Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2012 Christmas address to the Roman Curia, warned against what is called “Gender theory.” The acceptance of such theories defies both God and nature.
Pope Benedict warned regarding gender theory, “According to this philosophy, gender is no longer a given element of nature that a man has to accept and personally makes sense of it; [rather] it is a social role that we choose for ourselves, while in the past it was chosen for us by society.”
In other words, those who promote gender theory falsely claim there was never any such thing as a masculine nature or a feminine nature that defines us since conception. Rather society chose these gender roles for us. Gender is not something that is found inside of man as part of his essence, but rather, is imposed from the outside. We are now at the point where the individual decides these gender roles for himself.
“The profound falsehood of this theory, and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious,” says Benedict. “People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but they make for themselves.”
The Pope then appeals to Genesis.
“According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature. This duality [male and female] is an essential aspect of what being human is all about, as ordained by God. This very duality as something given is what is now disputed.”
Benedict goes on to lament, “The words of the creation account: ‘male and female he created them’ (Gen 1:27) no longer apply. No, what applies now is this: it was not God who created them male and female – hitherto society did this, now we decide for ourselves. Man and woman as created realities no longer exist. Man calls his nature into question. From now on he is merely spirit and will.”
This is a key point. Truth and reality are no longer centered on man’s nature. Rather, truth and reality are now centered on man’s will. If man wills to choose his gender, or act contrary to his gender, he must be free to do so. Man chooses his own false “reality.”
Pope Benedict then explains the disastrous effects wrought on the family.
“But if there is no pre-ordained duality of man and woman in creation, then neither is the family any longer a reality established by creation.”
Thus the family as God established, which is father, mother and children, can also be changed by human will. Man will believe he can define the family any way he wants.
Pope Benedict then drives home the point: Gender theory is ultimately a revolt against God and man. “When the freedom to be creative become the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God … When God is denied, human dignity also disappears.”
The New Bullies
The dignity of man is thus “stripped” when transgenderism becomes an accepted component of society. In the United States and elsewhere there are parents who encourage young children to choose their own gender, encourage boys to adopt girls’ clothes and mannerisms, and vice versa. Our children are also exposed to transgender men using girls’ bathrooms, and worse.
One of many examples: At Hillsboro High School in Missouri, early September 2015, a homosexual male student started to wear a wig and skirt, claimed to be female, called himself “Lila” and insisted on using the girls’ locker room.
The girls were rightly horrified. Hundreds of students walked out in protest. The boy’s response was to accuse these normal girls of bigotry.
“They are claiming that they’re uncomfortable,” said “Lila” to a local TV station, “I don’t believe for a second that they are. I think this is pure and simple bigotry. I wasn’t hurting anyone and I didn’t want to feel segregated out.”
Predictably, the politically correct School Administration sided with the homosexual boy, who eventually dropped gym class, but continues to use the girls’ bathroom.
Worse, liberals across the United States defend “Lila” and denounce his classmates’ natural reaction. This and worse is what’s in store with the increased public acceptance of “transgenderism.”
Pope Benedict’s observation is correct. When we defy nature, the Maker is necessarily denied, and man too is ultimately “stripped of his dignity as a creature of God,” and loyal Christians will be mocked and persecuted.
