"Some men have vaginas and some women have penises," congregations have been told in a Church of Scotland resource urging greater sensitivity towards transgender people.
The 30-page
booklet, a copy of which was delivered to every Scottish church on Tuesday, asks ministers to consider using gender-neutral language for God as part of a range of measures to make their congregation more inclusive for individuals who identify as transgender.
Testimony featured in
Diverse Gender Identities and Pastoral Care includes the demand for a "21st century" update to the "patriarchal" Scriptures, and complaints that "Christian culture" makes life hard for "gender nonconforming" individuals.
"I struggle with the wording of the Lord's Prayer because I see God as my parent not my father," writes Andrew, stating that: "God is genderless to me: it's not father God it is parent God."
"The Scriptures are very patriarchal; we need to update them for the 21st century," adds the churchgoer, who was born female but identifies as a man.
Playwright Jo Clifford, who describes having been called an "abomination" and an "affront to decency" by "traditional conservative Christians", asserts in one of the booklet's essays that "some men have vaginas and some women have penises".
The Rev Norman Smith, Convener of the Mission and Discipleship Council of the Church of Scotland, said the guide "is aimed at better facilitating pastoral care at a local level by giving people the space to talk about their faith and share the impact of the Church community on their lives".
"It is not intended to make any kind of statement regarding the Church's wider relationship with the transgender community, nor does it provide a theological explanation or understanding of transgender issues," he added.
"I believe that God created us all so that means he created me to be this way," writes Kaden, who was born female
but identifies as a 'demi-boy'.Telling readers about life as a transgender person, the 18-year-old reported looking forward to taking testosterone so as to "masculinise my facial features like getting rid of the fat in my cheeks".
Theology student Iona, who identifies as "an androgyne ... somewhere on the spectrum between male and female", complains that "Christian culture all around us tells us that being trans is wrong".
"Up until I left home I identified with the female gender assigned to me at birth", the 21-year-old confessed, explaining that she started to question her identity at university, where she began "reading Queer Theology and Trans Theology" after meeting new people
"who had more progressive ... understandings of the Bible"."Even just the very existence of conversion therapy is a clear sign that people believe being trans to be wrong," added Iona.
Until recently, so-called conversion therapy was usually understood to refer to the practice of seeking to change, through counselling, an individual's attraction to the same sex. This was banned in Britain in 2015.
But in October last year, NHS England and NHS Scotland signed an update of the 2015 memorandum of understanding which adds "gender identity" to the ban on conversion therapy.
Campaigners and experts
warn that the new rules compel doctors to facilitate medical transition when presented with a person who wants to change sex,
as it effectively bars professionals from exploring any possible ulterior reason the patient feels unhappy in his or her body.
Was it Forrester, Forster, or CS Lewis who said something like... 'as to all human kind, God must be male.'
As a corollary, almost all ancient civilizations characterized the Earth as Female. (And now we learn that the panspermia concept is more proven daily...)
But meanwhile, preacher-human-above, please tell me when a man conceives and gives birth - THEN I'll (maybe start) to buy into this latest divide and conquer tactic. (No - not even then.)
I've heard/read that the U.K. was making such a medical effort. (What a wise use of our unreasonably limited medical resources... (sarcasm)...As if our poor mother earth needs nothing more but more humans,..Spare me, and more importantly, please spare her.) What a load of wasted time and (OUR!) money is involved in the 'orchestration'* of this by and for the PTB as a part of their latest/preplanned and co-morphed/co opted 'social (bowel) movement'
What would our society be without women... or men? EITHER has unlimited joke potential.
But society wouldn't have even gotten past caveman days... even if every E.T. tried...had we not had ladies, to make life worthwhile, and have far less anger and killing,
As a side note, for me, at least, I wouldn't mind spending an extended vacation at an all female convent, (a la Python's 'Holy Grail') and I detect HFL and BC, et al, might well agree.)
But truth be told, women are tougher than men, and most importantly, innately kinder than men (which all this BS is designed to 'reprogram' that 'nature' out of them.)
Why? There is no money to be made in peace.**
R.C.
* Look up the etymology of that word... for the goal of the is the de/emasculation of society. (See, e.g., castrati.)
**Spare me the 'piece' jokes. They would be obvious - the antithesis of witty.
RC