nothing but a choice of labels and clothing.
Recent Comments