Where Has Common Sense Gone?

And the battle for gender identity continues.  Just this morning I received an article written by the staff at the Family Research Council (www.frc.org) that was titled, "Intolerance in Full Swing at School Dance."  The article begins: "Kids see plenty of offensive things at school - but when did fathers become one of them?  Ask New York's Department of Education.  As far as its officials are concerned, nothing can damage a child more than hosting a special event for dads.  And now, with the state's 'gender nonconforming' guidelines on the books, they can put plenty of traditions on the chopping block - including one Staten Island school's father-daughter dance.


"Principal Sophie Scamaredella informed parents that the event had been called off, because - after all - they 'have a gender neutral policy [to adhere] to...'  Families across the area are irate.  The event was already the picture of inclusivity, now that moms or other mentors could join.  That didn't matter to Scamardella.  In her mind (and the mind of most liberals), the worst thing schools can do is let kids in on the secret that some students have men for fathers - a shocking concept, I'm sure, to the modern human race."


Friends, this is political correctness at its most ugly.  It seems to me to be just another step by public schools to state that parents are not allowed to be part of their child's educational process.  "Parents, butt out...we know better than you do what is best for your child."  Is it any wonder that home-schooling and parochial education are soaring? 


Then, last week, this article was featured on The Daily Signal website.  It was written by Ryan T. Anderson and was titled, "Transgender Ideology Hurts Kids."  You can find the article at www.dailysignal.com.  This was an excellent article filled with solid information.  Let me quote just a portion of the article: "Properly understanding sex, gender, gender identity, and gender dysphoria will continue to be pressing concerns in 2018.  A proper understanding is a prerequisite for properly forming people in the truth and properly ministering to people in need.  As new gender ideologies are promoted throughout America, their lies will impact not only those who suffer from gender dysphoria, but all children who need to mature in their self-understanding as a boy or girl, man or woman, a potential husband or wife, father or mother.


"In 2007, Boston Children's Hospital 'became the first major program in the United States to focus on transgender children and adolescents,' as its website brags.  A decade later, more than 45 pediatric gender clinics have opened their doors to our nation's children.  Parents are told that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones may be the only way to prevent their children from committing suicide.


"Never mind that the best studies of gender dysphoria show that between 80 and 95 percent of children who express a discordant gender identity will come to identify with their bodily sex if natural development is allowed to proceed.  Never mind that 'transitioning' treatment has not been shown to reduce the extraordinarily high rate of suicide attempts among people who identify as transgender (41 percent, compared with 4.6 percent of the general population).  Never mind that people who have had transition surgery are 19 times more likely to die by suicide.


"These statistics should be enough to halt the headlong rush into 'transitioning' and prompt us to find more effective ways to prevent these tragic outcomes.  Most of all, we shouldn't be encouraging children to 'transition,' or making heroes and role models of those who have done so.


The author's conclusion was this: "We should be tolerant - indeed, loving - toward those who struggle with their gender identify, but also be aware of the harm done to the common good, particularly to children, when transgender identity is normalized."


There is no question that we live in an age of gender confusion and marital confusion.  Can little boys play with dolls?  Yes, of course they can.  If they do, does that mean that secretly they want to be a girl?  Probably not!  Can little girls play with trucks?  Yes, of course they can.  If they do, does that mean that secretly they want to be a boy?  Probably not!  In both instances they are just experiencing one of the phases of growing up.  What they are doing is normal.  I remember playing "dolls" with my two younger sisters and they would then play "cowboys" with my brother and me - and I think we all turned out to be pretty normal.  My parents never panicked thinking that what we were doing was abnormal. 


Where is the common sense we need to have with regard to the whole issue of gender identity?  We know from statistics that the consequences of "transitioning" especially among children is severe.  So, why would we continue to press this issue?  I believe it is simply another attack by Satan upon the family to fracture it completely.  Confusion is Satan's trademark; it is never God's.  So, in those areas of culture today where we see confusion - like in the area of gender identity and same-sex marriage, just to name two - we can know that Satan is working behind the scenes to promote his agenda, which is an anti-God agenda.  It is time to get back to the Truth of the Word of God.  This has to be our anchor!  This has to be our foundation!  This is where we can be safe within our world of confusion.