The Body & Culture Wk 4

Housekeeping

Intro:

The importance of the resurrection

Tying up loose ends:

In our study, what themes have emerged?

Homosexuality

The hunt for the “gay gene”

The central tenant of gay rights activism has long been that homosexuality is not a choice, but a biological reality

The argument--You are born heterosexual or homosexual in the same way that you are born with brown hair or blue eyes—not a choice, just a fact.

—>The problem #1: There is no evidence of a “gay gene”

Arguments about brain scans are fundamentally flawed, due to what we now know about neuroplasticity

>imagine a deer who travels every evening from where it beds in the forrest to the adjacent cornfield

over time this habitual action beats a path through the underbrush

Our brains function similarly—repeated, habitual activity actually rewires our brains—this is the frightening power of addiction

those who view pornography regularly whose brains have been scanned show that their brains have been altered

—>Thus, it is impossible for scientists to determine based on brain scans if the distinctions are caused by homosexual activity, or if they cause homosexual activity.

>There is no evidence of a biological disposition toward anything other than the obvious design represented by heterosexuality.

—> The problem #2: Blatant inconsistency

My experience with Tim

>His statement: “I believe in God. I believe that God made me biologically gay and I don’t believe God makes mistakes” (and therefore I am morally justified in my homosexuality, by implication)

I recognized he was not willing/able to be honest with himself about the lies he was believing, so I asked him some questions aimed at revealing the inconsistency

“Do you believe in transgender rights?”

“yes”

“Then if you believe in God, that God made each of us biologically male or female and that He does not make mistakes, then by what right do I get to change my gender?”

>even for those who disbelieve in God, there is a profound contradiction in homosexual and transgender arguments

Transgender activist: My identity determines my biology “who I am determines what I will be”

Homosexual activist: My biology determines my identity: “what I am determines who I will be”

==> The new argument: It is all about choice

At the very beginning of her TEDTalk, Dr. Lisa Diamond ( a Cornell PhD) makes this statement “This brings us to the first problem with the ‘born that way’ argument: it is not scientifically accurate.”

Euthanasia

If you want to see where culture is going, check the yearly updates to Merriam Webster.

Last month the dictionary announced it would be adding the pronoun “they” to the dictionary of the English language as the pronoun of a single individual who is gender non-conforming.

You don’t hear politicians claiming to be pro-abortion, they are pro-choice, pro-women’s reproductive rights, etc…because they recognize the power of language.

If someone cuts themselves in emotional destress, we call that self-harm. If they throw themselves off a bridge, we call that suicide. But, if they make the appointment to end their life in advance, in a quiet office with a medical assistant, we call that “death with dignity.”

>Lewis Carrol quote

Earlier this year the story of a 17 year old Dutch girl gained international attention

she had suffered sexual abuse, suffered from PTSD and depression—sought to end her life at an “end of life clinic” in the Netherlands

because she was under 18, she needed to inform her parents (16-18 year olds must inform their parents, but do not need consent)—Dutch law states that a child as young as 12 may choose to be euthanized provided they can receive parental consent.

the end-of-life clinic she consulted recieved 2,600 euthanasia requests last year, 28% of which were for mental health reasons, and euthanized 727 people.

The truth is I can’t tell you the horrible personal stories I’ve read, of the people who have ended their lives in these clinics—it is too heavy, too heartbreaking.

Issues at stake:

Bodily autonomy

Bodily release

Why do we believe this is wrong?

1 Corinthians

>the horror of a worldview: where the embrace of death is the answer rather than the embrace of Christ.

“I discovered later, and I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that is it only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

What do we do?

Scenario #1: “My nephew Luke has come out to his family as transgender. My sister and her husband are very accepting of this change, and everyone in the family has been informed to refer to him by the name “Lucy” and his preferred pronouns “she/her.” Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up and we will all be together. What should I do?”

First remember—be friends of sinners, even as we follow Christ who is “THE friend of sinners”

This is an issue of conscience and opportunity

However, don’t allow yourself to use spiritual language, like your conscience or “I didn’t feel led” to be a shield for the fact that you are really ashamed to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ!

We aren’t immune to this—Peter wasn’t

Romans 1:16 ESV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Here’s what I would want to say

I believe that God made the world in perfection (transcendent)—and that God fashioned you (Ps. 139)(personal)

I believe God made you and I in his image, but that image is marred by sin (born with and the sinful choices we make)

I believe that God designed us, male and female, to show his glory in unique, beautiful and diverse ways—and to do other than what God has intended only results in harm to our person.

I know that we live in a broken world with broken lives—and I know that their is nothing I can do myself to change that, and if that is true for me I believe it is true for you.

It is only in Jesus Christ that I have been made whole, adopted, forgiven, justified, redeemed.

Scenario #2: My daughter is a junior in high school. She has friends who are transgender, as well as gay/lesbian, and she has begun asking why our faith is so unloving. She has also been increasingly vocal that she thinks Christianity is patriarchal and oppressive in terms of women’s rights to bodily freedom. I feel very inadequate to answer her questions. Help!

Thinking faith

Are you reading, thinking, engaging these issues?

Can you teach your own kids these truths, much less give a defense of your hope to a lost world?

Resources