Truth Dysphoria

Hate the sin; love the sinner. This may be a cliché, but it is nonetheless biblically correct. While we were still sinners, Paul asserts, God loved us enough to send His Son. According to John, we show ourselves to be children of God insofar as we love others. Because everyone is a sinner, this validates the cliché. However, our love for God also includes a love of truth because Jesus is the Truth. When we speak the truth in love as we are commanded, it is sometimes perceived as less than loving toward the sinner who denies the truth. This perception is unfortunate, but unavoidable.

When truth, logic, biological reality, and common sense are all abandoned in favor of a “popular” but contrary idea, one must wonder what forces are in play. For about ten thousand years (depending on your estimated date for creation of the universe), the concepts of male and female were defined according to the biblical account in Genesis. God created male and female and assigned each a role. Ever since Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden, there have been a few people in every generation who chafed under the roles their biological identity dictated under God’s economy. Toward the end of the last century, a small group of people began to insist that the traditional, logical meanings of male and female had to be replaced.

The new definition of male and female being forced upon the majority grows out of the discomfort felt by a minority of people who experience a disconnect between their biological identity and their psychological identity. The medical description for the condition these few unfortunates experience is gender dysphoria. According to Merriam-Webster, gender now has come to mean, “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex.” Dysphoria comes from a Greek term meaning, “difficult to bear.” In other words, some people are uncomfortable with the “behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits” associated with their biological identity. Basically, they are at odds with their plumbing.

Until late in the last century, this kind of psychological struggle was considered to be an abnormality in need of therapeutic attention. As late as the 2015, a doctor from Johns Hopkins wrote that “transgenderism is a mental disorder that merits treatment.” He went on to say transgender people were at high risk for psychological trauma and a suicide rate 20 times higher than among non-trans people. It’s not hard to imagine why this would be so. Those people are denying a piece of reality that cannot be disputed. The fact that they don’t believe their body reflects their mind is evidence of dissociative behavior: they find themselves divorced from reality.

 If someone ignored the biological realities of his existence and believed himself to be a bullfrog, he would be considered insane. No legitimate psychologist would suggest that it would be an acceptable alternative lifestyle for that man to sit naked on the riverbank and eat flies. It would be unthinkable that that man and his fellow frogmen should force society to install frog ponds with lily pads in every public place. And yet, a small minority of people who are uncomfortable with the gender God assigned them at birth have been able to force their version of reality on the general population. In this new age, it is required for women to accept men in their restrooms, girls are being forced to shower with boys after gym class, and female athletes must complete against biological males. If one dares to dispute these new requirements, that one is labeled a homophobe and a criminal in many instances.

This madness has found its way into language as well. To use the “incorrect” gender pronoun when referring to someone who is uncomfortable with their birth gender is considered hate speech. The grammatical conventions that have underpinned all languages for millennia are being slaughtered on the altar of gender equality. This gender-confused minority in conjunction with radical feminists has convinced some publishers of the Bible to produce “gender-neutral” versions of holy scripture. The very book that should bring sanity to this crazy situation is being rewritten to accommodate the insane. One has to wonder where this will all end.

Paul warned the Romans that people who chose not to acknowledge God and His right to rule would be abandoned to foolish thinking.  He told the Ephesians that unbelievers would become, “hopelessly confused… because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against [the knowledge of God].” Paul seems to have foreseen what has happened; he told Timothy that toward the end, “some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.  These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.” In other words, truth-deniers would be found even in the church.

The problem facing believers in the Truth is how to handle these militant truth-deniers. In America, our representative, constitutional government is both a blessing and a curse. For over 200 years, we have been able to live under a government that was founded on Judeo-Christian values and, for the most part, maintained order based on those principles. Believers are learning the downside of representative government as recent events have moved masses of voters into positions that run counter to the tradition of the Founders of this country. America is being transformed into a pagan society.

If believers want to reverse the trend toward paganism, there are two battlefronts to address. The first is prayer. I have no doubt that the gender confusion issue is a ploy by the enemy of our souls to destroy the family as God designed it. Besides calling such ideas, “teachings that come from demons,” Paul reminds us that our battle is against, “evil spirits in the heavenly places.” We need to pray that the devil’s schemes will be thwarted, and fellow believers will be called to join in the spiritual battle.

The second front is political action. We must exercise our right to elect people who will return us to the Judeo-Christian basis upon which America was founded. Believers must also support with time and treasure organizations that are working to maintain principles based on truth as we know it. In addition to the many Christian groups that are fighting this battle, there are secular allies to consider. The organizations I recommend include the Heritage Foundation, Hillsdale College, the Association ofMature American Citizens (AMAC), the National Rifle Association, and the Convention of States. There are many others.

Standing for the biblical truth is becoming more difficult every day. Many in America have fallen into what must be called truth dysphoria; the truth makes them uncomfortable. This is not a new condition; certain people have always been uncomfortable with the Truth. What is new is the degree to which truth deniers have taken control of the reigns of power. Believers must take Paul’s advice and, “put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.” Believers must stand for the truth. We must not allow the abandonment of the pattern set out by America’s founding fathers. Not just in gender issues, but in every part of society, truth dysphoria must not become the prevailing mindset in America.

Related posts: I Pray For America; America Held Captive; How Can They Think That; The Uncomfortable Subject; Loving Biblically