A student group at the University of Wisconsin Madison called Badger Catholic recently received backlash for hosting an event focused on the intersection of homosexuality and faith.
The April 13 event, “Homosexuality and Life With Christ,” featured Kim Zember, author of the 2020 memoir Restless Heart: My Struggle with Life & Sexuality, which explains her struggle with her faith and homosexuality.
“Zember, a California girl born and raised Catholic, found that no matter how much she pursued relationships with women, she was never at peace,” according to the Catholic News Agency.
She eventually delved into a spiritual journey that led her to leave homosexuality and found a ministry called “Overcome.”
But the event was condemned as “anti-LGBT” by the student group Sex Out Loud in a statement posted to its Instagram page.
“We are aware that an anti-LGBTQIA+ speaker event is happening on campus this week. This speaker and event are using pro-LGBTQIA+ language to invite queer communities to discuss potentially harmful topics on the basis of faith and religion,” it stated in part.
Original story at the College Fix.
We had Ms. Zember speak at our parish. (Sadly, most local parishes refused to host her.) As a same-sex attracted woman who had been in lesbian relationships, how is she “anti-LGBTQIA+” simply because she wants to follow Christ and live chastely?
Chastity is for all, gay or straight. I don’t see why allowing her to speak is controversial, even in some Catholic circles. If you’d like to know more about her and her ministry, check out:
https://overcomemin.com/
Calling people names and labeling them is disrespectful. I have often wondered why we humans have such a need for that. I think it is rooted in pride. Or fear, maybe ego and fear?
She is from San Diego, like you guys. Why did the Churches refuse to have her?
So……. She was badgered by a bunch of rabid Badgers.
How cheesy is that?
Well, glad this smart LGBT girl turned to Christ, and embraced a life of chastity. I am looking forward to seeing Kirk Cameron in San Francisco next week, on May 10th, at the Presidio Library. He is being hosted by a different group, not the Library– so he is not on the Library schedule. If you give your email address online, to Brave Books, his publisher, they will send you the details. You don’t have to sign up in advance, just come.
Kirk Cameron is scheduled for May 10th at 4:30pm, at the Presidio Library branch in SF, 3150 Sacramento St. There is only one meeting room in this small library, a large room downstairs, where the Story Hours and other events are held. So that is probably where Kirk Cameron’s event will be held. If you give your email address to the “Book Tour” section, online, of his company, Brave Books, they will provide information.
Next time collegiate champion swimmer, Riley Gaines comes to San Francisco, I will be sure to go to her lecture. And give her my heartfelt support! She is supporting American girls, against the cruelty and evils of the Biden Administration, seeking to place biological boys pretending to be girls, in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, at American schools and colleges. And Riley is fighting for girls to have the right to compete fairly in girls’ sports, only with other girls– not with confused, mentally-ill boys, pretending to be girls. Many even play sick, pretend “girly dress-up,” in their Mommy’s dresses, with their Mommy’s lipstick and jewelry–very sick, disgusting perverts. Get rid of this garbage ASAP, in America! Give William (not “Lia”) Thomas a baseball, bat, and glove, and cut his hair short, in a proper boys’ haircut– and send him out to play baseball this Spring, with other boys his age.
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Well, I didn’t mean to call anyone a “pervert,” in my comment of May 5th, at 7:31pm– that’s wrong. I just meant that the extreme transgender “cross-dressing” behaviors, and the men dressing as Drag Queens– are abnormal, bizarre, perverted,” offensive– and unnecessary.
Oh well that clarifies things!
Question…what is the difference between “extreme” crossdressing and plain old cross dressing? Would that be like a cardinal wearing a thirty foot wedding dress to Mass?
You are not old enough to reply to.
It was interesting to go to the original article. They have this link to another article about the “Christian Colleges show up on Hall of Shame list for featuring ex-lesbian speakers.” If you go to that article there is a link to a list of colleges on the Worst List: Apparently they think you hate them if you don’t promote homosexuality. Ugh! I recognized three Catholic Colleges, and two of them my daughters went to. My daughters are not haters. They have taken what is dysfunctional and said that it is functional. I’m glad my daughters went to the colleges they went to. If you want to see the list go to Campus Pride.
Very Cheesy indeed. Go to the “Campus Pride” Website.
You see, the rainbow/alphabet people want nothing less than your/our total submission to them. Anyone who disagrees with them is a threat, and thus labeled “anti-LGBT”. Just like anyone who insists there are two sexes, and that chromosomes determine sexual identity are labeled “anti-trans”. People who know and tell the truth are labeled “anti-LGBT and anti-trans”. LGBT is opposed to truth. It must be defeated.
The LGBT and trans community are based on lust. Lust is a demonic spirit. And that wants to kill maim and destroy humanity. It’s not about doing anything reasonably. It’s not reasonable at all. It’s about domination and capitulation at any cost.
“But the event was condemned as “anti-LGBT” by the student group Sex Out Loud…” A very appropriate name for a group opposed to Christ. We who would be named Christian must have the Glory of God Out Loud, the Cross out Loud, and Heaven Out Loud. The glory of God out loud fosters humility and simplicity; the cross out loud fosters love for the Savior and thankfulness for the forgiveness of sins, and heaven out Loud directs our hearts to that which is of ultimate value, to which we can devote our lives.
Even if you are LGBT, you can still take pride in being a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, according to the gender God gave you. A good society can help kids grow up to express the qualities of the gender which they were created to be, and bring out the best in a man and in a woman, in masculinity and femininity. Gender qualities are natural, and have nothing to do with political agendas– and cannot be “erased” by mentally sick, angry, radical political activists. Gender qualities should be cherished in girls and boys, from birth. And each should be encouraged to express their own gender qualities, socially. Little girls should be encouraged to try feminine things, and develop their own innate femininity. And little boys should be encouraged to try masculine things, and develop their innate masculinity. These wonderful, natural gifts of gender qualities and expressions should be cherished, as girls and boys grow up and become adults.
If a young girl wants to try out something more “masculine,” like helping her Dad with making something in his shop– let her try it out. And if a young boy wants to try sonething more “feminine” — like cooking, beside his Mother– let him try that. Each can find out where their interests and talents lie. These kinds of things are normal. When Queen Elizabeth was a young Princess, during WWII, she desired to serve her country. She joined the military, and was sent to complete a six-month training as an auto mechanic. She was reported to have become quite proficient, in this training! Yet she was a very feminine Princess, and became a lovely Queen, and a devoted wife and mother. To be a transgender, is an extreme, very, very unusual. However, no one, if transgender, needs to be chopped up and given hormones, like a “Frankenstein,” to try to “change” their gender– that’s crazy, and should be illegal. Just learn to be a boy or a girl, “as is,” just as you were born to be– and add to that, your own interests, but nothing bizarre. Stay just as God made you, and work with it the best you can. Try to find ways to adjust yourself to society, as others do, and figure out a decent, workable, and happy daily life. No life is “perfect,” everyone has problems and setbacks. Be glad you weren’t born deaf, blind, a Siamese conjoined twin, or mentally crippled, or with any serious disease or deformity. A White cannot change their race to be Black, and a boy cannot change his gender to be a girl. Reciting the “Serenity Prayer” might be helpful. God has His Divine reasons for creating us all, with unique characteristics, gifts and challenges. A transgender must ask God’s Divine Guidance. And stop playing “Frankenstein.”
