Tag Archives: human

What Lies Beneath, Part Three: Being Human

September 20th, 2023 | Dr. Charlie Self

I have written often about two of the crises afflicting our world. The first is anthropology: the meaning of being human, and within this, being male and female. The second is epistemology: the nature of knowing and the search for truth. We are in a moment where elites are demanding new definitions of humanness and upending any objective assessments of biological sex.

As a historian, I teach my students that many challenges and trends we think are new are really old ideas and practices dressed up in new clothing. Sexual license, sex role reversals in pagan worship and parties, and questioning moral traditions are all found in a variety of ancient civilizations.

But today’s gender anarchy is unprecedented in a couple of ways. One, we are living in the first moment of global history where relationships that do not produce the next generation are given equal standing in law and society. Homosexual behaviors and relationships are not new; however, the notion that they are equal to marriage is brand new. I am not advocating for intolerance or “going back to the good old days.” Permitting adults to organize their lives in a variety of ways is part of a pluralistic world. But toleration is not celebration and deeply held moral and religious convictions must not be ignored. Two, the metastasizing of genders is brand new and the idea that one can simply change their gender and/or sex is subverting biological reality, social convention, and the created order.

It is interesting that those who reject their biological sex and affirm one of a hundred new identities are called, “courageous” while those that leave the anarchy for their biological identity and choose heterosexual normativity are called, “brainwashed.”

What lies beneath this inverted and perverted thinking is a narcissistic and solipsistic ideology that makes each individual their own deity. Ironically, the young people “rebelling” against “cisgender normativity” are in fact conformists to social media contagion. Objective truth is thrown out the window. Centuries of evolutionary biology and scientific research are tossed aside and obscure studies from academic echo chambers are cited as evidence of a gender or sexual spectrum.

When I was pursuing my education (at two centers of radical thinking: the University of California at Santa Cruz and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA), “gender as a social construction” meant that we should not stereotype boys and girls, women and men, and make sure that all people have access and opportunity. Questioning traditional roles of men and women in society was NOT repudiating biological sex or promoting mutilation of minors. The most radical gay activists (with a few exceptions) of the 1970s-2000s did not deny their maleness or femaleness…they argued for the right to follow their attractions. For decades I have worked with all people of conscience to make a way for women and men of all cultures, classes, and lifestyles to have equal opportunities.

All this progress is being subverted by gender anarchists bent on destroying any objective truth about the human condition. Thoughtful people must NOT be insensitive to true body dysphoria and the deep emotional needs of emerging adults. There is no place for bullying and being unkind to anyone. We must, however, truly follow the science, the wisdom of the ages, and common sense and reaffirm that:

Most people are biologically male or biologically female.
Men and women have more in common that what is disparate, so there is a spectrum of personalities and proclivities, while each person remains male or female.
We must not allow any medical procedures on minors that alter chemistry or permanently destroy healthy body parts.
We must expand and improve psychiatric care for those struggling in their bodies.
We must reaffirm the parental authority vis a vis the educational systems, social media, and other pressures calling for children to reject their essential identity.
Adults have the right to order their lives and relationships in a variety of ways free from fear.
Disagreement on ideas and moral choices is not intolerance, and the deeply held ethical and religious beliefs of billions of people must be considered as we aim for a free and virtuous society.

Let’s walk in kindness, love, and the pursuit of truth in the company of friends

Being Human: Ancient Wisdom and Eternal Hope, Part 1

April 12th, 2023 | Dr. Charlie Self

Until the last few decades, all civilizations and religious traditions affirmed the uniqueness of humankind and biological male and female identity. Marriage was reserved for relationships that (at least potentially) produced the next generation and secured the common good of the tribe or nation. Alongside this common heritage have been all kinds of permitted (and even religious) sexual behaviors, but the primacy of identity and family continuity were enshrined in law and tradition.

We are in the midst of post-rational, post-empirical, and post-human subversions of the created order. Subjective notions of “gender identity” trump all science and any questioning of another’s feelings leads to castigation and accusations of fomenting violence. Toleration is a one-way street with the purveyors of anarchism and nihilism, as they are dedicated to the complete subversion of the biological family and silencing of “cisgender” and “heteronormative” worldviews.

A trans-identifying person kills three adults and three children at a private school in Nashville, TN. Instead of universal mourning and normal investigations, advocates are making the perpetrator the victim and suppressing the manifesto behind this horrific attack. This is a complete inversion of the truth. We are now celebrating violence in the name of pseudo-historical oppressions.

