Robert Griffith | 8 March 2023
Robert Griffith
8 March 2023
Having just been bombarded in every news bulletin for weeks with the recent international World Pride celebrations in Australia, six letters have been in our face thousands of times: LGBTIQ. If you are like me you praise God for the remote control and simply press the mute button until another news bulletin follows. However, we cannot really escape the reality around us.
These six letters have an ever-growing cultural influence – and that influence is only growing stronger. So in an attempt to wrestle with this loud voice in our modern world, I want to concentrate on the “T” in today’s blog. My desire is that I would treat everyone I am speaking to and about with the utmost respect, whilst being truthful when discussing the findings of science and the Bible.
Former head psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Hospital and current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Paul R. McHugh has clearly stated many times that changing one’s sex is “biologically unachievable,” and those who advocate for sexual reassignment surgery are helping to spread mental illness.
In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal in 2015, McHugh – the author of six books and at least 125 peer-reviewed medical articles – made his points very clearly. He clarified that gender-reassignment surgery is not a genuine possibility.
He also discussed recent research that revealed the suicide rate among transgendered individuals who underwent gender reassignment surgery was 20 times higher than that of non-transgender individuals. We should all be extremely saddened by that.
Dr. McHugh said, “Sex change is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is a civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder.”
According to Dr. Andrew Walker of the Gospel Coalition:
“God distinguished between males and females. Contrary to common misconceptions, there is no continuum along which some men are more like women than others, and vice versa. At their core, males and females are fundamentally different from one another. Our chromosomes vary from one another. The way our minds work varies. Our tones are distinctive. Different physical types exist among us. Our physical capacities vary. We have various reproductive mechanisms. Our bodies are built and designed for different things, and these differences reflect the differences in God’s creative intent for humankind. It is philosophically impossible for a man to turn into a physical woman or a physical woman to turn into a man because men and women are distinct from one another. Those who assert otherwise are peddling human nature fantasy. In reality, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support the idea that someone is imprisoned in the incorrect body.”
We live in a sin-damaged, deceived, fallen world, which is why we become perplexed about all this. We are born with physical, mental, emotional and psychological disorders. We are all broken in different ways from birth. As for working with those who are truly struggling with gender dysphoria, Christians are called upon to be people of compassion and grace. Helping those with gender confusion usually involves a slow process of bringing someone’s perceived gender identity back into conformity with their biological sex.
Working with those who have gender dysphoria means having great doses of patience, love and genuine empathy. Years of psychological, social, and spiritual valleys are possible. We need Christians to stand by these people in good times and bad, to support one another on the path to true inner healing, which can only come from Jesus.
At the same time, we need to never accept or embrace the lies which masquerade as ‘new research’ or ‘enlightened wisdom.’ The vast majority of people who now struggle with their sexual identity are the victims of those lies. They has been convinced to embrace a new reality which simply does not exist. Is there any wonder they are confused, angry and feeling isolated and misunderstood?
Those perpetrating these lies need our strongest criticism and exposure. Those who have believed their lies need our compassion, patience and love.
