Lux Lucet

It seems almost impossible to have any contact with day to day events in this country without soon coming across some discussion about the issue of transgender persons, those individuals, “whose gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth” (Answers to Your Questions About Transgender People, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, APA).

In early 2015, the suicide of a young man from the Cincinnati are who identified as female garnered national and international attention. The case of Olympic champion Bruce Jenner has been an even more high-profile case of transgenderism. Now, the state of North Carolina is grabbing headlines for its so-called “bathroom bill” which requires all persons to use the public restroom that corresponds to the sex assigned to them on their birth certificate.

Since transgenderism has become such a high profile issue, it is important for Christians to think through matter carefully. Below are a few common intellectual fallacies related to transgenderism that Christians ought to avoid, in order to speak effectively to aggressive and unbiblical transgender movement.

The Bible is not a textbook on transgenderism

Many individuals, perhaps even some believers, labor under the assertion that the Bible has nothing to say about transgenderism. This then becomes an excuse for seeking truth about transgenderism, not from the Word of God, but from secularists of one sort or another.

Many people believe that modern science furnishes us with truth about transgenderism. But science is not a source of truth. Any truth.

At its best, science can provide useful opinion on this or that topic. But it can never provide truth in the sense of giving us final, once and for all objectively factual statements.

There are two main reasons for this. First, science relies on observation. That is to say, science is empirical. But empiricism is deeply flawed. “Seeing is believing,” is a common empirical expression. But probably all of us have had our eyes play tricks on us. Observation is not so reliable as we would like to think.

Second, the scientific process of experimentation relies on the logical fallacy of asserting the consequent to reach its conclusions. To steal an everyday example John Robbins has used, consider the statement: If my battery is dead, my car won’t start. Most of us would agree with this proposition. But then we decide to do an experiment and try to start our car. We turn the key and, lo and behold, our car won’t start. Therefore, we conclude, our battery must be dead.

Now any good mechanic could spot the problem here: there are other reasons that a car won’t start that have nothing to do with the battery being dead. Jumping to the conclusion that the battery must be dead is an example of asserting the consequent. This is a logical fallacy. And it is the same logical fallacy that underlies the entire enterprise of scientific experimentation.

And because science is based on a logical fallacy, it can never furnish us with truth. The most science can do is provide us with useful opinion. Nothing more.

By contrast, the Bible is a complete system of revealed truth.

To cite just one passage from Scripture that makes this claim, “All Scripture is inspired by God (God breathed) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). This includes the good work of Christian commentary on current events, even the issue of transgenderism.

To quote John Robbins, “The Bible is a textbook – or rather, the Bible is the textbook. Let all other books conform. And let us, as Christians, reject the sophistry of those who devalue the Scriptures by making them inadequate for all our intellectual needs” (Robbins, Is the Bible a Textbook?).

Christians have no right to pass judgment on alternative lifestyles, including transgenderism

“Judge not, lest you be judged.” Although the general public may be largely ignorant of the Bible, nearly everyone has this one verse committed to memory. And Social Justice Warriors (SJWs), wielding these words of Jesus like a battle axe, love to use them to pass judgment on any Christian who dares to speak out against their favorite cause du jour.

But did Jesus say what the SJWs claim he said? Did Jesus, as is implied by those who condemn all moral judgment on the basis of Christ’s statement in Matthew 7:1, actually prohibit all judgment?

If Jesus actually said what the SJWs claim he said – that no one can pass judgment on another person – then they themselves are hypocrites for judging Christians. The proper thing for them to do would be to shelve their judgmental attitudes remain silent.

Now perhaps an SJW might argue that they, on the basis of their own beliefs, do not accept that no one can pass judgment on another, that they are simply engaging in an ad hominem argument and trying to show Christians the absurdity of the Christian faith.

This also is easily refuted. In the context of Matthew 7:1, Jesus referred to some people dogs and swine, and he expected his hearers to be able to judge who these individuals were. In another place, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

From Jesus’ comments in Matthew and in John, the meanings of Christ’s saying “Judge not that you be not judged,” becomes clear. Jesus did not prohibit judgment simpliciter. His words were a warning to those who judged by a wrong standard. The only proper standard of moral judgment is the 66 books of the Bible. Judging by them is never wrong, but in fact the duty of any Christian.

And based on the standard of the Scriptures, Christians can unequivocally state 1) that there is no such thing as a transgendered person, and 2) that it is a sin to practice such a lifestyle.

Concerning point one, there is no such thing as a transgendered person, Christians can say this for the simple reason that nowhere in Scripture are such persons said to exist.

Doubtless, there are biological men who identify as women. The psychologists all this condition gender dysphoria.

But in this sinful, fallen world, people suffer from all kinds of delusions. The Bible frequently speaks of the “vain imaginations” of sinful man’s heart. It’s possible to find people who are sincerely convinced they’re Julius Caesar. But no one takes these unfortunate people at their word.

As Christians, we are called to have compassion on those who suffer from such the transgender delusion. But we are not called to agree with them.

As to point two, that the transgender lifestyle is a sin, although the Bible never uses the word “transgender,” it nevertheless does discuss the phenomenon. And when it does so, Scripture clearly indicates that such a lifestyle is sinful in the eyes of God.

Since there is no such thing as a transgender woman – i.e. a woman trapped in a man’s body – but only men who mistakenly identify as women, such individuals can be considered female impersonators. And Scripture does discuss such persons.

One such verse applying to female impersonators is found in the Law of Moses. There we read, “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 22:5).

Writing to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul stated, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites…shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10). In this passage, Paul uses very pointed language to distinguish between “homosexuals” on the one hand and “sodomites” on the other.

Sodomites (Greek
arsenokoitai, literally manbedders) is a reference to the active partner in a male homosexuals relationship.

The term “homosexuals” in this passage translates malachoi (Greek soft, effeminate, or catamite) and refers to a male who, impersonating a female, submits to a homosexual act. Such persons, Paul tells us, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Men can too become women

According to the mainstream media narrative, men and women can, through sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy, transition to opposite sex. Not only does this go against the implications of Scripture – the Bible knows no category of persons called transgenders or transsexuals, it speaks of male and female only – but even against science itself.

 

It is our genes that determine our sex. Women have two X chromosomes, men have an X and a Y. All the surgery and hormone therapy in the world, while it can alter our appearance, does nothing to change our DNA. So-called surgical sex reassignment is nothing more than radical cosmetic surgery. Former Johns Hopkins psychiatrist-in-chief Dr. Paul R. McHugh puts it this way, “[T]ransgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. [All such persons] become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they ‘identify.’ ”

You can’t legislate morality

It’s common to hear the saying, “you can’t legislate morality.” And generally, people accept this nostrum with little thought. But if we stop to consider it for a moment, quite obviously it’s a false statement. For what else is the purpose of criminal law except to legislate morality?

Now one may argue that by this statement he means only that obedience to civil laws cannot make a man morally upright in the sight of God. Well enough. But that’s not the usual meaning of this turn of phrase.

What people seem to mean when they say “you can’t legislate morality” is that it is improper for the civil authorities to pass laws prohibiting activities such as sodomy, pornography and prostitution. And this is certainly not the case.

According to both Peter and Paul, the civil authorities have two, and only two, legitimate jobs: the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good (see Romans 13:3, 4 and 1 Peter 2:14). And by “praise of those who do good,” it seems best to understand this phrase as an injunction to civil rulers to support the Ten Commandments with their public statements and legislation.

If this sounds too theocratic for some, consider the language Paul uses to describe the magistrate, “he is God’s minister to you for good” (Romans 13:4). The civil authorities, all civil authorities, derive their power from God and are responsible – that is to say, answerable – to him for their words and deeds while in office. Thus governors have an obligation to God to uphold the Ten Commandments, regardless of how much the ACLU might protest otherwise.

John Calvin recognized the value of the Law of God for restraining wanton public sin. He wrote,

The second function of the law is this: at least by fear of punishment to restrain certain men who are untouched by any care for what is just and right unless compelled by hearing the dire threats in the law. But they are restrained, not because their inner mind is stirred or affected, but because, being bridled, so to speak, they keep their hands from outward activity, and hold inside the depravity that otherwise they would wantonly have indulged (Institutes, bk. II, 7.10).

This restraint of, “certain men who are untouched by any care for what is just and right,” is known as Calvin’s Second Use of the Law. And from his words, we can gather Calvin certainly believed that the civil magistrate can and should legislate morality.

Until recent decades, sodomy was illegal in many states. And, based on the Law of Moses, it should be still. For those who may object to citing the Mosaic Law as the basis for laws against sodomy, on the grounds that the Old Testament called for the execution of homosexuals and others who practiced various sexual perversions, it is worth noting that it is the general equity of the Old Testament civil laws that apply today, not the specific punishments. The Bible does not call for the execution of transgendered persons today.