The gender genie is out of the bottle and it is not going back in.
Now as a Christian, you should be thinking about salvation of souls.
Not controlling people and imposing on them, but inviting and proposing.
Also, not judging.
People make mistakes. People make mistakes with life-long consequences.
People will do things that you think are wrong and not ever feel that way about it.
Our job as Christians is not to make people conform to some social or cultural agenda but to tell them that Jesus Christ died so that their sins can be forgiven.
Our job as a Christian is to see to it that our kids grow up properly, are well-adjusted, mature, have a good Moral Conscience, love and respect God and fellowman in society– and are ready to serve God and society. At church, we learn how to share our faith with others. But it all starts at home, with our family.
You have never told us about your family, either the one you grew up in or the one you raised.
I grew up in a seni-rural area, near a large city– an ideal place to raise kids. We had a zero crime rate, every year. All the neighbors knew each other well. Nobody ever locked their doors, including the Catholic churches. Our city was dominated by Eastern Elizabeth immigrants and their Orthodox churches. In that time, everyone belonged to a church. And the Jews attended their synagogues. Many families (including ours) had gardens, lots of fruit trees, etc., and horses and other animals, all beloved pets. My mother, of Italian ancestry, a first-generation American, was a classical musician and concert artist, and was also interested in cooking and nutrition, long before it became a national interest. Our family loved animals, and some of us became vegetarians, including me. I loved caring for neighbors’ pets, horses and farm animals (none were ever slaughtered) when they were out-of-town. And I noticed the animals all had individual, delightful personalities. I made a vow to always love and protect animals, never eat them, and never own any product made from harm to an animal. When caring for fish, in one of my father’s lovely ponds, I had noticed that even the fish followed me at feeding time, all around the big pond, no matter where I went. If I put my hand in the water, they would nibble and nuzzle my fingers– that made me laugh! Did God make all creatures with cute little personalities? All of them? Yes! All life! And it is all God’s! In the Bible, there were marvelous prophecies (from Isaiah) about “the lion shall lie down with the lamb,” when Christ returns to earth, with His New Heaven on a New Earth. There will be Peace on Earth! The Holy City, the New Jerusalem! (vision of St. John, Book of Revelations) Oh, how beautiful! Loved Biblical passages found in Sacred Music of the Church, too. I learned that lots of contemplative religious orders used to have gardens and orchards, and some were even vegetarians. Our family could very easily make both Italian and Mexican (and other cultural foods) in both meat and meatless (vegetarian) styles, and everyone could choose from either style– and all would be well-nourished. I believe in sharing my beliefs with love, not like today’s young, violent, Godless, radiical vegetarian/vegan activists. You can then decide for yourself.
Im my comment of May 7 at 3:33pm, There is an error. The fifth sentence should read, “Our city was dominated by Eastern European immigrants…”
Thank you that sounds like a beautiful way to grow up.
You do realize that very few people in the US had it as good as you growing up.
Were you of the era where kids were switched?
I was not switched but my spouse was.
My spouse and I were just laughing about how when you were getting hit on the buttocks with something and you put your hands back to defend yourself, that spoon, hairbrush, paddle, whatever it was would hit the bone below your thumb. Very painful.
My parents did not switch, slap our faces or call us stupid because they hated that when they were kids.
Bless you! Thanks for your kind reply!
So you had a two parent home? With siblings?
Seems like your mom was a smart, caring woman?
There was music in the home?
It was a beautiful post but why did you get vicious at the end?
You have missed the point. No, I did not grow up in a “utopia”– there is no such thing! Yes, there are all kinds of problems. The point is, a long tine ago, most people knew right from wrong, a great many people were church-goers, and our society upheld basic Christian morality. Kids were safer. The crime rate was much lower. Kids could go out and do so many good things, on their own. We had lots of good neighborhoods, with lots of moms at home, with watchful eyes on kids. You never found a civic or church or school official, saying “right is wrong,” and “wrong is right.” If you lied, cheated, stole (embezzled), committed adultery, etc.– you never dared lie to anyone, and try to falsely justify it, “make up your own morals,” selfishly– as many people do, today. Nobody ever heard of drugs, just occasional problems with some who were alcoholics. Most people believed in God and were church-goers. Family values prevailed. Most people were married, had kids, and there were few divorces. Sex before marriage was a huge mortal sin (and still is), for everyone, regardless of religious beliefs. You must respect a girl, and her family, too, and practice Chastity and Self-Control. You learned the importance of serving God, family, community and country. And did you have a nasty, mean parent at home– or maybe even an alcoholic parent? When you graduate high school, and enter adult life– it’s all over! Mentally kick all of that out of your way, and be proudly on your way to your own life, as a respectable adult. Be proud of yourself, lead a good life– and never look back. It’s all over! Don’t accept abuses of any kind, from anyone, ever again! Today, there are lots of good groups, that can help people deal with abuse and etc.
Long ago, in high school, there was a girl I was supposed to sing with, during a Spring choral concert. We had solos and various ensembles, besides choral pieces, at the concert. The girl, a Soprano, was two years older than me. Well, when we were getting ready, her mom noticed that her dress was a little tight. My mom tried to help. We figured it all out, and the concert was a success. Next day, we were told that my friend was pregnant! A sweet girl, very pretty, she was also very shy, and we thought maybe her boyfriend had cruelly taken advantage of her. We knew what might happen next– public humiliation, expulsion from school, and maybe a shotgun marriage? Yes. Irreparable harm, to a sweet, shy girl, who might be scared to death! Plus– the loss of a good Soprano! So, my mother and I tried to help. After the shotgun wedding (she was Protestant) we went to the school, and told them that the Choir– and all the singers– needed her. We had an award-winning Choir! And the poor girl needed to finish school. That was very important! Was her boy friend also punished, expelled from school, too? Did he get a job, to support his new wife and baby? Darn that boy! After awhile, the Principal was convinced, and he let her come back to school, and sing, too, and finish school, and graduate. Her mom helped with the baby, a little boy. She divorced the “shotgun marriage” husband, and later, her mom helped her, when dating again, and seeking the right husband. She was now a little older, and she did find “Mr. Right!” He was a wonderful young fellow– with a good job, too! I sang for her wedding. So, mistakes do happen, life is not perfect. But Christian beliefs, and good, traditional family values, including giving help for someone with a “mistake”– can help save the day! The little family lived “happily ever after,” and she had several more children. Her “mistake” was
forgotten, and her pride and honor were restored.
And because of her second marriage she committed mortal sin the rest of her life. Doubly so if she received communion. According to church teaching, not my saying so.
At my high Catholic high school, students who got pregnant were not automatically expelled unless they had an abortion (because the gravity of the sun), or if they got married. Obviously not a sin, but they were trying to prevent people from doubling down on poor choices. I think it was pretty smart policy.
Sorry, I missed the point.
I want to know about you and your family.
You could just say “I don’t want to talk about my family.”
In your two posts, you express support for abandoning your parents after high school and for divorce and remarriage.
These are not Catholic principles.
No, I never said those things at all. Why not tell us about your own life? Now it’s your turn.
