“But mommies are supposed to be girls”
Responding to this destruction of innocence and reality
Okay, before we get into the heavy stuff, you gotta see this. Call it your uplifting moment for the day. A dog, separated for 3 years reunites with his owner. We really don’t deserve dogs…
So good. Alright, now let’s dig in.
Call me old, but I’m not overly familiar with the news aggregation and discussion site Reddit. But a friend who does recently sent me this disheartening post from a woman who has “transitioned” female-to-male (FtM). My friend sent the screenshot image with the instructions, “Look at what this woman’s poor daughter said.”
One of the things I don’t care for about modern American culture is the obsession we have with imitating and deifying youth. Rather than lead, counsel, and disciple young people, an entire two generations of adults have become obsessed with obtaining the approval of the hip and happening crowd (I think my use of the terms “hip” and “happening” solidify my own position in the heart of all that is cool).
That said, I think in this case it is appropriate to point out that despite the author’s protests, it is not her daughter who is “just NOT getting it” when she testifies to the truth of nature and nature’s God. A mommy issupposed to be a girl. A mommy is always a girl. Although a person could take a mean-spirited tone or have a hateful approach in telling that truth, there’s nothing mean-spirited or hateful about telling the truth itself. That’s such an important point to remember – that for the Christian, truth and love are inseparable.
Satan will tempt those of us who are predisposed toward conflict to tell the truth with no love. He will tempt those who are predisposed toward compromise to show love without telling the truth. That’s why the Apostle Paul stresses that we be found, “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
It all reminds me of a video clip I saw several months ago, and felt motivated to write about because I know this girl. Here’s the video I’m talking about:
"This is kind of scary, because I only realized this a couple days ago and I've only come out to a few people. I'm a guy. I use he/they pronouns and I'm gonna go by Theo. I told my mom today. And I have to go home every day and be called my dead name, and have she/her pronouns used every time I go home. And no one realizes how hurtful it is. It's like a slap in the face. And I dyed my hair last night so I could feel more masculine, and I was afraid I was gonna get thrown out of the house."
Like I said, I know exactly who this is – not personally, but with an alarming specificity. Granted, central Indiana certainly isn’t a hotbed of revolutionary thought. It’s no San Francisco, Portland, or Seattle. But while the embrace of radical anti-science and sexual experimentation may be more common in those areas, its existence, impact, and influence are nearly universal.
She’s the conflicted, inconsistent adolescent with a kind – even if rebellious – heart, desperate for acceptance, frantically searching for her place in this world. The evidence of such a tormented and anxious mind is sprinkled everywhere in her small speech.
Heightened by the advent of social media, the pressure to stand out, to have “a story,” has never clamped down on young people as hard as it does today. Almost paradoxically, society demands conformity to its overriding expectation that kids exhibit a uniqueness, to the point where there is now rebellion in not being different or pushing the boundaries of truth and reality.
The quickest way to escape the unrelenting awkwardness and social anxiety of adolescence is to slip under the blanket of gender and sexual zealotry, where online mobs and tolerance brigades serve as pop culture scarecrows, staring down and stalking anyone who would dare utter an unsupportive or disobliging word.
There is safety for the insecure in this movement. You see it on this girl’s face right after she announces she’s a guy. The claim, utterly at odds with rationality, biology, and physiology, is met with thunderous applause, celebration, hugs, and cries of, “We love you, Theo.”
At that moment, maybe for the first time in her life, she belongs. She fits in. She’s accepted, she’s content, and maybe most importantly, she’s part of a movement now that that all of her pop culture icons and idols have told her exists on the “right side of history.”
As the video ended I sat there for a second with a single question reverberating in my mind: “How can we Christians reach this girl and the countless others like her?” If we are convinced of the Lordship of Christ, we have no choice but to acknowledge both the deadliness of the lies she’s embraced and the infinite worth she embodies in the eyes of her Creator. He has entrusted us to convey that message to her skeptical ears in a winsome manner.
But how? I’m glad you care enough to ask…