Thursday, July 30, 2015

Transgenderism

     As if the Sturm Und Drang over ever more strident, ever more demanding homosexuality weren’t enough, the relatively new phenomenon of transgenderism has gone public, with 1976 Olympic gold medal decathlon winner Bruce Jenner for its poster boy/girl.

     Trust me on this, fellow Catholics: you’re going to get asked about it. You’re going to be treated as if your personal reaction will be the reaction of Catholics everywhere – indeed, as if whatever you say is Church doctrine on the whole miserable subject. And no matter what you might say, your interrogators will be merciless in demanding justifications, rationalizations that conform to Church doctrine on homosexuality, arguments about what “Natural Law” means when “everything that occurs in Nature is natural,” and so forth.

     I asked my parish pastor if he knows Church doctrine on this subject, and he allowed that he doesn’t. Indeed, the phenomenon is new enough that the Holy See might not have addressed it yet. If it hasn’t, I have little doubt that it will do so quite soon.

     My opinion, though definite, doesn’t matter. (It’s more or less what you might expect.) Unless you’re a cardinal, and moreover one on the committee tasked with the elaboration of Catholic teaching, neither does yours. But it would be well to remember that you don’t have to submit to interrogation, on this subject or any other. In that regard, it’s well to remember that the most effective response to a hostile question is a question, as sharp as the one posed to you if not sharper. An example:

     Interrogator: So, I’ll bet you papist types are all agog over Caitlyn Jenner. Has the pope condemned him to Hell yet?
     Catholic: I didn’t know Jenner is Catholic. Did he consult his pastor about his intentions before he set out on them? Or don’t you know? Or are you just being obnoxious?

     (The above response should be delivered in a soft tone, and through a gentle smile. Be sure not to omit the smile. It unnerves them.)

     If the Church should express a doctrine on transgenderism, it would be well to know it, but it will never be your responsibility to defend it to those who have rejected it. A faith is a freely chosen allegiance. Yours and mine is no exception. Moreover, we have been cautioned against judging others for declining it by the Founder Himself.

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