No, YFC. Hey, what do you think of the LGBTs who give their lives to Christ, lead chaste lives for Him, and are a huge success in life? Very inspiring. Some might even become saints– you never know. So, tell us about your life, struggles, and finding Christ. It’s your turn.
Responding to the question about how I feel about lgbts who give their lives to Christ and lead “chaste” lives. As I’ve made abundantly clear in the past, if a person, gay or straight, discerns a call to the celibate lifestyle, I’m fine with it. For many it is indeed a path to sainthood. About sharing my life story, I’m not stupid. One doesn’t expose skin whilst among a brood of vipers.
“The gender genie is out of the bottle and it is not going back in.” This genie must be fought, subjugated and stuffed back in the bottle no matter how difficult this may be. The trans movement is a profound denial of God’s providence and indeed a denial of reality itself. It is the ultimate non serviam, and as such the destroyer of souls. Once a person has taken that step, they have given God a vote of no-confidence. Dealing with the genie does not mean “controlling people and imposing on them” for one has to ask, what would the imposition be? Ask a woman to grow new breasts once cut off, or a man new genitalia once removed? But protections should be put in place to prevent drugs/ mutilation in the first place, and if this is considered an imposition, so be it. Laws forbidding “gender affirming care” for minors would be a very good start. When they have matured sufficiently, in most cases these will be grateful they were not allowed to get caught up in the fad and take steps they would later regret. Sometimes, alas, people have to be protected from themselves, and this is true not just with regard to gender bending but any addiction with potential to destroy a soul. A final thought: “Our job as Christians is not to make people conform to some social or cultural agenda…” There is an agenda incumbent upon all who name themselves Christian: to deny self, take up one’s cross, and follow Our Lord. There are social/cultural implications of such a commitment, are there not?
Why is it your business what someone else does with their body?
Your agenda is no more Christian than theirs is.
You talk about God but you do not seem to recognize that God has permitted this.
You are the one showing no confidence in God.
Many trans people do believe in God and believe that God has provided a way out of their misery. Or they offer it up.
Most trans people do not transition.
I am talking about adults.
If you do not suffer from this, you do not know what it is like.
The Catholic Church never came out against transgenderism in all the years people were having ‘sex change” surgeries.
They started to strongly condemn gender theory after John Paul II.
Gender theory and transgender are not the same thing.
It is easy to tell other people to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Our Lord.
Our Lord gave them a heavy cross. They might fall.
Part of denying yourself is not judging.
There are many today, who have no respect at all for God. Your body is a big responsibility– to the God who created it. God does not want anyone to abuse their body.
It is hard if you have not left the world to even sort out what denying yourself, taking up one’s cross and following our Lord means.
I believe it takes a special grace.
In religious orders, it means taking vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and in some orders stability.
It is easier to understand as a traditional wife who submits to their husband.
Before Vatican II, there were two vocations. Now, they added a third which is a single life dedicated to God.
Some people bind themselves to obey a spiritual director.
There are people on here who say transgender people have a mental illness. Then it is not of their will.
Most people follow their own will. Even Catholics.
And again, most transgender people do not transition; they just live in discomfort.
All human life has discomfort, at times, for as long as we are on earth. We do not usually need any special graces, to learn to simply put up with discomforts, gracefully. That is common sense. And if you hsve a condition that is like a disability, find creative ways to make a decent life, with what you’ve got. You don’t have to be religious, to do that. Many people can help you. We have always had the single life as a possible vocation, in the Church. Many have belonged to lay religious orders, had jobs, remained single, and some have made private religious vows, or promises, to God, to remain single and celibate, in religious ceremonies. Some saints also have done this.
Discomfort is always something we have to put up with, at times, for as long as we are on earth. You do not have to be religious, to gracefully accept and deal with discomforts, as best you can. It helps to know that everything fluctuates, changes, and eventually passes, at some point. There are times with serious situations and serious illnesses, when it is either better, or worse, from day to day. A sense of humor, and trying to “think positive” can help, too. If we pray and ask God’s help, and keep asking, and patiently wait– He will finally come through, with the right answers, at the right time, and the right guidance. Some saints in history belonged to lay religious orders, and made private vows to God, to remain single and celibate. There are also lots of ordinary people who have done that, too, even in today’s era. I think one has to be careful about obedience– obedience to God is always above all else. In a marriage, serving God comes first, for both husband and wife. They should both be equal, though different in roles. The LGBT who is single, who serves God and is chaste, is a great role model, for other LGBTs!
Long term, chronic suffering is different that a temporary suffering.
Most people look for relief from their suffering.
Some cannot be relieved.
Some suffering and pain comes in waves where there will be times when it gets better and then when it comes back it is a whole new level of suffering, even if the pain is less.
A lot of times people are in so much suffering they do not know what normal is.
A lot of our suffering, just like Jesus’ comes from other people.
Long term suffering is challenging. But there are many good people who can help you. If you are religious, your priest, minister or other clergyman can help, too.
Please explain how cooking is “feminine.”
Don’t listen to sick, radical feminists and sick, violent, radical, anti-society hippie leftist-liberals. They are of the Death Culture. Cooking is traditionally what mothers do, for their families. A mother is guided by Nature to breastfeed her babies, and when her babies are ready for solids, she starts them on solid foods. (Of course, in today’s society, babies are also provided with formula, along with breast milk.) All female mammal mothers in Nature, breastfeed. In all societies, a mother is the one who traditionally plans meals, shops, and and cooks meals for her family. A mother takes great pride in cooking for, and nurturing, her beloved family! This is a beloved mother’s social role– and these traditional, natural roles are excellent! Often, cherished recipes of your mother or grandmother may be passed down, as family treasures. Fathers may enjoy trrying their hand at cooking, too, and some may be excellent cooks. But mainly, the Mother is the cook for her family. And she must be given praise for her loving, nurturing role. Our Role Model for Womanhood in the Church, is Our Blessed Mother. She lovingly kept house in Nazareth, and cooked for the Holy Child, Jesus, and her dear, chaste husband, St. Joseph, Christ’s foster-father. St. Joseph worked as a Carpenter, and taught the Holy Child, Jesus, this excellent trade. In that time, all Jewish boys had to be taught a trade, when young, so they could provide for themselves and their future wives and children.
Dear reply to Mary Kate: If you would like to live in the nineteenth century, by all means have at it. But please don’t pretend that your way of thinking is in any way better than, more natural than, more moral than, more Christian than the rest of us or worse, that families in which a male member cooks is sick, violent, anti-cultural, and somehow of the Death Culture. Besides being absurd on its face, there is probably nothing that makes people more turned off with the Church than those who pretend that they are somehow superior to everyone else.
One Tuna – No mayo
Pax Vobiscum!
YFC, re-read what I said, and use your “nice and normal” brain, that God gave you, please! You will soon see, that what I described, was very natural and normal! Just as God created it! I bet your mom proudly made nice meals for you, and possible brothers and sisters, too, every day! And baked cookies and special treats for you all, at Christmas, and baked delicious birthday cakes, on your birthdays, too! And took pride in being your loving mother, and nurturing and caring for her family! That’s normal, YFC! I bet you will give her a nice card and gift, for Mother’s Day! Don’t you believe in Mother’s Day– and Father’s Day, too? Of course! The Death Culture is full of abnormal, sick, violent activists who cannot think straight– they all need to be rehabilitated! We need to rehabilitate and convert the Death Culture to Christ’s great Culture of Life!
YFC, Motherhood is ageless, timeless, and of no “century.” Motherhood is of God.
Like Fr. James Martin claiming that church teaching about homosexuality needs to be changed. He’s pretending he’s superior to over 4,000 years of biblical teaching and over 2,000 years of magisterial teaching. The gays think they are superior to the rest of us, and they want us eliminated if we won’t kowtow to the rainbow flag.
That’s not what she is saying. Traditionally men were the hunter gatherers because they are much stronger in certain areas and in most cultures still are. There are exceptions, usually boys who have been raised by a lot of women, or girls around a lot of men. Many men have had to learn to cook because there were not a lot of women in the U.S. from their culture. Some became camp cooks because they could lift the heavy pots better than most women their size. I know what she is talking about from experience.
superior, what they want to change is the term ‘intrinsically disordered” because people do not understand it. They should say what they mean in common English or whatever language. this is explained better by the former head of the COURAGE apostolate-an apostolate that encourages chastity.
https://catholicvoiceomaha.com/qa-with-father-philip-bochanski-of-courage-international-inc-christ-and-his-radical-invitation/
second question in interview
I think YFC was just pointing out that you are very old-fashioned and advantaged.
This is motherhood for many people: Take the kids to school after feeding them a poptart, go to work, pick them up from the aftercare when you get home from work, stop at McDonalds for dinner, stop at the Wal-mart for the things for the project that is due tomorrow that no one mentioned before, wash the kids clothes and your uniform while helping with the project and trying to keep the other kids doing their homework and off their screens. Send the kids to bed and finish the laundry and the project. Set the alarm for 3 hours sleep and get up and start again.
Pop tarts– A good mother never gives her children junk food. You probably know that. There are much better, more wholesome ways to live. These days, many moms are stay-at-home mothers, and help their children with Homeschooling. Or enroll them in a good Catholic school, and be an involved mother, with other mothers, at the school. Best not to work, or only work part-time, as a mother. Raising children takes a lot of old-fashioned love and dedication. Motherhood is really a full-time job. Be there for your kids– and slim down your family expenses. Better if you can live on just your husband’s paycheck. And he must spend lots of time with his kids, too, and be a good father.
Every mother gives her kid junk food. Some of the organic, natural food eating parents do not except on special occasions because their kids get enough of that at school or grandma’s but they are the exception.
There are very few stay at home mothers. Even fewer homeschoolers.
I agree with you that motherhood should be a full time job but most mothers don’t do it as a full time job.
Less than half of American kids live in 2 parent homes with their biological parents. Some live with step-parents or grandparents in the home. 1 out of 4 children in the US live in single parent homes, 80% of which are with the mother.
Some kids are homeless but are homeless with a parent.
Sorry, but you are really out of touch.
More and more mothers are choosing to stay at home, and responsibly care for their children. Homeschooling is a huge, growing trend, along with good, faithful Catholic schools. Catholic families especially, are trying to give their children their best. Some moms today, just work part-time, or work from home. And good parents never give their children junk food! You do not have to follow any crazy “food fads.” It is very important to be a responsible parent, and don’t allow junk food in your home. Once in awhile, for birthdays and special occasions, having some Birthday Cake, or Christmas cookies, is fine, and normal. But on a daily basis, children should not have sweets and junk food. Junk food is a bad habit, and is addictive. It causes emotional, neurological and behavioral problems, destroys a child’s health, is a source of serious illnesses like diabetes, heart problems, obesity, and serious dental problems. Good people do not live irresponsible, terrible lives, and cause their children to suffer. Never view homeless, deranged, drug addicts, juvenile delinquents and criminals, or the mentally ill, leading absolutely horrible lives in the streets, as “normal” people– these are extremely abnormal, very serious cases! Normal people never live like this! Catastrophes do happen, but good parents get right back on their feet, and are responsible, caring, dependable, hard-working people, regardless of economic class– rich or poor. Even displaced families from war-torn areas, like Ukraine, get right back on their feet, once relocated, and responsibly care for their families. There are too many irresponsible, immoral, selfish people today, who live terrible, irresponsible, extremely abnormal lives, in the Culture of Death. As Christians, we need to work hard, to transform the Culture of Death into Christ’s Culture of Life.
Junk food is highly addictive, and works the same way as drug addiction, biologically. Daily ingestion of junk food causes a great many very serious diseases, as well as obesity and neurological, emotional, behavioral, and dental problems. Growing children need simple, healthy meals. There are many good health and nutrition articles on this subject. (Ignore food fads and fanatics, though.) Even if suffering a catastrophe, you can still obtain good, simple, healthy foods, and fresh veggies and fruits, for your family. Many people can help.
Reply to, you are so judgmental you even judge what people eat.
Most mothers work. 69% of mothers with kids under 6 work outside the home and 75% of mothers with children over the age of 6 work outside the home.
94% of fathers of children under 6 work and 92% of fathers of children over 6 work outside the home.
Mothers have a big responsibility to properly care for their children, and see to it that they have good nutrition, and goid health. That is very important! It has nothing to do with childish notions of “judgment.”
The statistics on working mothers are changing a great deal. Since the Pandemic, many mothers are opting not to work outside the home, to work at home, to Homeschool their kids, or enroll their children in Catholic school. The public schools have too many problems
You know, in that time, nobody necessarily paid you, to either babysit, or care for their animals– it depended on the situation. Everybody was happy to help their neighbors. My grandma got paid well, for staying for two weeks, with a clan of five kids, of the new community college president, who was moving in, nearby. She cooked, cleaned, and cared for the five kids– and cared for their big German Shepherd dog, too. She was our favorite grandma, great with kids, too! That was a much slower, nicer era. My immigrant grandma never learned to drive a car. I got paid in high school, for babysitting, when a couple went out for the evening. That was common. But I was always happy to offer to care for our neighbors’ animals, especially horses– I was a horse crazy young equestrienne. A neighbor’s rooster always came and perched on a fencepost near my bedroom window, as a child, and crowed at the crack of dawn. I was used to it. Much later, when married, a train always roared through town at 4am nightly, not far from our home, and that was much worse. But we just laughed at it. Anyway, it was a much nicer, slower time, more neighborly. And the crime rate was always “zero,” every year.
In the 1970s, I had a close friend, married to a college professor, raising several children. She was very active in church and community endeavors, and was well-liked. She also was a bit overweight, and decided to try a new, local diet clinic, that advertised a special, and had a contest going. Well, she was a winner, lost 30 pounds, and they put all the winners’ pictures in the local newspaper. Each person (all were women) in the contest had a brief description, next to their name and picture. Well, all the women who were homemakers, were terribly upset, because the title they had proudly given, of “homemaker,” next to their description and picture– had been cruelly, thoughtlessly removed– and replaced with the title of “Domestic Engineer!” This was because of the sick feminist fad! All the women were very upset! They said, “why in the world are women no longer to be honored, as homemakers? To be a loving wife and mother, and a full-time homemaker, is a very special, God-given, timeless, very important and necessary profession!” They all complained to the newspaper, and they all stopped going to the diet clinic.