Advocates for unlimited gender identities are also deliberately undermining the authority and influence of the biological and adoptive family structure. Using the public education system and social media, they assist struggling children and young adults with concealing their explorations from parents. Even worse, parents that will not affirm gender transitions are marked as abusive and these radicals want the state to remove transitioning children from their homes!

How did we get here? It is one thing to tolerate consenting private adult behaviors in a pluralistic society. From the 1970s to the 1990s, this was the major demand of advocates for alternative lifestyles. As each accommodation was met, more demands emerged, culminating in 2015, when the Supreme Court affirmed the right of monogamous gay marriage. OK, finally all people are now equal before the law, right? Wrong! Suddenly scores of identities and new victims are created out of whole cloth, and previous psychological disorders are now causes for celebration and consequential physical mutilation.

Until recently, gender dysphoria was a psychological disorder affecting less than one-half of one-percent of the population. Today, this has metastized to 10-20% of adolescents. The social pressure to “explore” has overtaken normal development where most outgrow any confusion. The notion that a child barely able to dress themselves can decide to change identities is utterly insane – yet this is being “affirmed” by elites, and any restrictions on exposing children to sexual content are regarding as fascist and “book burning.”

What do rational and religious people do in this moment? In the next article, I will propose compassionate and wise pathways forward. Here are some first thoughts toward a recovery of “normal.”

First, there is no place for bullying, intolerance, and violence as we affirm our convictions. Genuine liberty means living with our differences, not shutting down debate.

Second, toleration is not always affirmation. People of varying philosophical, political, and religious views can be good neighbors, even friends.

Third, defending the “normal” includes reminding the world that human identity, biological sex, and the importance of family are values shared by billions, not just White Christians in the USA.

Fourth, religious communities must exemplify love and justice and empower all women and men toward their full identity, purpose, and contributions to our world.

Fifth, we must build a coalition for protecting vulnerable children and adolescents from sexual materials that should only be for adults (and even then, the scourge of addiction to pornography is ignored by the radicals). Drag shows, sexualized books, school curricula, and social media content must not triumph over parental influence and the social good. We CAN teach kindness and toleration without inviting the vulnerable to “explore” what should only be adult decisions.

Sixth, we must weather the attacks and realize that the adversaries of what is good will ultimately devour themselves. We are seeing this as very liberal voices are being castigated for affirming female identity and resisting the trans invasion of bathrooms, private places, competitive sports, and other arenas that women have fought for parity with men.

Seventh, and most important: We must articulate a vision of being human that is liberating, rooted in virtue, and leads to flourishing for persons and communities. The gender debates are obscuring serious issues of economic and racial justice that need attention.

Friends, we are not bigoted, crazy, irrational, intolerant, or on the wrong side of history as we desire clarity concerning human identity, biological sex, and moral virtue. We now turn to articulating the beauty and wisdom of “normal.”

Life and Death

February 11th, 2019 | Dr. Charlie Self

Life and Death.
In my posts, I aim for love, kindness and thoughtfulness. I have convictions, but I value hearing all sides and discovering some common good convergences. I will work hard to avoid personal attacks while affirming the right to dissent on ideas.
But.

Recent abortion laws enacted or proposed represent a clear and present danger to vulnerable life. The occasional tragic moral choice is one thing but discussing the fate of a viable person being born is inhumane and morally repugnant.

I oppose abortion in principle; however, the New York and Virginia laws move from President Clinton’s, “safe, legal and rare (and he opposed partial-birth infanticide)” to celebrating the destruction of a human life.

Some progressives celebrate science when speaking of climate change or evolution but ignore it completely when abortion or infanticide are mentioned. Becoming the defenders of the weak and vulnerable in and out of the womb will help validate other compassionate concerns.
When exceptions become the rule, finding common first principles becomes challenging and the loudest voices win over sanity and truth. We can do better than this.

Friends of conscience of all political persuasions, please pray, reflect and humbly love every person from conception to coronation.

The Issue of our Day: Human Identity and Dignity

July 31st, 2017 | Dr. Charlie Self

Human identity and dignity is the central issue of our day. Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22 frame our design and destiny:

The image/likeness of the Triune God;

Stewards of Creation, cultivating the world and welcoming and next generation;
Male and Female equally human – and single or married – called to worship and work;
From the Garden to the New Jerusalem, God desires to dwell with us and for us to delight in Divine glory and offer the fruit of our creativity.

And this dignity and identity is sealed forever by our Immanuel, the With-Us-God, Jesus our Lord. His Incarnation, Life, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Return…are all as a fully human being who is God and would rather die than life without us.

Let’s be fully Pro-Life, from conception to coronation, caring for the vulnerable, cultivating capacity and cooperating for good.

What it means to be human – male and female- is the issue of our day.