Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Something to Guard Against

I read an article on yahoo yesterday that I could not get off of my mind all evening. You may have seen it. It was about some parents who are not revealing the sex of their 4 month old baby. They are attempting to raise the child in a gender neutral (GN) fashion.

I don't know why that article stayed on my mind so much. Are they radical? Yes. Many people would not go so far as to do what they are doing--or to allow their sons (they have 2 other children) to shop from either the boys or girls section in clothing stores and decide if they want their hair long or short. But that doesn't mean that many people do not agree with these parents at some level.

So I kept reading and googling. Apparently, some folks think a GN world would be just about perfect. They can't wait for the day when society stops placing biases and limits on people and when others stop drawing a line and saying "choose." I don't think they just want a "third category".....I think they'd like there to BE no categories.

Anyway, as a Christian this topic gets my attention and it should yours too if you are a Christian. I'll tell you why in a minute.

As I googled and read, I began to see some major categories popping up where GN is becoming main stream. In case you haven't thought much about this, perhaps these links will be eye opening.

Fashion. I already have thought about this several years ago. Children go to school wearing standardized dress of khaki or blue bottoms and a polo style shirt on top all their lives. Then, they get a job at Target, or the bank, or wherever and guess what? They wear khaki pants and a polo style shirt! There is precious little difference in how the men and women look at many places of business. The styles of military uniforms have also changed. I spoke about all this here.

But it seems to be going a step further now. Fashion designers are actually designing clothing that is intentionally GN. This means it is designed to be for EITHER sex to wear. Especially where children are concerned as there isn't as much difference in their bodies.  Check out the store sign on this article. Here is a slide show that was interesting.  If you need help figuring it all out, there is help available.

Dorm rooms. I don't remember which college started it, but it has caught on. Now it is PC to offer GN living arrangements. Many colleges are offering this type of dorm. And if you are going to offer living arrangements that are GN, then of course restrooms will follow suit. High schools are already dealing with this. As well as prom situations, homecoming situations, etc. All this is being done in the name of anti-bullying. These students must have a "safe" place. So, we must offer these arrangements. Oh, and they cannot be discriminated against.

Can you follow this path further down the road in your mind? Where does this lead? What will your local elementary school look like in a few years? What will be taught? It's already being taught in many places.

Which reminds me: children's books. Be careful at the library because there are a lot of children's books being written to address these issues. They are also being read to classes in many elementary schools.

Another major category is GN language. You know, we must say actor instead of actor/actress, etc. This, of course, moves us into GN Bible translations. Oh, don't even get me started. Read. Be aware. Be informed. The version you love may have been edited recently. Research before you buy because this one is serious. Altering the Word of God to be more "inclusive" and PC??? Not good.

So it seems this is the way our world is going. I cannot even imagine how things will be in 20 or 30 years. Obviously, we must teach about this to our children. God's word says:

 "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27

God created two sexes. Distinct and different from one another. Plain and simple. And because my Lord did this, and said that it was good, I will continue to believe that there should be a distinction. Especially among Christians because if the world is going GN, then we should stand apart from that. What does this mean? It means my girls and I will be wearing a lot more skirts and even when we wear other things, we will make sure to look as feminine as we can. As much NOT GN as possible. It means men should look like men. I know this varies from culture to culture, but there should be a distinction--both in our dress and our behavior!

And I will pray. I do not hate people who are confused about their gender, but I do hate that it is common in our world. Children are hurting, they are committing suicide. They are miserable. They have been lied to and the Liar is deceptively confusing many people. God is not a God of confusion. These people need to know the Lord and Savior. They need prayer.

So as a Christian, I will guard against the rising tide of GN in our world, I will teach my children the truth, and I will continue to speak the truth. God did not mess up. He did not make a mistake.

What do you say about all of it? What should our reaction as Christians be?

10 comments:

  1. I saw the article via a facebook friend and was devastated for those children. Our response? Love, mercy, and grace. These people have bought the lie, and it's heart breaking.

    We are attentive to ensure that the men in our family look like men, and the women look like women. Pants for us ladies is a rarity. We delight in looking like the females we were created to be. We are also on the lookout for the impact of feminism and try to keep it out of the home, since that was the beginning of the line-blurring.

    We have to realize what we are doing. We have to look at everything. Even the use of 'guys'. When someone addresses a group I'm in with, "Hey Guys!", I ignore them, or if they're looking directly at me I point out that I am female. This usually throws them for a few moments, which is too bad, but I'm not a male, nor does anything about me look male. It's insulting. Would one address a group of men with, "Hi Gals!"?

    No. Well, not yet, anyway!

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  2. Q--yes, feminism was the beginning of the line-blurring and that is why I have very little hope that we will ever, as a society, go back to being feminine and masculine. Because it's more than fashion--it's a way of thinking.

    And I fully expect there to be some new words created that are gender neutral. Other languages have them and we will too soon I bet.

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  3. Good Morning Brenda,
    I found your blog through Q. I am so tickled to have found you. What a beautiful blog home you have, and your article on gender neutral, oh my gosh. I had no idea such things were happening. I have 8 grandchildren and I can honestly say they each know who they are and where they are going. There is no gender neutral. My children have done a wonderful job. The girls love being girls and the boys dress as boys, now if we could just get the oldest grandson to wear a belt, and no baggy pants.

    I will be reading each of your links you provided sweet one. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I had no idea.

    I am Country Wings in Phoenix. I am your newest follower. I can't wait to see what you share next. I would be honored to have you stop by and thrilled if you decided to follow along as well.

    Country hugs, Sherry

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  4. Oh, Brenda, I *heart* you for this one. There are times when I feel like the odd woman out. People (online and off) think I'm looking for trouble where there is none. So thank you for confirming that I am not losing my marbles.

    We (meaning me and my two littlest) wear dresses/skirts most days of the week now. This is intentional not coincidence. Interestingly enough, I am seeing an increase in the number of little girls in dresses.

    With my teens (for lack of a better word at the moment), it's a bit more difficult. Jeans, jeans, jeans. They do wear feminine tops. And they love accessories, so they do look feminine. But they're at that age where skirts that appeal to them are often too short, and they don't want to dress "older" than they are, so we don't push it.

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  5. Yes, it was good to post this, Brenda. I was appalled when I read about that couple that is not revealing the gender of their child. Actually, it sounded kind of retro -- I thought, "How 70's!" Some stuff just never goes away, does it?

    Believe it or not, a United Methodist church here in our little rural town in the upper midwest was (I don't know if they still are) using the Gender Neutral "bible." I couldn't get over that.

    What's with everybody? The Western world is going nuts.

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  6. I haven't heard this story yet, but I am so glad you brought it to my attention.

    How sad. I pray for our children and the future they will live in.

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  7. Great post today and thanks for sharing!

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  8. mary, yes! it is very retro. The beginning of this article amused me:
    http://www.newsweek.com/2010/03/22/my-name-is-jesse.html

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  9. so many thoughts... so little time.

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  10. it's very disturbing.
    Kathy

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I don't get to talk to a lot of actual grown-ups during the day, so your comments make me really happy! :)