“A transgender must ask God’s Divine Guidance. And stop playing “Frankenstein.”” A very good post, with an appropriate ending. Transgenders at heart reject Divine Providence to establish their own often narcissistic non serviam. How else do you explain a man who insists on competing against women in order to win? I might add, your last appeal needs to go to the doctors, who are the true Dr. Frankensteins.
In order for transgender people to ask for God’s Divine Guidance they have to know there is a God who loves them and who will guide them.
Your job is charity. Your job is evangelization.
Many transgender people like Caitlyn Jenner are Christian and are grateful for God’s Providence throughout their lives. However narcissism and non serviam affect every person with a fallen human nature.
I should have said “Our job is charity. Our job is evangelization.)
Too many people in America, since the 1960s, are extremely self-seeking, violent political activists, seeking only one, shabby, extremely immature thing in life– “the Grest Almighty Me-Me-Me.” They shake their miserable, disobedient, nasty, rebellious, juvenile delinquent fists in the air, declaring to Mom, Dad, their schools, their churches, and to all society– “Non serviam.” They do need some love— we all do– but not excessively. And they may or may not respond to God and religion, and to God’s selfless Divive Love– which is not self-seeking. Regardless of God and religion– they must be expected to grow up, stand proudly, with dignity, as an adult, and serve God and society, no natter what. And make necessary adjustments to fit into and deal with daily life adequately, as best they can. We all have our “crosses.” There are no “utopias” on earth. Those who can figure out a good and decent daily life, also bearing their “crosses” maturely, as best they can– find peace and self-worth in accomplishing each day’s given tasks. And freedom from the endless miseries of self-seeking, even freedom from desperately seeking “approval” from others– a big “no-no.” Others are undependable, fickle– you must, in the end, look just to yourself! Look past the human weaknesses of others, who will NEVER “approve” of you, and just ignore them. Seek to be responsible, and really good at your job, daily tasks, and all else in life– some will like you regardless, and some will respect you for being mature. In the end, you must find your own peace in life, and self-approval, though it is hard to do, at first. But it is possible! Some people have absolutely miserable lives, because their mom or dad didn’t “approve” of them, or their spouse, etc. etc. You can’t live like that! Grow up, and go way, way beyond “other people!” Be proud to just serve God and society, and do a good job. Let the rest go.
I have a friend with three grown, middle-aged kids, all of them married, with their own grown kids, and successful. One day, in about the year 1970, I recall laughing, and never forgetting something this friend said. She said, “If you want happiness, peace of mind, and success in life– and a happy, successful marriage and family life– marry an orphan.” She felt bombarded by her in-laws, and her parents’ demands, too. She could never find peace, and self-worth. Finally, as a spunky Irish Catholic gal, she gave up on approval-seeking, and dumped it all, realizing it was all hopeless, useless. She looked past them and their human foibles, pettiness, weaknesses, and selfishness. And stood on her own two feet, and laughed it all off, never bowing to them again. She ended up with a happy, successful marriage and happy, successful kids. She served God and society– while standing on her own two feet as an adult. She was a wonderful friend and neighbor, and “church lady.” Everyone liked and enjoyed her, and appreciated all that she did, in church, school and community endeavors. Now she is near the realms of God, and the next life, bless her.
“Many transgender people like Caitlyn Jenner are Christian and are grateful for God’s Providence throughout their lives.” On one level what you say is true. God loves the man Caitlyn Jenner as He loves us all. I emphasize man because Caitlyn is a of the biological male gender. That he suffers from gender dysphoria and chooses to live out that illness by taking on the appearance of a woman, accompanied by mutilation, is his to do, as he is a grown man. It is argued he is letting a strong inner femininity express itself outwardly, and thus being true to self. But this self is also male, sufficient to win a gold medal in the decathlon in the 1976 Olympics, from which followed a gradually growing desire to become a woman and to which he ultimately surrendered.The implication is that God is not able to heal the dysphoria or give him the graces necessary to live with it. That is the vote of no-confidence in God. It is similar to a single person or a homosexual refusing to live chastely and instead giving into sexual promiscuity. In these cases, one has to deny self and embrace the cross at a profound level in order to please God. That is the goal, even if the reaching of it is not without great difficulty. Yes, God loves Caitlyn Jenner, and that should have guided him to his knees instead of to the surgeon’s knife.
It is not the same thing as giving in to promiscuity.
The Catholic Church has never said this is a sin.
I see a lot of stuff online by lay people and a few diocese have started coming out with policies.
At this time, it seems to fall under the realm of conscience and you are not his conscience.
If you did it, feeling the way you do, it would be a sin because you feel it is.
“At this time, it seems to fall under the realm of conscience and you are not his conscience.” True, I am not his conscience. But conscience is not what guides Catholics in this case (though Jenner is probably not Catholic).In 2019, in its first statement on gender identity, the Vatican on Monday rejected the idea that transgender people can change their gender identity in a document meant to instruct Catholic teachers and students on sexuality and gender. While including a call for love and respect, the document rejects the idea that gender is distinct from biological sex. A transgender identity, the document asserts, seeks to “annihilate the concept of nature.” While this is not the same as calling transgenderism a sin, annihilating the concept of nature sounds rather serious to me. Make of the document what you will.
You misunderstand. Bruce Jenner is an adult, a world-renowned, once-powerful male Olympic athlete! He needed to act like an adult, and put away childish things– or else see a psychiatrust. He had at least one former wife, and several children. That is a big responsibility! He should not run around like a spoiled “child,” or a very sick man, with gender dysphoria, fantasizing that he is a “woman,” and playing “dress-up,” in woman’s clothes. He forgets that he is an adult, with adult responsibilities. And he is a father, and someone’s ex-husband. I think he may have more than one ex-wife– and several children, too. Rich, spoiled, irresponsible– and mentally ill.
Dan, that document is about gender theory and gender ideology. People conflate these with transgenderism.
Transgender people cannot look to anything from the Vatican to guide their conscience because there is not anything.
Some diocese have come out with policies and statements.
My diocese has made policies for its schools but that is all.
Another diocese has said that they will not baptize a transgender person who has had surgery unless they have repented.
Many of them are saying things similar to what you say but there are a lot of questions.
It is like IVF, there is treatment that is acceptable. Going to the point where you sterilize yourself (which most transgender people do not go that far), I would assume would be immoral.
Transgender people need to talk to priests (you may need to ask more than one because it is a rare situation and a priest may not be knowledgeable about it) or even someone from the chancery. You can contact the Vatican if you run into something that you think is improper but most people don’t.
Dan, what has your diocese said?
This is so much more complex than you want to acknowledge. It is a very difficult condition to treat and it is more often than not co-morbid with other conditions like autism, depression, anxiety.
i was not happy to learn that an organization like Planned Parenthood is getting into this.
I don’t think it can be treated properly by family physicians.
It used to take 10 years of therapy before they were given the OK to transition.
People are rushing this and it is a terrible condition with much suffering.
But as we Catholics know, suffering is redemptive.
But when you are suffering it is difficult to see that.
If you have this condition or think you might have it, don’t settle for someone throwing pills at you. Learn all you can about true and vague transgenderism. find people to talk to who really know what they are talking about. You need to become your own expert.
