This week one of our elders sent me an article that started with the following verse, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey…” Isaiah 59:14-15a (ESV). It may be said that one of the most troublesome topics in our culture today is in the area of sexuality. While all of us have stumbled in many ways (James 3:2), discussion around sexual preference and identity can be particularly difficult. Many of us have people we deeply care about who have made choices or are asking questions that go counter to God’s plan to bless His creation.
If you’ve been able to have a civil discussion about the top
ic of gender identity “in the public squares”, you know that the subject is intertwined with emotion, politics, and (supposedly) solid scientific studies. It’s easy to “stumble” in th
e swirling fog of all these factors…
A major new report, published today in the journal The New Atlantis, challenges the leading narratives that the media has pushed regarding the science behind sexual orientation and gender identity. “Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences” is co-authored by two of the nation’s leading scholars on mental health and sexuality, Dr. Lawrence Mayer and Dr. Paul McHugh. Mayer is a scholar-in-residence in the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.
The major takeaway, as the editor of the journal explains, is that “some of the most frequently heard claims about sexuality and gender are not supported by scientific evidence.”
- The belief that sexual orientation is an innate, biologically fixed human property—that people are ‘born that way’—is not supported by scientific evidence.
- Likewise, the belief that gender identity is an innate, fixed human property independent of biological sex—that a person might be a ‘man trapped in a woman’s body’ or ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’—is not supported by scientific evidence.
- Only a minority of children who express gender-atypical thoughts or behavior will continue to do so into adolescence or adulthood. There is no evidence that all such children should be encouraged to become transgender, much less subjected to hormone treatments or surgery.
- Non-heterosexual and transgender people have higher rates of mental health problems (anxiety, depression, suicide), as well as behav
ioral and social problems (substance abuse, intimate partner violence), than the general population. Discrimination alone does not account for the entire disparity.
While people all around us stumble from here to there looking for answers to the questions about their sexuality, God’s Word says – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. This Sunday we’ll see reasons why God intended us to have clear understanding about all aspects of our identity, including our sexuality.
For those of you who bring your children to our services, (which I encourage), I intend to be tasteful and will focus on what the Bible says on this issue. I will use Biblical language and focus on the principles found in the creation account found in Genesis 1-3.
If you’d like more info on this article, I encourage you to watch the short video found at www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/part-one-sexual-orientation-sexuality-and-gender.
Blessings,
Kurt