One thing I of course have been aware of for years is the idea of condemnation of LGBTQIA+ people, and especially trans people, by Evangelical Christianity. One of the largest things mocked is the idea of someone AMAB (assigned male at birth) "identifying" as a woman. They seem to find the idea of identifying as something laughable. Let's unpack that a bit.
First, the obvious. This is a group of people who self-identify as something - Christian - that they were not at birth. They were literally assigned as Atheist, which of course means they had no religious beliefs at all. Over the years, something they heard led them to decide that they were a Christian. They weren't born that way. Unlike Christians, who chose to be Christians, gay, lesbian, trans, Ace, bisexual, and other LGBTQIA+ identifying people did NOT make a choice to be that way.
But taking it a step further, these Christians then further self-identify as Evangelical, and then further self-identify by general group such as Wesleyan, Armenian, Calvinist, Free Will, Reformed, etc., and then still further by specific group, synod, or denomination, such as Southern Baptist. So they made numerous choices that reflect their religious beliefs. Yet, LGBTQIA+ people made no choice at all about who they are, or what they experience.
Still further, Evangelicals celebrate scriptures that command them not to judge, yet they judge. They read about God having the power to do literally anything, yet they insist that God could never have created a trans person. They insist trans people are, in their words, "going against God's plan" while also insisting that God created everyone and everything, and not having any scripture to support their anti-trans position.
They read the creation story in Genesis, and don't bat an eye at the conflict of the number of creatures, and totally missing the idea of the word "and" in the things created by God. They choose to ignore that completely.
I don't identify as a transgender person. I AM a transgender person. When trans people say "Identify", they mean "am". There is no choice involved.
I'm more than done being condemned by Evangelical Christianity. I am, however, thankful that so many non-evangelical Christians are good people, genuinely loving people. But then, that is why we see so many Evangelical churches fading, while progressive churches are impacting lives.
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