Wow.
From the often infuriating comments on this CBC article about a transgendered teacher getting fired by the Catholic School Board comes the best argument from a religious standpoint that I have yet seen on the issue:
I don't understand how the Catholic Church can take this stance, to be honest. We live in a fallen world. Because of that, children are born with all sorts of problems-- not as God intended, but because of Man's sin. How is transgenderism any different than cleft palate, missing limbs, blindness, heart defects, or schizophrenia (which runs in families)? God has given us the science to treat some of these problems so these individuals could live better lives.
Was Jesus wrong to heal the man born with a withered hand?
If not, why is it wrong to heal a person born into this fallen world with the wrong set of sexual organs? And how is a person correcting this result of our fallen world somehow living a sinful lifestyle just for doing this one thing, to be who he really is, in alignment with the spirit God placed into his imperfect body?
The Catholic Church's stance on this doesn't align with scriptures, for we know the world is imperfect because of Man's sin, not because of God's will. This isn't a question of morality, but of the leadership of the Catholic Church assuming transgenderism has to be some sort of a blot on God's character. Their faith is weak and they cannot see the truth. There is no challenge to God's omnipotence in recognising transgenderism as a genuine medical condition or in repairing the condition. If they have issues, it is because their concept of God is too small.
In response to the numerous commenters who posted stuff along the lines of "why does he want to teach in the Catholic School Board if he's gay? Or why talk about it with his students?":
1. He's not gay. He's transgendered. That means his brain is PHYSICALLY STRUCTURED as one gender, which does not match the way his sexual organs are PHYSICALLY STRUCTURED. Sexual orientation is determined by the physical structure of a different part of the brain and is, in this case, irrelevant.
2. Because sometime, somewhere in that school board, a student IS going to discover that they were born in a way that does not conform to the heteronormative roles dictated by their faith, and that child will suffer far less mental, emotional, and physical damage if they have a teacher to whom they can turn who they know will understand at least some of what they're going through.
I don't understand how the Catholic Church can take this stance, to be honest. We live in a fallen world. Because of that, children are born with all sorts of problems-- not as God intended, but because of Man's sin. How is transgenderism any different than cleft palate, missing limbs, blindness, heart defects, or schizophrenia (which runs in families)? God has given us the science to treat some of these problems so these individuals could live better lives.
Was Jesus wrong to heal the man born with a withered hand?
If not, why is it wrong to heal a person born into this fallen world with the wrong set of sexual organs? And how is a person correcting this result of our fallen world somehow living a sinful lifestyle just for doing this one thing, to be who he really is, in alignment with the spirit God placed into his imperfect body?
The Catholic Church's stance on this doesn't align with scriptures, for we know the world is imperfect because of Man's sin, not because of God's will. This isn't a question of morality, but of the leadership of the Catholic Church assuming transgenderism has to be some sort of a blot on God's character. Their faith is weak and they cannot see the truth. There is no challenge to God's omnipotence in recognising transgenderism as a genuine medical condition or in repairing the condition. If they have issues, it is because their concept of God is too small.
In response to the numerous commenters who posted stuff along the lines of "why does he want to teach in the Catholic School Board if he's gay? Or why talk about it with his students?":
1. He's not gay. He's transgendered. That means his brain is PHYSICALLY STRUCTURED as one gender, which does not match the way his sexual organs are PHYSICALLY STRUCTURED. Sexual orientation is determined by the physical structure of a different part of the brain and is, in this case, irrelevant.
2. Because sometime, somewhere in that school board, a student IS going to discover that they were born in a way that does not conform to the heteronormative roles dictated by their faith, and that child will suffer far less mental, emotional, and physical damage if they have a teacher to whom they can turn who they know will understand at least some of what they're going through.