I will give you a story from my life. A child of mine was neurodiverse (not transgender) and a mother at church came up to me and said “My son was like that. Puberty goes a long way in fixing it.” I do not like to see puberty blockers used for this reason. Most cases of vague transgenderism resolve during puberty.
It is indeed complex but going for bromides like “suffering is redemptive” oversimplifies things and ignores the fact that nothing in Catholic teaching and practice promotes unnecessary suffering. Indeed for most of human history, transgender people suffered greatly because it wasn’t possible to remove the suffering and many, I suspect, found redemption in living with the burdens. But if we have spinal pain because God made us with one leg longer than the other, we don’t say cruelly, “ suffer with it for you will find redemption in your suffering”. No! We say, go, find an orthopedist and she can make your legs of equal length and it will relieve your pain. We don’t say, do not mutilate your body , just live with how God created you! No, we act like Christ himself whose ministry was often to relieve unnecessary pain. We don’t make medical situations into moral ones. We allow people the individual autonomy to seek medical solutions to relieve pain. Why is this somehow different?
Yes, there is a Catholic spirituality that asks for unnecessary suffering especially to benefit the souls in Purgatory or for the conversion of sinners.
People make the decisions to endure pain rather than go on pain meds or have a surgery, also.
You do not tell others that they have to but the expression “offer it up” was common.
it means to offer up your sufferings in union with the sufferings of Christ on the Cross for the salvation of souls.
You are right that Christ “cured them all.”
I think you should seek the will of the Lord before doing any pill or surgery.
This has the added onus of causing sterility which the Church does not like.
It is to me more like infertility where the Church approves some means and disapproves of others.
There are moral elements to medical questions.
It’s different because you can’t change your sex. Pretending you can is wrong.
It is actually called voluntary suffering.
Is it voluntary if it is forced upon the sufferer by others?
“wrong” observes “ It’s different because you can’t change your sex. Pretending you can is wrong.” so I take by that that if you COULD, in their eyes, change your sex, it would be OK, or if you don’t pretend to change sexes then it isn’t wrong.
The thing is that transgender people don’t think they are changing their sex. They are modifying their physical bodies to match their true sex. So, in the right context, “wrong”, they aren’t changing their sex at all, and aren’t even pretending to change their sex. Therefore they are not wrong, by your way of thinking.
You’re right. There is unnecessary suffering caused by others. You can try to get away from those people but sometimes they are at work, or in your family, or police officers, or in the government or medical establishments, schools etc.
There is also unnecessary suffering because you do not know or cannot access treatments for relief.
There are a lot of people who can’t afford treatment. Or who live in areas where treatment is not available.
About 1 out of 100 people who medically transition regret it and some of them take responsibility for making the decision and some of them blame the doctors.
I had no idea there was treatment for having one leg shorter than the other. No one told me. No one told me that could be the source of my back pain. My son has scoliosis. He was an adult before any doctor noticed. He discovered by himself how to ease his pain by some stretching.
I have had medical people tell me there is nothing they can do and then the Lord showed me what to do. Again, simple stretches or in one case, stop doing the exercises they told me to do.
Transgenderism is mental illness. Promoting it as normal is evil. I didn’t cross the gay line, so I didn’t have to worry about crossing the trans line. I won’t support gay, so refusing to support trans was easy. If you give in to evil, it makes it more likely you’ll give in to other forms of evil. Purge the evil from your midst. Don’t give in to it.
Um just fyi, gay is not a line that you cross, nor is it a steppingstone to becoming trans. Before you pronounce medical conditions, you might want to learn something about the people you are talking about and their circumstances. Thanks.
Practically all of America and Europe has crossed the gay and trans lines. They are all-in for gay. Not me. Not going there. Never. Very few people have the fortitude to resist the encroachment of gay and trans into their lives.
Like Bud Light. Stop buying it. Like Disney. Stop patronizing the parks and movies.
Every time there is a movie or TV show that has a gay or trans character, no matter how minor the characters, I turn it off. That’s how I don’t cross the gay or trans lines. For example, there was a movie about Superman’s dog. Started out fine, but then two gay characters appeared, and I shut it off.
A pizza place started displaying a rainbow flag. I stopped buying pizza there. No gay pizza for me.
It’s reaching the point where you can’t do anything anymore except keep to yourself because almost everywhere you go is gay and trans in your face. Maybe go camping. The animals and trees aren’t gay or trans. Mother Nature isn’t lesbo.
You think America hasn’t crossed the gay line? Just wait to see all the rainbow and trans flags displayed in government buildings, business, schools, churches, and home lawns in June. Just wait to see all the gay ads and commercials.
I support your decisions but I want to make sure you understand that Budweiser never sold cans of beer with Dylan Mulvaney’s face on them. They sent one can (or one case-I’m not sure-I’ve only seen one can) with Mulvaney’s picture on it to Mulvaney with the words “365 Days of Girlhood” because Mulvaney is one of the influencers that they use to market their product online and that was the milestone event Mulvaney was celebrating. (They have hundreds of influencers and they do this as a thank you. I do not know if they pay the influencers. Some companies do; some don’t.)
Kid Rock blew this up and then the media and this person who has a large following but also a large group of haters (even among trans people) just got a ton of free publicity.
Drink whatever you want. i don’t drink beer. I don’t buy sports bras. Dylan Mulvaney is an actor.
I agree with you 100%. This is all just a terrible, immoral influence on children and families– and very destructive to our culture! I agree with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has good morals, good common sense, and good family values. He is making this demented, immoral, and sick garbage illegal, and responsibly protecting children and families.– and re-establishing good cultural norms. I haven’t watched TV much, since about 1970. I turn off anything offensive, immediately. And say a “Hail Mary!” I also fill out complaint forms. I only watch a few EWTN shows, and that’s all. The “gay lifestyle” is extremely immoral. It should never be portrayed in the media, or in books– especially for children and teens.
Many people are outraged at an extremely vulgar, anti-Christian artwork– a series of doctored-up photographs– created by a lesbian Swedish artist, being displayed in the EU Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium. The artwork series depicts Jesus approving of LGBTs. In one doctored-up photo, Jesus is depicted wearing a white robe, with a halo of stars around His head, delivering the “Sermon on the Mount,” surrounded by characters dressed in leather, BDSM fetish costumes. Horrific! I think that vulgar, anti-religious artwork of all kinds, should be strictly illegal.
I so much prefer the original photos of Jesus over these doctor-ed up ones.
A response to YFC’s May 8, 2023 at 4:31 pm comment: ” We don’t say, do not mutilate your body , just live with how God created you! No, we act like Christ himself whose ministry was often to relieve unnecessary pain. We don’t make medical situations into moral ones. We allow people the individual autonomy to seek medical solutions to relieve pain. Why is this somehow different?
Christ’s ministry was to relieve unnecessary pain? Like St. Paul’s thorn in the flesh, concerning which Jesus denied its removal and said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you”? The pain was necessary for the apostle. Now when Jesus healed people we can be sure they were relieved of pain and suffering. But mutilation is not any physical healing, and it comes at a price, and can and does create new and greater suffering. That is why medical situations must first be moral ones– is this person able to make a mature and informed decision without pressure from peers or parents or doctors? If not then any medical decision involving mutilation would be immoral. So the autonomy you prize can lead to far greater pain when medical situations are not turned into moral ones. Also, the pain you are considering, YFC, is not physical but psychological. Psychological pain is best treated by therapy, not by the surgeon’s knife. So yes, this is somehow different. I am not inferring that the therapy would be easy, but necessary along with spiritual growth to help the person accept their God-given body.