The transgender movement is simply an extension of the civil rights movement

Portraying the proponents of the current day LGBTQ – LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer – rights movement as heirs of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s is surely among the cleverest, most successful, and most dishonest propaganda campaigns of recent years.

Unlike various Darwinian theories of the origin of man, some of which propose multiple origins of the human race, the Bible teaches that God, “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). This subverts any notion that one group of people is racially superior to any other. We are, all of us, born into this word with a certain ethnic or racial background. And no special moral penalties or benefits attach to anyone due to his parentage.

But contrary to propaganda attempts to portray it as a morally neutral the same as is race, transgenderism is a behavior. And one to which attaches moral opprobrium.

A particularly egregious example of transgender propaganda, one attempting to conflate immoral transgender behavior with the morally neutral category of race, appeared in the Charlotte Observer last week. In part, the editorial read,

This is what the Obama administration nudged the rest of the country toward Friday. Yes, the thought of male genitalia in girls’ locker rooms – and vice versa – might be distressing to some. But the battle for equality has always been in part about overcoming discomfort – with blacks sharing facilities, with gays sharing marriage – then realizing that it was not nearly so awful as some people imagined.

Move along, folks. Nothing to see here except men in the women’s rest room. And for those of you who still insist that this is a problem, clearly it’s just your bigotry talking.

As one might imagine, such claims have rightfully angered those who took part in the original Civil Rights movement.

Transgenderism is no big deal, stop worrying about it already

Some people attempt to dodge the whole transgender issue by claiming we have more important things to worry about.

After all, the US has a $19 trillion debt and a stalling economy. Terrorism is on the rise with ISIS fighters swarming the middle-east. Floods or refugees and immigrants are pouring into Europe and the US, straining the social safety net and causing racial flare-ups.

We don’t have time to deal with a petty issue like transgender rights, they say. Just give the LGBTQ crowd what they want and move on.

This is a tempting stance for some, but it grossly underestimates the threat the LGBTQ movement, of which the transgender movement is just a part, poses to the good order of society, to the property rights and to the physical safety of Christians and anyone else who opposes their agenda.

According to the Bible and the Westminster Shorter Catechism, all sins are not created equal. Some are more heinous than others. And sins of homosexuality, of which transgenderism is a type, are among the most heinous transgression of the Law of God one can commit. The Old Testament consistently calls it an “abomination”.

God did not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, because the people were thieves or dishonored their father and mother. These cities were destroyed because of the wanton homosexuality tolerated in them. In the language of the Bible, “the outcry against Sodom Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave” (Genesis 18:20).

“Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people” says Proverbs 14:34. If Americans tolerate, and even promote, various homosexual practices, is there any reason to suppose our end will be any better? Jude tells us, “as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7). Indeed, we would be more guilty than the men of Sodom, for we have the clear example of what happed to them before us. We cannot claim ignorance.

Transgendered persons are hopelessly lost

As Christians, it can be very easy to write transgendered people off as hopelessly lost. But the Bible clearly teaches otherwise.

Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies. The apostle Paul remarked to the Corinthians that though adulterers, homosexuals and sodomites will not inherit the kingdom of God, he concludes this passage with some of the most hopeful words in all of Scripture, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

The same God who saved you and me from our sins, can same even the most lost and confused transgender activist. As believers, we must present not only the Law of God, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. It is the only hope for those lost in the hellish confusion of a transgender lifestyle.

Conclusion

The Bible has a monopoly on truth. As such, it is the sole authority on the issue of transgenderism. Contrary to what we are told in the mainstream corporate media, there is no such thing as a woman trapped in a man’s body or a man trapped in a woman’s. Persons who make this claim for themselves, though perhaps sincere, are badly confused and engaged in serious sin.

Christians do, in fact, have the ability and the duty to pass moral judgment on the statements and actions of the transgender movement.

Sex reassignment surgery is a myth. Even after going under the knife, a man is still a man and a woman is still a woman. Every cell in their body testifies to this.

The job of the civil magistrate is to uphold the Ten Commandments. In light of this, not only is it right and proper for the civil magistrate to avoid giving aid to transgender movement, but it is, in fact, their role to restrain it.

Despite mainstream media propaganda and confusion, the LGBTQ movement is not the heir of the Civil Rights movement, but represents a gross misuse of its legacy.

As a nation, we cannot ignore the attempts of transgender advocates to normalize what God calls an abomination. To do so is to invite his judgment, of which we have a clear Scriptural example.

Christians must present not only the Law of God but the Gospel of Jesus Christ to their neighbors who suffer from gender dysphoria. God has saved such persons in the past. And he can and does today as well.