I am watching Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s reality show. I\u2019m addicted to reality shows and I really am fascinated with this story. For a lot of reasons, the biggest being that this issue isn\u2019t going away and I want to know how to deal with it as a Catholic evangelist. Pretending it\u2019s not happening, that the world thinks this is good or turning our backs on people with transgender issues isn\u2019t an option in my opinion. Neither is beating them over the head with our faith. That\u2019s very hard, I understand that because I have a son who is now an adult living his own life on his own terms and even though it isn\u2019t transgender issues, it\u2019s still tempting for me to shove Jesus down his throat. Spoiler alert: it doesn\u2019t work and only pushes people away, no matter what anyone thinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is so much about Caitlyn\u2019s story that reminds me of my conversion. I\u2019m not really sure what to make of that, it\u2019s just an observation that I find interesting and no, I\u2019m not saying that it\u2019s the same thing, just that I see similarities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do have some questions though.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I would really like to know exactly how wanting to wear a dress makes someone a woman. I\u2019m not being snarky or rude at all, but for the longest time feminists have been saying the gender is a social construct because liking dresses and the color pink doesn\u2019t make someone a girl. Now, I agree to a certain extent because those things don\u2019t make someone a female, biology makes one female (and no matter what surgery a person has your biology as far as male or female, stays the same) or male. So now we have Caitlyn Jenner on TV with an expert saying that because Bruce wanted to wear dresses as a child, he has always been female.\u00a0
\nAlso, how is it that there are signs saying \u201cI was born this way\u201d and then those who feel they were \u201cborn this way\u201d have to change HOW they were born to be who they were born as? Again, I\u2019m not being snarky or rude and I am posting on my blog so everyone can read it so I don\u2019t expect any rude or snarky comments because I have gay friends and family and I expect them to be respected. However, respect doesn\u2019t mean not asking questions. I realize that it\u2019s typical of our culture to say that not agreeing or asking for logical answers is considered \u201cmean\u201d, but I like to discuss things logically and that requires asking questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hear Jenner speak a lot about fitting in. I know that feeling of not fitting in. But look, I don\u2019t fit in with pagans or with Catholics. I fit in with drunks who pop pills on a regular basis. I can function like that the best. I\u2019m productive, I am happy and I\u2019m comfortable in my skin. But nobody would ever encourage me to go back to being a stoned drunk. So where do we draw the line and why? And \u201cit\u2019s not the same thing\u201d, isn\u2019t an argument. I want to know why one is fine and one isn\u2019t. Maybe nobody reading this has the answer, maybe you\u2019ll ask yourself my questions and wonder about the answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I really hope that there are other Catholics who wonder how we as a Church move forward on this issue in a way that is both truthful and loving and not in that bullshit way that people say \u201cI am being loving by speaking the truth of how disgusting this is\u201d. But truly loving. The love that all us sinners find in a confessional when we confess our own disordered behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am watching Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s reality show. I\u2019m addicted to reality shows and I really am fascinated with this story. For a lot of reasons, the biggest being that this issue isn\u2019t going away and I want to know how to deal with it as a Catholic evangelist. Pretending it\u2019s not happening, that the world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2489,"featured_media":1428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,27,33,34,59],"tags":[1679,1691,380],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caitlyn-jenner","category-conversion","category-god","category-lessons","category-love","category-the-catholic-church","tag-caitlyn-jenner","tag-love","tag-transgender"],"yoast_head":"\n