In 1931, G. K. Chesterton, a widely known English journalist, debated Clarence Darrow, the famous atheist who supposedly defeated religion at the Scopes Monkey trial in 1925. During the debate Darrow emphatically declared, “Science disproves the miracles which organized religion asks us to believe! And everyone knows it!” Calmly and clearly, Chesterton explained that miracles abound all around us and the reason we know they are miracles is the science that has grown out of the work of religious persons of the past, who put their minds to the movement of the stars, the mysteries of life, and the substance of all things. Chesterton insisted that science has no authority unless it is in accord with known facts and common sense. That is what everyone should know.
Consider the following claims and responses:
- “Everyone knows that fixed orientations predetermine sexual and gender identities and their behavior.” Really? No one has ever discovered and explained the exact dynamics of human personality. A mixture of physical and non-physical factors, personality is not subject to objective examination. No science whatsoever exists, or will ever exist, that is able to establish specific particulars within the enormously complicated thing we call human personality. Therefore, the claim that orientations determine sexual and/or gender identity and action is spurious nonsense.
- “Everyone knows that orientations are recognized through strong feelings and desire.” Really? This claim is supposed to apply regardless of age. If a child is a mere five years of age, their statements that they feel same-sex attraction or a need to be transgender is completely valid! No questions asked. Parents, educators, indeed everyone, must treat their revelation as absolute fact and start “fostering” (to use language imposed on schools in Nevada) their identity. Yet, feelings, especially in a young child, are notoriously unrealistic. Their causes cannot be accurately assessed, nor can their strength and meaning be simply declared as determinative of identity. What is true of children is also true of adults. Claims that feelings, no matter how pervasive and strong, justify defying communitarian principles and biological reality are just plain balderdash.
- “Everyone knows that orientations cannot be changed and it is dangerous to try.” Really? Although this fallacious claim has been enshrined in law, regulation, and policy across the United States, it is a lie pure and simple. While human personality can be subject to deeply-entrenched behaviors we call addictions, they also can be and are open to treatment. People move out of addictive behaviors all the time, especially when they are assisted by a deeply transformative religious experience. So-called orientations are no different. Thousands (one count has it at 250,000) of individuals in North America have moved out of same-sex or gender diverse lifestyles. They did so because their previous lifestyle offered nothing of lasting value and because they realized that continuing what they were doing was indeed dangerous.
- “Everyone knows that as many as one hundred plus gender states exist.” Really? Long lists of gender states have made their way into media and so-called scientific discourse. The most mentioned is transgender, the supposed transition from male to female, and vice versa, through the use of drugs and surgery. However, while claims are dogmatically made that gender diversity exists and people are frequently punished for not accepting those claims, nowhere is there factual, clear evidence that they exist at all. No one steps forward to put their name and research beside such lists. And, as far as transgender is concerned, scientific fact and common sense are unanimous. There are but two genders, male and female, period. And no transition can be made from one to the other.
- “Everyone knows that boys and girls often feel like the opposite sex.” Really? Will someone kindly explain how a person clad in the body of one sex, with all its operational differences, can possibly know how the opposite sex feels! All that can happen are perceptions of what someone else, opposite sex or not, feels. So, when a boy demands to be treated as a girl (or a man as a woman), he is demanding what he imagines is going on in the other. Nothing more. Gender diversities are states of mind, not states of the body.
- “Everyone knows that same-sex and/or gender diverse persons have legal rights which they may enforce through legal action.” Really? There has been a tendency in some legal arenas to accept same-sex and gender diverse claims and behavior as indicative of specific identity. However, neither behavior nor professed claims of inner feelings are sufficient evidence for genuine identity and status. Behavior can be staged. It also can be amended. And once amended the person is viewed, not as another individual, but as someone who has decided to act differently. Statements about feelings can be deliberately falsified. Furthermore, it is impossible to objectively measure or quantify feelings. There is no such thing as a feeling meter. Under the law, only actual consequences such as financial loss, physical injury or professional deprivation (all of which apply to anyone) ought to be considered as abridgement of rights for same-sex or gender-diverse persons. If they are feeling insulted because of someone else’s religious beliefs or unknowing comments, let them do what everyone else may do. Ask for respect without punitive action. We must not attempt to assuage hurts we can neither see nor objectively assess.
What everyone does not yet know is that we have descended into a derogation of free will, the foundation of all that makes us human. LGBTQIAP, etc. claims outlined above threaten all morality, ethics, religious spirituality, and law.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. William P. Tarbell
4251 Desert Rain Ct.
Sparks, NV 89436
