On June 10, 2014, delegates (“messengers”) to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest Protestant body in American, with around 16 million members) approved a landmark resolution on the issue of transgender people. The resolution, “On Transgender Identity,” makes the 15 individual points about transgender people shown in bolded print below. Each point is followed by text from the resolution which supports that point. Following these individual points is the whole of the resolution, which is clearly meant as a bulwark against “LGBT activists,” and “the jeopardizing of our First American freedoms.” Following that is a resolution that I would like to propose about the Southern Baptist Convention.
1. Transgender people are crazy. (“Transgender people perceive a conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity.” [Italics mine.])
2. Transgender people are delusional. (“Gender identity should be determined by biological sex, and not by one’s self-perception.”)
3. Transgender people are rejecting God’s will (“We affirm God’s original design to create two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female.” “We affirm distinctions in masculine and feminine roles as ordained by God.”)
4. Transgender people are rejecting God’s plan. (“We affirm that male and female designate the fundamental distinction that God has embedded in the very biology of the human race.”)
5. If transgender people would pray to Christ and read the Bible more, they would stop being transgender. (“We invite all transgender persons to trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the gospel.”)
6. Transgender people should not be protected by law. (“We call upon all judges and public officials to resist and oppose the efforts to treat gender identity as a protected class.” “We commit ourselves to pray for and support legislative and legal efforts to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and other legislation like it that would give gender identity the same legal protections as sex and race.”)
7. No law should ever, in any way, validate transgender people. (“We continue to oppose steadfastly all efforts by any court or state legislature to validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy.”)
8. It is immoral for a transgender person to alter their body to reflect their gender identity. (“We condemn efforts to alter one’s bodily identity [e.g., cross-sex hormone therapy, gender reassignment surgery] to bring it into line with one’s perceived gender identity.”)
9. Children need to be protected from the idea that transgender people are normal. (“We oppose all efforts by media and entertainment outlets and public schools to mainstream transgender identity in the eyes of our children.”)
10. Hate speech from the pulpit against transgender people should be practiced and protected. (“We call on Southern Baptist churches to commit to guard our religious liberty to teach and preach the Bible’s message about sex and gender.”)
11. All Christians should actively teach and preach against transgender people. (“Our love for the gospel and urgency for the Great Commission must include declaring what God’s word teaches about God’s design for us as male and female persons created in His image and for His glory.”)
12. Transgender people are welcome in church as long as they repent. (“We welcome them into our congregations as they repent and believe in Christ.”)
13. The Southern Baptist Convention loves transgender people. (“We love our transgender neighbors, [and] seek their good always …”)
14. People belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention aren’t transgender. (“We will teach and model for our own children the Bible’s message about manhood and womanhood.”)
15. It’s wrong for transgender people to be bullied. (“We condemn acts of abuse or bullying committed against [transgender people].”)
