Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Unsystematic Theology

Home
Progressive Christian
Critical Thoughts on Russell Moore’s “The Real Meaning of Transgender Bathrooms”

Critical Thoughts on Russell Moore’s “The Real Meaning of Transgender Bathrooms”

Last updated on: May 13, 2016 at 2:46 pm by Kyle Roberts

Critical Thoughts on Russell Moore’s “The Real Meaning of Transgender Bathrooms” 2016-05-13T14:46:39-05:00 Kyle Roberts

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Russell Moore just wrote an irresponsible article called, “The Real Meaning of Transgender Bathrooms.”

Public Domain, via WikiCommons

Moore, a Southern Baptist theologian and head of that denomination’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, has garnered a lot of attention recently for his hard-hitting criticisms of Donald Trump. In turn, Trump called Moore a “nasty guy.”

But as progressive-minded as Moore can be on some issues and as willing as he can be to take stands that may not be popular with certain factions of his constituency, on other issues he is just as fundamentalist as, well, most fundamentalists these days.

Case in point: His article published today in response to the guidelines and guidance provided by Departments of Justice and Education regarding non-discrimination policies for transgender persons, particularly around issue of restroom access. The Obama administration says transgender persons should be able to use the bathroom which corresponds to the gender/sex with which they identify, without discrimination and unequal treatment.

That seems so logical, so simple, so humane. It’s clearly the best, easiest, most direct solution to the conflict. But it’s also based on the premise that transgender identity is a real thing.

Here’s where Moore comes in.

For Moore, the administration’s guidance and guidelines guidance doesn’t address the problem; it is the problem. The “real meaning” of this development, Moore says, is that (to paraphrase him) a perverted culture has effectively warped the “biblical view” of sexuality and continues its relentless attacks against the clear-cut, obvious, universal, fact of binary sexual difference between males and females. The duality of male/female is absolutely clear to Moore, and–according to Moore–is also clear to everyone else, too.

They just won’t admit the truth.

Moore says,

The state here wishes to use its coercive power not simply to stop mistreatment of people but to rescript the most basic human intuitions about humanity as male and female. How, after all, does one win a culture war against one of the most basic facts of science and life: that there are two sexes?

And later,

Every human being knows that there are important, and necessary, differences between men and women. Without such recognition, women are harmed and men are coarsened.

And in his conclusion:

The truth is that the male/female sex difference is objectively real. Biological science is built off of this reality.

But anyone who has ever done more than a few minutes of research knows that while there are differences between men and women, the many facets and varieties of transgender identity as well as the real phenomena of intersex persons complicates the picture very quickly. For a serious theological engagement with intersex see Megan DeFranza’s Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God.

The simplistic “male/female binary” of which Moore speaks simply does not hold up for everyone. For most people? Sure. But it’s the minority that should especially concern us here. To disregard the very real experience of that minority as not “objectively real” and to shade the complexities and varieties of sexual identity as the consequence of cultural perversion is irresponsible and dangerous.

It’s dangerous because transgender persons, who are subject to bullying, are also susceptible to suicide. As this article points out, one recent (Feb. 2016) scientific study revealed there to be a causal relationship between higher rates of “suicidality” and “access to bathrooms and campus housing” in college students.

This is no light matter. When highly regarded Christian leaders claim that the source of gender dysphoria is our culture’s perversion of or disregard for God’s creational “binary” of male/female, they contribute to the shaming of people whose identity needs to be addressed in healthier and more scientifically responsible ways. And when discrimination is not only encouraged but inscribed into policy, you have the recipe for continued, systemic oppression of already very vulnerable people.

Moore also says this:

The church must teach God’s good creation design of male and female, yes. But, beyond that, the church should teach a Christian anthropology that shows us that living within creation limits is never easy for anyone. We are all seeking to transcend our limits in various ways. The way of discipleship is to settle on the fact that we serve a God who knows more about humanity, and more about us personally, than we know about ourselves.

I agree with Moore’s point about recognizing our limits. I’m also fine with discipleship involving the recognition that God knows more about us than we know about ourselves.

But part of being humble about what we can and can’t know requires acknowledging that we simply can’t get everything we need to know about the world and about humanity from the Bible. The Bible just isn’t a science textbook, whether about cosmology or human biology.

The emotional and physical health and well-being of transgender persons demands that we admit that.

Previous Post

May 12, 2016

"When Will Your Theology Stop Changing?"

Next Post

May 17, 2016 How to Be Liberated from Elitism (Jean Vanier)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2020 November 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 December 2018 July 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz