Very interesting read. Do you think an identity vacuum could also apply, rather than a crisis? As in, the identity becomes the answer to a sudden self-questioning?
Thank you for this thoughtful, concise analysis of what seems to drive the surge in trans identity among youth in the past couple of decades. Existential crises have surely existed before, but today, thanks to successful activism, trans identity is a ubiquitously available answer to such experiences.
While I (as a lifelong atheist/agnostic) don't agree with your conclusion that one must turn to traditional theistic religion to redirect one's spiritual quest, I fully concur with your analysis that gender identity ideology fills a void that can alternatively (and less harmfully) be filled by another religion. Richard Dawkins, as you surely know, has suggested this as well, albeit without coming to the same conclusion.
Those who are not inclined to convert to a traditional religion or are unable to believe in God may have a harder time figuring out how to find meaning and community. That is the spiritual challenge of the atheist. Eastern philosophy seems like the most viable alternative, and meditation groups are the closest one might come in finding the community a church might provide. I don't have an answer and can't claim to have found a clear path myself, and it is possible that the psychological profile of those who do fall for gender identity ideology means that they would be more open to traditional religious beliefs than I could ever be.
...you're projecting. you've had your own sudden revelation and are trying to then simplify and generalize the experiences of other trans people by projecting your own experience onto them.
i'm technically trans. i am genderfluid. have been since 13. it was nothing special when i realized i was genderfluid. i learned the word and went, "huh, that's how i feel. okay." that's it.
many people who have gender dysphoria struggle with the symptoms of feeling out of place, of their body not feeling right, for *years*.
your claims are illogical and are erasing nuance. it is objectively false to say that all or most trans experiences are like *yours* when yours was based on a fetish, not actual gender dysphoria. you are the outlier. your experience is not the norm.
the world is imperfect--sometimes things go wrong in the womb, its why birth defects happen. god still put your soul in your mother's womb. and for some people, their body doesn't develop to match their soul, so it is their journey to make themselves into what god designed for them. to transition and be their authentic self.
every human life is made in the image of god. including trans people. god created a world filled with diversity and beauty, full of different cultures and thoughts and art and philosophy. trans people are a part of this beauty. they show that it is the soul that matters, not the physical body--for our body is temporary. it is our mortal vessel. it is flawed. but without our flaws, are we truly human?
and autistic people are just better at pattern recognition than allistics. they also feel more intensely--this is a biological fact. labels like genderfluid are just terms used to describe our internal world and what we feel. and some people end up needing to change their body to fit how they feel. no different than a woman choosing to have short or long hair, a man choosing to shave, a woman getting a breast reduction or enlargement.
“For the Lord does not see as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
— 1 Samuel 16:7
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
— Galatians 3:28
“The body is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable... It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
Very interesting read. Do you think an identity vacuum could also apply, rather than a crisis? As in, the identity becomes the answer to a sudden self-questioning?
Yes, I think that’s a good point. An identity vacuum is in a way a crisis of its own kind.
Excellent, thank you
Thank you for this thoughtful, concise analysis of what seems to drive the surge in trans identity among youth in the past couple of decades. Existential crises have surely existed before, but today, thanks to successful activism, trans identity is a ubiquitously available answer to such experiences.
While I (as a lifelong atheist/agnostic) don't agree with your conclusion that one must turn to traditional theistic religion to redirect one's spiritual quest, I fully concur with your analysis that gender identity ideology fills a void that can alternatively (and less harmfully) be filled by another religion. Richard Dawkins, as you surely know, has suggested this as well, albeit without coming to the same conclusion.
Those who are not inclined to convert to a traditional religion or are unable to believe in God may have a harder time figuring out how to find meaning and community. That is the spiritual challenge of the atheist. Eastern philosophy seems like the most viable alternative, and meditation groups are the closest one might come in finding the community a church might provide. I don't have an answer and can't claim to have found a clear path myself, and it is possible that the psychological profile of those who do fall for gender identity ideology means that they would be more open to traditional religious beliefs than I could ever be.
...you're projecting. you've had your own sudden revelation and are trying to then simplify and generalize the experiences of other trans people by projecting your own experience onto them.
i'm technically trans. i am genderfluid. have been since 13. it was nothing special when i realized i was genderfluid. i learned the word and went, "huh, that's how i feel. okay." that's it.
many people who have gender dysphoria struggle with the symptoms of feeling out of place, of their body not feeling right, for *years*.
your claims are illogical and are erasing nuance. it is objectively false to say that all or most trans experiences are like *yours* when yours was based on a fetish, not actual gender dysphoria. you are the outlier. your experience is not the norm.
the world is imperfect--sometimes things go wrong in the womb, its why birth defects happen. god still put your soul in your mother's womb. and for some people, their body doesn't develop to match their soul, so it is their journey to make themselves into what god designed for them. to transition and be their authentic self.
every human life is made in the image of god. including trans people. god created a world filled with diversity and beauty, full of different cultures and thoughts and art and philosophy. trans people are a part of this beauty. they show that it is the soul that matters, not the physical body--for our body is temporary. it is our mortal vessel. it is flawed. but without our flaws, are we truly human?
and autistic people are just better at pattern recognition than allistics. they also feel more intensely--this is a biological fact. labels like genderfluid are just terms used to describe our internal world and what we feel. and some people end up needing to change their body to fit how they feel. no different than a woman choosing to have short or long hair, a man choosing to shave, a woman getting a breast reduction or enlargement.
“For the Lord does not see as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
— 1 Samuel 16:7
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
— Galatians 3:28
“The body is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable... It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:42–44