Here is the whole childish mess of the SBC’s anti-transgender resolution:
On Transgender Identity
WHEREAS, about 700,000 Americans perceive their gender identity to be at variance with the physical reality of their biological birth sex; and
WHEREAS, the American Psychiatric Association removed this condition (aka, “gender identity disorder”) from its list of disorders in 2013, substituting “gender identity disorder” with “gender dysphoria”; andWHEREAS, the American Psychiatric Association includes among its treatment options for gender dysphoria cross-sex hormone therapy, gender reassignment surgery, and social and legal transition to the desired gender; and
WHEREAS, news reports indicate that parents are allowing their children to undergo these “therapies”; and
WHEREAS, many LGBT activists have sought to normalize the transgender experience and to define gender according to one’s self-perception apart from biological anatomy; and
WHEREAS, the separation of one’s gender identity from the physical reality of their biological birth sex poses the harmful effect of engendering an understanding of sexuality and personhood that is fluid; and
WHEREAS, some public school systems are encouraging parents and teachers to affirm the feelings of children whose self-perception of their own gender is at variance with their biological sex; and
WHEREAS, some public school systems are allowing access to bathrooms and locker rooms according to a child’s self-perception of gender and not according to their biological sex; and
WHEREAS, the state of New Jersey prohibits licensed counselors from any attempt to change a child’s “gender expression”; and
WHEREAS, the United States Senate passed last year legislation titled the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would radically alter the idea of protected classes in American law, granting sexual orientation and gender identity the same employment protections as sex and race; and
WHEREAS, ENDA would make it illegal for certain businesses and organizations to fire or to refuse to hire or promote an employee because of his or her gender identity that is at variance with biological sex; and
WHEREAS, Although recent formulations of ENDA contain a religious exemption, they do not contain an exemption for rights of conscience or religious freedom to protect businesses with a religious character (such as religious bookstores, publishers, and parachurch ministries) and other businesses with religious owners or managers; and
WHEREAS, Such legislation jeopardizes our First Amendment freedoms by establishing in law the principle that disapproval of transgender behavior is a form of bigotry, equivalent to racism; and
WHEREAS, these cultural currents run counter to the biblical teaching that “Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation” (BF&M 2000, “III. Man”); now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10-12, 2014, recognize that all persons are created in God’s image and are made to glorify Him (Gen. 1:27; Isa. 43:7); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we recognize that the Fall of man into sin and God’s subsequent curse have introduced brokenness and futility into God’s good creation (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 8:20); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we extend love and compassion to those whose experience of this brokenness includes a perceived conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity (Rom. 8:22-23); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we affirm God’s good design that gender identity should be determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception—a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design (Eph. 4:17-18); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we affirm God’s original design to create two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female (Gen. 1:27; Matt. 19:4; Mk. 10:6); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we affirm that male and female designate the fundamental distinction that God has embedded in the very biology of the human race; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we affirm distinctions in masculine and feminine roles as ordained by God as part of the created order, and that those distinctions should find an echo in every human heart (Gen 2:18, 21-24; 1 Cor 11:7-9; Eph. 5:22-33; 1 Tim 2:12-14); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we invite all transgender persons to trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the gospel (1 Tim. 1:15-16); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we love our transgender neighbors, seek their good always, welcome them into our congregations as they repent and believe in Christ, and spur them on to love and good deeds in the name of Christ (2 Cor. 5:18-20; Gal. 5:14; Heb. 10:24); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we regard our transgender neighbors as image-bearers of almighty God and therefore that we condemn acts of abuse or bullying committed against them; and be if further
RESOLVED, That we condemn efforts to alter one’s bodily identity (e.g., cross-sex hormone therapy, gender reassignment surgery) to bring it into line with one’s perceived gender identity; and be if further
RESOLVED, That we continue to oppose steadfastly all efforts by any court or state legislature to validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy (Isa. 5:20); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we commit ourselves to pray for and support legislative and legal efforts to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and other legislation like it that would give gender identity the same legal protections as sex and race; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we call upon all judges and public officials to resist and oppose the efforts to treat gender identity as a protected class; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we oppose all efforts by media and entertainment outlets and public schools to mainstream transgender identity in the eyes of our children; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we call on Southern Baptist churches to commit to guard our religious liberty to teach and preach the Bible’s message about sex and gender; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we will to teach and model for our own children the Bible’s message about manhood and womanhood; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That our love for the gospel and urgency for the Great Commission must include declaring the whole counsel of God, including what God’s word teaches about God’s design for us as male and female persons created in His image and for His glory (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 20:27; Rom. 11:36).
Here is the resolution that I would like to propose about the Southern Baptist Convention:
On the Southern Baptist Convention
WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention continues to speak and act in ways that are profoundly contrary to the spirit and gospel of Jesus Christ; and
WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention, despite the cries of humanity, continues to foster great pain and suffering in the world by teaching and preaching the condemnation of entire populations of people; be it now
RESOLVED, That the Southern Baptist Convention is sad beyond expression, and offers a morally bereft and tragically perverted version of Christianity which should be soundly rejected by all those who claim to care for mankind and/or follow the teachings of Christ.
I and about 30 LGBTQ Christians wrote UNFAIR: Christians and the LGBT Question:
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