Maybe they are just trying to distract us from something like bank failures, big retailers going out of business, train crashes, natural disasters.
Pay attention to important things.
Psychological pain is very often treated with physical means not just therapy.
A Black man cannot become a White woman. A short girl cannot become a tall boy. An elderly Asian man cannot become a young White woman. A girl with naturally-curly blonde hair, cannot become a boy with dark, straight hair. A bald-headed, aging man, cannot become a young woman with thick, lush, long hair. Those are simply realities of life. You can “pretend” and play “dress-up”– but it’s not reality, it’s fantasy. Some rich celebrities have gotten plastic surgery, to try to make themselves look like their “fantasy ideal.” Some have foolishly gotten fake implants, to enlarge their bustline. And some people have even gotten plastic surgery, to try to foolishly make themselves look like their favorite movie star! But no one can “magically” become their “fantasy,” in real life. You are you, with your own, unique DNA. No doctor, nor even Christ, can miraculously change you into your childish “fantasy,” that God never intended. Another type of person, besides the transgenders, who suffer a great deal– are fat people. God did not create any false ideal, sought by emaciated, young models, called “skinny.” Yet, many people become very sick with eating disorders, trying to not just lose weight, to a proper level for them– but force themselves to starve, trying to obtain a false kind of body, that God never created. The “Serenity Prayer” is a good one to recite!
Why is it your business whether transgender is a thing or not? If it isn’t for you, don’t pay attention to it unless it harms you. Clearly it doesn’t harm you. You aren’t poorer because there are transgender people in the world. You aren’t in physical danger because there are transgender people in the world. It is entirely likely you don’t even know the person next to you is transgender or not. In fact, I have a close friend with a very strong beard and s receding hairline. As he likes to say, “You want me to use girls restroom, really?”
I still go back to my analogy of pain induced by having legs of unequal length. Having a sever limp causes intense psychological pain because of the stares, the mocking & bullying, and such. Plus very severe physical pain. I had a childhood friend in exactly this situation. It is not a fantasy (or any of your business) if such a person wants to equalize their legs and eliminate the cause of the pain. It is a serious improvement in the person’s quality of life and their ability to take care of themselves and those they love. He got the surgeries he needed, thank goodness, and he has had a half century of family life and decent career. I can’t even imagine someone telling him he should just suffer with what God gave him, that to equalize his legs would be unnatural, etc etc. I’m pretty sure had they, he wouldn’t be attending their Church today.
Yet you prefer to pretend that there is nothing that can be done with these poor souls, that they should just suffer needlessly.
How cruel.
YFC – You are referencing physical pain and illness here. There is a vast difference between that and psychic illness, which is much, much harder to treat. I daresay that all trans patients are dealing with emotional dysmorphia of some sort. It would be wiser and kinder to provide in-depth treatment for mental issues rather than to require a physician to remove an appendage as palliative care.
If that is so, why do psychiatrists get an MD before they specialize in psychiatry. If that is so, why is depression treated with drugs rather than therapy? If that is so, why is brain electrical stimulation and even brain surgery sometimes used to cure mental illness?
YFC – you just proved the point. Psychiatric illnesses, including gender dysmorphia, can indeed be alleviated through the arsenal of treatments to improve mental health. This does not mean that it is ethical for a physician to mutilate a human person by either removing or adding body parts or to administer chemicals to simulate a desired gender.
YFC, 1. depression is treated with both drugs and therapy. 2. Psychiatrists get an MD so they know how drugs affect the brain etc. so they can properly prescribe drugs that have the greatest chance of bringing healing. 3. Brain stimulation treats mental illness but I hardly think it cures it. Do check on that for me, would you? I have to agree with Axiom: surgery for uneven length legs makes perfect sense because it can make legs the same length. An organic procedure cures an organic problem. But bodily mutilation, the destruction of a body part, cures no organic problem and cannot cure a deep-seated mental illness, or, as Axiom states, “psychic illness.” It can certainly feed that illness but that’s about all. Elsewhere you state “You aren’t poorer because there are transgender people in the world.” Tell that to the Christians murdered by the transexual. Think of the damage done to girls and women who have men pretending to be women invading their locker rooms, showers etc. Are you kidding me, YFC?? And you don’t consider the damage transgenders do to themselves by living a lie, even your woman friend sporting a large beard and receding hairline. Who does she desire? I would suppose other women, which if true makes her a lesbian who happens to have a beard. Does the beard serve to conceal the fact that she is at heart a lesbian? If I have it wrong with her please feel correct me as I really would like your take on that woman.
Gender dysphoria and gender identity disorder are two different things.
Being transgender is not a mental illness like depression.
Sorry. After I posted, I realized that was probably belittling to you and it is my job to stop coming to the website rather than to tell you that you can’t say whatever it is that you want to say.
In general Dan, thank you for agreeing with me regarding the relationship between the physical and the psychological. As to the people murdered by the transgender murderer, you really can’t be intellectually honest when you pull out one mass murderer out of the hundreds we have in this country to claim that transgender people are a physical threat to humanity. If you were being intellectually honest, then you’d have to also claim that cis-gender men are a physical threat. But why be intellectually honest when we can be hysterical?
With regard to “that woman”, as you and Bill like to say as a way of dehumanizing the person we are talking about: He wears a beard because he desires wearing a beard. He sports a receding hairline because he has the genes for a receding hairline. I am not going to discuss his sexual orientation or his relationship history because they are irrelevant to the discussion, they are his personal story, and discussing them would just feed into your obvious confusion about the relationship between sexual orientation and gender identity.
On that latter point, in an effort at education, in general, transgender people are sometimes gay, sometimes straight, and sometimes bi. And the gender of their objections of affection usually does not change after transition (Example Kaitlin Jenner’s objects of affection were women before transition and are still women (I think – I don’t follow her and find her personality and politics to be repulsive). However, there are some people who find that the gender of their objects of affection changes after transitioning. I suspect that is more common among female to male transgender individuals, and could correlate to the finding that the majority of women who desire other women are actually bisexual . I don’t know that to be a fact and I am not aware of any studies regarding it. If you find one, please let us know.
” But why be intellectually honest when we can be hysterical?” YFC, this is in response to your May 10, 2023 at 10:37 am post. I in no way was categorizing transexuals as mass murderers. If you inferred that from my wording, I shall improve my wording. But that unfortunate woman was an extreme example of the hostility that is out there towards Christians. As to the May 10, 2023 at 10:53 am post, the way YFC described the bearded person it sounded as if he were describing a woman desiring to be a man. I grant this could be my misunderstanding YFC. I have no idea what you mean by considering this categorization to be some form of dehumanization. You will have to explain that to me, as well as who Bill is. Anyway, I may have it all wrong in the first place, and if YFC wants to, he can educate me should that be his desire.
