I published the following article back in August of 2016. The trans-crazyness was just warming up off-stage, but here we are 7 years later and everything that everyone was warning about back then has come to full flower. The chief difference is that today, at last, what I call the Realists are finally pushing back and speaking out. We now know beyond a shadow of doubt that “they” are wrong. So it’s time to firmly but lovingly take our stand for sanity’s sake, and the sake of our children and the health of our culture.
August 25, 2016
The Narrative has grown louder and more insistent – like a once-distant droning jet engine now screaming directly overhead.
The Narrative tells us that there has always existed a sizable group of distressed souls that are trapped in a body that does not match their souls. The body tells them that they are male or female. But inside, they know better than their bodies. And so ensues a monumental struggle to find internal alignment and external acceptance. Now at long last a group of enlightened political, religious, cultural and corporate leaders are saying, “I see you,” to these hurting people. And with breath-taking speed, these wise and loving leaders are righting the wrongs of centuries of misunderstanding and oppression by sweeping away laws and customs that formerly just piled on the pain. Soon the transformation of society will be complete. Agents of discrimination and ignorance will be marginalized or silenced, and all will come to bless the day that love and freedom were at long last allowed to flourish. Amen.
But…what if they’re wrong?
What if the narrative is just all one big fabrication, built on nothing but ideology and emotion, and a very wrong view of the world?
Well, if they’re wrong, and this narrative is false to its core, then a very large number of people are going to be damaged by it. Far more than the original demographic of the trans-wounded. It will be like a mass contagion, that infects millions more – especially the young, and sets them on a path of behavior that will dramatically diminish their shot at physical and emotional wholeness.
What if the old way, the traditional way, the Neanderthal-way is still – and always will be – the right way. That humans are – and always will be – male and female. And that once you see your sex (by glancing in the mirror), you then have a pathway to follow for how you behave and think sexually. Biology plays the music that psychology then learns to dance to. Ignore biology, get off the pathway, pretend there’s no dance floor, and all manners of pain will follow. Physical, emotional, relational pain. Pain that will show itself in part up front, but a substantial amount of it backloaded for a later delivery.
It’s not bigotry that fills the heart of the Traditionalist. (But let’s not call them ‘traditionalists’, for that makes them sound old and irrelevant. Let’s call them ‘realists’ for they opt to see the world as it really is, not through the prism of some misguided utopianism.) Truth-be-told, what drives the Realist is common-sense wisdom and a heart full of love. The Realist believes in boundaries. (And many Realists have drawn the conclusion that because there are boundaries there must be a Boundary-Giver, but that is not a prerequisite for being a Realist.) The world is filled with boundaries, from bottom to top, and inside to out. There may be disagreements on what some of the boundaries are, but vast agreement on most of them.
What troubles the Realists as they listen to the Narrative is that there are no boundaries in that world. Only a vague, blissful freedom to do whatever you feel like doing. Realists know that freedom without boundaries always leads to trouble. And here we go, Exhibit A: human sexuality. It’s an arena filled with the most obvious of boundaries. Boundaries which will be ruthless with those who ignore them. But the Narrative blithely, arrogantly denies they exist.
Meanwhile the Realists are watching droves of teens ‘transition together’. They know this is not real. These are kids acting out because boy-girl relationships are complex and confusing.
Realists are watching stores and schools decide that “Men” and “Women” bathrooms are no longer viable categories. This isn’t real either. What’s real is the increased risk they now face letting their child go to the bathroom or locker room alone.
Realists look in vain for any scientific support for the Narrative. Meanwhile, all sorts of studies (including a massive John Hopkins study just released this week) support all the things they know are real about sexuality: that the trans-life is not wired at birth by genetics, and that the trans-life can lead to great harm (to quote the study: ‘non-heterosexual subpopulations are at an elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes.”)
Realists see that people caught in the trans-vice represent an extremely small portion of society. Therefore to radically overhaul nationwide customs and practices is folly and hubris to the extreme. (But then the Realist is not stupid. They see the true intent of many who support the Narrative – it’s not to help the hurting but to reinvent the world in their image.)
One more thing. Realists of honor also will renounce name-calling and denounce violence when encountering those caught in the trans-vice. A realist will summon compassion (for there but for the grace of the Boundary-Giver go I).
Meanwhile a judge from Texas this past week blocked the Obama administrations efforts to enforce the Narrative on public schools across the nation. Thank goodness for one person at least who stood up and asked: But what if they’re wrong?
Bear Clifton is a pastor, writer and screenwriter. His blogs and devotionals can be enjoyed at his ministry website: trainyourselfministry.com and his writing website: blclifton.com. Bear is also the author of “Train Yourself To Be Godly: A 40 Day Journey Toward Sexual Wholeness”, “Ben-Hur: The Odyssey”, and “A Sparrow Could Fall”, all available through Amazon.
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