Who Is Nex Benedict?

Today, a friend posted an article on Threads that described the brutal beating of a student by three older girls. The event happened in the bathroom of an Oklahoma high school. The three girls beat the student before a teacher stopped it. The school did not call an ambulance even though the student could not walk independently after the incident. The student’s grandmother took them to the hospital, and they were treated and released. The next day, they returned to the hospital, where Nex Benedict died. This event happened on February seventh and eighth.

If it wasn’t obvious, I used the pronouns they/them to describe the student. This is because the student happened to be non-binary. They were assigned female at birth but did not identify either way; hence, they were non-binary.

Hate Crime or Not?

No one yet knows the cause of the act, but three older girls beating another student is not acceptable. Especially when the act ended in the death of the younger student, it is a known fact that being anything other than cisgender has been a cause for violence, and that may end up being the cause in this case. It is speculation, and only a thorough investigation will determine the cause.

What is known is that the school officials failed Nex on several fronts. Nex couldn’t walk to the nurse’s station by themselves, yet the school did not call an ambulance for the student. Nex’s grandmother took them to the hospital.  The SRO did not respond to the incident until called to the hospital to take a statement.

Transgender Bias

I looked on Google, and the only mainstream media that shows a story on the brutal attack was The Independent., a UK newspaper. Other than this, only newspapers associated with the LGBTQIA+ community or the Cherokee Nation, which Nex’s family was part of or a local newspaper had any interest.  On the other hand, when the shooter at Joel Osteen’s church was mistakenly identified as a member of the trans community, it was plastered all over the mainstream media.

The other news outlets that mention the death deadnamed the student. A deadname is the birth name that a transgender person does not identify with. Most often, the deadname is a direct reference to their birth gender, and it is considered disrespectful to call them by that name once they declare their preferred name. Many people who are anti-trans will willfully deadname a transgender person, claiming that they were born a particular sex, and calling yourself by a name or a pronoun meant for the other gender is not going to change that.  Many of these people also claim to be Christian, yet I doubt they have a problem calling the apostle Paul by his deadname of Saul.

Whether the murder of Nex was motivated by their gender identification or not, this crime is unacceptable. Make no mistake, this beating was intentional. And with three against one, the fight was unfair. It was a violent beating that resulted in death. Manslaughter or murder, by legal definition, is determined by premeditation. However, either way, it was vicious and violent. If it is determined by investigation that Nex’s gender identification was the reason, then it should be classified as murder and as a hate crime.

Where was the Media Coverage?

My question is, why has this not made national news? Again, gender identity aside, this was a violent, brutal beating by high school students. This should have people shouting from the rooftops for justice for the student who died. Yet, it has been 13 days since the incident and is not much more than a footnote. There is no indication that the autopsy revealed any other cause for their death other than the beating. No information at all.

We have become desensitized to violence and death. In the first 45 days of this year, we have had 49 mass shootings.  Yet, we still do not have any common-sense gun reform. When will it end? When will we as a country take human lives at face value and give each person the respect they deserve?

Christian Nationalism

Why must we insist that people conform to our ideals?  America is a great melting pot of people from all countries, backgrounds, and faiths, and we used to pride ourselves in that. Now, we have politicians insisting that the entire country conform to their religious beliefs. They ignore the Constitution except for the Second Amendment and the First Amendment if the freedom of speech meets their ideals and the freedom of religion is Christian.

These same people will demand that laws reflect their view of Christianity. We have people trying to make America an authoritarian country. They incited people to riot and try to overthrow a valid election to make sure their way of thinking remained the law of the land.

Suppose anyone dares challenge the notion that America is not the greatest country in the world, that there is room for everyone, and that there is room for improvement. In that case, we deem them as Liberals, Socialists, and anti-American. Nationalism is the new patriotism. Only those who believe as they do get called patriots.  The rest are free to leave the country.

America is Not a Christian Nation

America is not now and has never been a Christian nation. It is a nation of various beliefs and ideologies. The thing now is that there are enough people that are non-white, non-Anglo descent that those who are still in that class are scared they will lose control. And that scares them that they can’t control things. Therefore, they are rushing to take away others’ rights while they can, to maintain the status quo.

We have reversed a woman’s right to her own body. Many states have all but outlawed abortion for any reason…and they are still pushing to take away all rights. Laws prohibit talk of any family except man/woman in schools. We ban books that don’t conform to their ideology. They have taken away rights and demonized the LGBTQIA+ community. Some laws knowingly discriminate against that community (I am looking at you, Florida and Tennessee).

They call you Woke if you believe that America was built on the tenets that some people were less than human and deserved to be enslaved. And that those White framers benefited from the enslavement. They whitewash that history or claim that since we no longer have slavery, the playing field is now even. Even though some people still get overlooked, and others have an advantage because they were born white. And much of this is done in the name of Christianity. Even though Jesus never mentioned homosexuality or abortion.

Jesus or Paul, Who is Right?

They overlook the Words in Red when it mentions taking care of the foreigner or feeding the poor and housing the homeless but still declares the literal interpretation of the Bible when it mentions in the Old Testament the laws for Jews forbidding the raping of men by men, claiming that this meant homosexuality. They give more credence to the words of Paul, formally Saul, who persecuted Christians than to the words of the Savior they claim to follow.

Two men marrying do not affect me in any way. A person believing that even though they have female genitalia, they feel like a man inside and desire to live as a man does not hurt my feelings. A woman told her pregnancy was not viable, and she might die if she carried to term. If she decides that her life is not worth the risk and terminates the pregnancy, I believe she has made the right decision for her.

Differing Beliefs

If a person is Muslim and believes that Allah is the one true God, or if a person does not believe in God at all, or if they believe the Spaghetti Monster is their God, then it does not bother me….Unless they decide I must also believe the way they do, and they start making laws that demand I follow their ideological beliefs. Then, that infringes on my life and my freedoms.

I can believe that homosexuality is right (or wrong) and still not have to be homosexual myself.  Someone can believe in Sharia law and still be equal to me, who doesn’t. A woman can have an abortion if she feels it necessary, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with her or stop her from having one if I don’t agree. Just because I believe in a person’s right to be who they are does not require my approval or disapproval.

My Body, My Choice

One of the most significant disparities in these debates is this: When COVID-19 first came about, many people opposed mandatory immunizations, and they screamed, “My Body, My Choice.” For years, women claimed this same mantra concerning Abortion laws, but we ignored them. You can’t believe you have the right to refuse mandatory immunizations yet refuse a woman’s right to her own body concerning abortion. These people were saying that the government didn’t have the right to force them to take a shot that might protect them and thousands of others from contracting a deadly virus. Yet these are the same people who will demand that the government prohibit a woman from terminating a pregnancy. This is another form of slavery. When someone else controls your body, you are their slave.

Freedom of Religion, as Long as You Are Christian

Many have claimed that the Bible prohibits abortion based on their interpretation of certain Bible verses.  They have the right to believe that way. They don’t have the right to demand that I think that way. More importantly, they don’t have the right to make laws based on their religious beliefs that affect another person’s life and belief system.

The same goes for any law that adversely affects another person’s life.  In America, we have the freedom to believe and act as we desire, so long as it does not infringe upon another’s rights or harm another person. A trans person living their life as they wish doesn’t infringe on my rights, and it does me no harm.

Science has proven that a fetus is not viable until about 16 weeks. For years, most people accepted it as accurate. Doctors rarely performed an abortion after that time except for the non-viability of the fetus or the health of the mother being at risk. It was the law of the land.

However, many zealots had the desire to control another person’s body. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, forcing women to endanger their lives or break the law of their state to obtain needed medical care. All in the name of God.