Axiom i proved none of your points. To say that a treatment for one condition cures another condition is like saying if I can cure one type of cancer with a drug then all cancer can be cured with some unspecified arsenal of drugs. Sadly we all know that’s not how it works. The point you all keep missing is that when there are therapies that help alleviate suffering, even if they are merely palliative and not curative, people have a right to pursue them and we ought not stand in the way because we have some odd notion of one condition requiring suffering while others don’t, that one therapy mutilates Gods creation, while the other doesn’t. You all sound something more akin to Christian scientists than Catholics.
I think that you misunderstood. Most transgender people do not transition, often because of cost but also because they really aren’t that distressed by it.
There is so much ignorance-and I am ignorant too.
I’m trying to learn.
If you know a transgender person or anyone else who is distressed by something Catholics write online, tell them to go talk to a priest.
The Catholic faith is not represented well online.
I looked up the history of treatment for gender dysphoria.
At some point, in the 40s and 50s, psychotherapy was used to try to cure transgender people. That method of care changed in the 1970s.
In 1981, Medicare refused to cover gender affirming care.
In 2014, Medicare changed to offer coverage and that is when the number of cases rose.
As it became news, certain people decided these people needed to go back to the 1940s.
If you want alternative care for transgender people, you will need to provide it.
The standard of care is to give hormones, therapy and if desired (and they can afford it) surgery.
There may be people doing alternative medicine on this and maybe more therapies will develop in states that are banning procedures for minors.
My personal health decisions involve taking as few pills as possible (although I am on a number of them for physical health issues). I do not take pills for mental health issues or to have more energy or to lose weight or to make my skin glow. I don’t dye or curl my hair. These are my decisions.
Other members of my family do these things. It is not my business.
“Why is it your business whether transgender is a thing or not” because a small but very well funded group of mentally deranged people are imposing their fetishes on the rest of us. They are destroying female sports and invading female only areas. Because it is the further upending of truth by evil people.
Transgenderism isn’t a fetish. No one is forcing transgenderism on you or me, and in fact you and I are probably in the same boat since neither of us are transgender and no-one has forced transgenderism on me. Female sports isn’t destroyed at all, in fact it is getting more attention and respect than ever. It instead you who are attempting to force YOUR truth upon others, even though, as I said before, it is none of your business.
Transgenderism is being forced on us — and our children, at their schools, in sports, in their clubs, all sexually focused.
Oh, and I strongly take issue with you about female sports not being destroyed by transgender athletes. You talk about getting more attention and respect? How can that be, when an XY-male competes in an XX-female sport and wins each time? The physical scales are not equal. Fact. I know you want to believe it so much, but science and genetics don’t lie. More attention, yes, but for all the wrong reasons. Women have fought too hard to get equality without men pretending to be females now invading every aspect of women’s lives. I despise trans men who are destroying female sports and assuming female identities in an in-your-face, belligerent manner.
Yes, YFC, it IS our business when females are being pushed to the side to have trans-males represent them. It’s infuriating and degrading to women and will only get worse unless we call a stop to it. Yes and the cult of transgenderism IS our business when our children are being punished at school for “mis-gendering” their classmates and being forced to watch garish and highly sexualized drag queens prowling around campuses.
I read an interesting article that tried to explain why this is such a huge issue.
Those states where the evangelical vote carries Republicans no longer have the issue of abortion to get people to the polls.
Gay marriage is pretty much a dead issue, too.
There is no longer a huge unifying issue.
So this is being used to rile people up to get them to the polls.
And they don’t even realize that the “nanny state” which used to be such an issue for Republicans is being taken to an extreme level by this.
I recommend the Catechism of Mental Prayer by Reverend Joseph Simler.
It is a small little book that teaches how to meditate.
God will help you.
So will Mary.
A servant of Mary shall not perish.
Please pray well before making medical decisions.
We belong to God. Seek God’s Will.
We are His creatures.
Get counseling from a priest or spiritual director before doing something like transitioning.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’m not sure how it relates to the thread, but I did look up the book and plunked the $2 to buy it and download it to my kindle. Seems like a good little book, and would have really appealed to those trained in the Baltimore Catechism style of question/answer, even borrowing some of the verbiage. If folks want to start a discussion about it, or maybe share recommended books, maybe CCD could pick up on the idea and write an article where such discussion could take place!
If you do this every day or even twice a day (day and night Psalm 1:2), it is so valuable. Who better to talk to than He who knows all?
I like the supplement because it reminds you how we can do nothing without God.
I hope you will use it. If you just set a timer for 15 minutes that is a good way to start.
Pick a sentence from the Bible or the Catechism or anything and just begin. Or better ask the Holy Spirit or the Virgin Mary or your Guardian Angel what to select.
I think I posted it because other people always tell you what to do and think and you should really just get with Lord and He will help you.
Rhetorical you.
Many in NYC are outraged at a blasphemous, pro-gay, transgender art exhibit, at the Paulist Fathers’ historic Church of St. Paul, in Manhattan. The blasphemous series of paintings, titled “God is Trans: A Spiritual Journey” is placed next to the altar. The Paulist Fathers now have an active, pro-gay ministry– but it is not pro- Chastity. This sacrilege, at Christ’s holy altar, in this historic, old Paulist church, is heart-breaking.
The blasphemous art exhibit, “God is Trans: A Queer Spiritual Journey” was investigated by officials from the NY Archdiocese– and the offensive art display was taken down from its location beside the altar, and removed from the Paulists’ Church of St. Paul. Catholics are outraged about this sacrilege. I think that blasphemous artwork that is discriminatory, immoral, sacrilegious, and damaging to any religion, should be strictly illegal, with stern punishments.
I think we are more than burned out on outrage.
@ different — Gender identity disorder IS a mental illness — and Transgenderism is a mental disorder.
What I said was-GID is not a mental illness like depression. Anyone can develop depression. Or anxiety.
GID is not the same. It is more like autism and it is much more likely to occur in those with autism.
It does not go away with talk therapy.
The medication given for it is hormones.
Depression is not the only mental illness, sad to say. I’ll let the semantics of it rest for a moment.
What is of great concern is that a growing number of parents are pushing their young children into taking puberty blockers, and physicians are obliging them. I think this is a crime against humanity on both counts. We also have adult trans-males attempting to insert themselves into women’s sports. Women’s and girls’ rights are being eroded, and they are now being relegated to second-place citizenship. This is the height of deceit — and conceit.
It’s worth noting that we don’t see a lot of trans-females trying to compete in men’s sports. Could it be that they lack the male musculature and strength needed to win? I think so. It’s a sham and we all know it.
Semantics, yes.
The issue of how young treatment should begin is of public concern.
Some people are upset about their inclusion in women’s sports and feel it is unfair.
“Some people are upset about their inclusion in women’s sports and feel it is unfair.” Some people? Seriously? Every fair minded person would have recoiled in horror 10 years ago upon hearing males were allowed to compete and dominate women’s sports. Ideological concerns trump reason and sanity at the present moment; you can be sure if sanity ever returns males will be kept out of female sports.
Some people are concerned about mass shootings, the border, AI, explosives in a nuclear plant, big stores and banks failing, train wrecks, parents murdering their families, out of control crime, etc.
They’re not sane?
Well, today I was told, that Kirk Cameron’s Book Tour cancelled their San Francisco Presidio Library branch event. How disappointing. They are set to do an event on May 13th, at the Billy Graham Library, in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am sure that will go well.