19AR24-41

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AR 24:41 - UK transgender court case vs the Bible

In this issue:

GENDER - British Employment Tribunal: 'Belief in Genesis 1:27, a lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity'

SOCIAL JUSTICE - "the most audacious and comprehensive effort since the end of the Cold War at creating a new ideology"

+ "retelling" in transcendentalists group biography "overreaches"

Apologia Report 24:41 (1,449)

October 17, 2019

GENDER

"British Employment Tribunal in Transgender Case: Bible Belief Is 'Incompatible with Human Dignity'" by Hank Berrien (DailyWire, Oct 2 '19) -- "a case involving Dr. David Mackereth, a devout Christian who had worked as an emergency doctor for the National Health Service [NHS] for 26 years. He said he was fired from his job because he refused to call a biological man a woman. The court's ruling stated: 'Belief in Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others, specifically here, transgender individuals.' The court added. "... in so far as those beliefs form part of his wider faith, his wider faith also does not satisfy the requirement of being worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and not in conflict with the fundamental rights of others."

Mackereth's attorney, Michael Phillips, told the court, "His belief [is that Genesis 1:27 teaches people] cannot change their sex/gender at will. Any attempt at, or pretense of, doing so, is pointless, self-destructive, and sinful."

Mackereth said, "I am, of course, aware that there are men or women who believe they have been trapped in a wrong body, and I do not question the sincerity of their convictions. A small number of such people have always existed. Up until recently, such a belief was considered by medics to be delusional and a symptom of a medical disorder. It is only recently that transgenderism has been recognized as normal and such delusional beliefs accepted at face value. What is responsible for that change is political pressure, not scientific evidence."

"Mackereth responded to the ruling, asserting, 'I am not alone in being deeply concerned by this outcome. Staff in the NHS, even those who do not share my Christian convictions, are also disturbed as they see their own freedom of thought and speech being undermined by the judges' ruling. No doctor, or researcher, or philosopher, can demonstrate or prove that a person can change sex. Without intellectual and moral integrity, medicine cannot function and my 30 years as a doctor are now considered irrelevant compared to the risk that someone else might be offended.'" <www.bit.ly/2MyXI9v>

Mackereth plans to appeal.

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

"Crowd Madness and the New Religion of the West" by Akos Balogh (CEO of The Gospel Coalition - Australia) -- opens with the story of a school shooting false alarm which illustrates the nature of rumor and its seductive influence on "herd mentality, as it spreads among a population.

"And it's this idea of herd mentality that's picked by British author and political commentator Douglas Murray <www.bit.ly/2VHFSFl> in his new book, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity [1]. ... Murray seems to get religion, and the impact of religion on a society - even though he's an Atheist."

Murray argues that the West is currently experiencing "a great crowd derangement" which he identifies as herd mentality and with examples of it increasingly in the daily news. Murray writes: "Yes, we're an increasingly tribal - and polarised - society. We look down on others who think differently to us. There are fewer good-faith conversations between opposing groups of people. And civil society is worse off as a result."

Underlying this, "we have been living through a period of more than a quarter of a century in which all our grand narratives have collapsed.

"We're increasingly divided because there is no shared narrative uniting us.

"The explanations for our existence that used to be provided by religion went first, falling away from the 19th century onwards. Then over the past century the secular hopes held out by all political ideologies began to follow in its wake. In the latter part of the 20th century we entered the postmodern era. An era that defined itself, and was defined, by its suspicion towards all grand narratives.

"When society's grand narratives (such as Christianity) are increasingly seen as oppressive (e.g. by the sexual revolutionaries), then it's not surprising that people start ditching them."

It's only natural that we depend on narratives "to make sense" of our lives. "As all schoolchildren learn, nature abhors a vacuum, and into the postmodern vacuum new ideas began to creep, with the intention of providing explanations and meanings of their own. ... People in wealthy Western democracies today could not simply remain the first people in recorded history to have absolutely no explanation for what we are doing here and no story to give life purpose.

"Whatever else they lacked, the grand narratives of the past at least gave life meaning. The question of what exactly are we meant to do now, other than get rich where we can and have whatever fun is on offer, was going to have to be answered by something. ...

"Take away this story from people, and what are we left with? Hedonism (if it feels good, do it) , and eventually Nihilism (life is utterly meaningless)."

And into this vacuum a "grand new narrative" has rushed with destructive force. "The answer that has presented itself in recent years is to engage in new battles, ever fiercer campaigns and ever more niche demands. To find meaning by waging a constant war against anybody who seems to be on the wrong side of a question that may itself have just been reframed and the answer to which has only just been altered. ...

"The interpretation of the world through the lens of 'social justice', 'identity group politics' and 'intersectionalism' is probably the most audacious and comprehensive effort since the end of the Cold War at creating a new ideology." <www.bit.ly/32aHI43>

Murray is also the author of The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam <www.amzn.to/2B8COZy> about "a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide," ranked (paperback) "#4 in Human Geography" and "#6 in Immigration Policy" by Amazon.

Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice, by John Buehrens [2] -- Publishers Weekly (Sep 30 '19) explains: "Unitarian Universalist minister Buehrens presents an illuminating collective biography of 35 key figures from the 19th-century American transcendentalist movement. Buehrens argues that, while transcendentalism is often encountered by Americans through the lens of literature, the lives of transcendentalists demonstrate that their beliefs led them to passionate activism intended to reform - even revolutionize - politics and society."

Beacon Press calls it a "retelling of the story of the Transcendentalists, revealing them not as isolated authors but as a community of social activists who shaped progressive American values. ... They instigated lasting change in American society, not only through their literary achievements but also through their activism: transcendentalists fought for the abolition of slavery, democratically governed churches, equal rights for women, and against the dehumanizing effects of brutal economic competition and growing social inequality. The Transcendentalists' passion for social equality stemmed from their belief in spiritual friendship - transcending differences in social situation, gender, class, theology, and race. Together, their fight for justice changed the American sociopolitical landscape. They understood that none of us can ever fulfill our own moral and spiritual potential unless we care about the full spiritual and moral flourishing of others."

However, PW adds that "Buehrens's claim that transcendentalists 'sparked' or gave 'rise to nothing less than the start of a second American revolution' overreaches. Many of the causes transcendentalists took up (such as abolition) predate the rise of transcendentalism in 1830s New England."

It seems like nit-picky *virtue signaling* when PW adds that "the persistent focus on white male leadership (when figures such as Lewis Hayden and Margaret Fuller appear in the text, their contributions are often framed as successful primarily due to the encouragement and promotion of white men) adds a note of disappointment to an otherwise engaging narrative."

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, by Douglas Murray (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.amzn.to/2nEn1OQ>

2 - Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice, by John Buehrens (Beacon Press, 2020, hardcover, 324 pages) <www.amzn.to/35qU61Q>

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