Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A MUST READ: "THE PERFECT BLEND," ON CHRIST, THE GAY MARTYR

I wish to call your attention to a superb two part post, "The Perfect Blend," on my good friend Don Charles' blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr.

Don Charles is a true fighter for equal rights, and all of his writings attest to his brilliance and tenacity in this fight! His current post, "The Perfect Blend," is, in my opinion, the most brilliant essay he has ever written, or anyone else has written, for that matter!

This two part post is absolutely superb in every way, and it will open your mind to think about being Transgender in a healthy, life-affirming, and spiritual way that is truly liberating. His essay is erudite, articulate, well thought out, and designed to get everyone thinking about the very meaning and elevation of Transgender status in both its spiritual and secular roots and manifestations.

I can't say enough good things about this essay!!!!

Here is an excerpt from this essay to hopefully whet your appetite to read it in full:

...the transsexual population does represent itself as sick or handicapped. It seems to worship hetero-conformity. Some transsexual individuals want so much to conform to traditional concepts of gender that they’ll spend thousands of dollars on dangerous and often inconclusive surgical procedures. They aren't satisfied until they fall totally in line with binary gender expectations. Failing that, they want to get as close to those expectations as possible.

If you want a truly liberating paradigm with which to view Transgender status in its true fullness in both a spiritual and secular sense, you've got to read Don Charles' excellent two part essay entitled, "The Perfect Blend."
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4 comments:

DC HAMPTON JACOBS said...

Thanks for another flattering write-up, Jerry. This essay probably went through more revisions than any I've done in recent memory. I wanted to be frank, but sensitive at the same time. As I told you privately, I don't think this essay will be popular at all! If it gets any attention, it will surely be the negative kind.

However, I feel that God prompted me to share my feelings about transsexualism. It's been on my mind for many, many months. Now that my feelings are known, I must wait until God sees fit to reveal His will to me. My hunch is that it's going to involve a learning experience.

Jerry Maneker said...

Hi Don Charles: Many years ago, Thomas Kuhn wrote a book called "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," in which he discussed "paradigms," which are "ways of seeing." He said that paradigms are so intransigent, that any innovation or innovative way of thinking is immediately rejected by people who feel they have a vested interest in the status quo.

It's unfortunate that all revolutions in science and, I might add, in biblical exegesis, have met with intransigent resentment! I expect that your essay will be no exception to this rule!

However, you speak the truth and, over time, that truth will be recognized as the truly liberating message that it is!

If resentment is expressed toward your article (and, like you, I expect that it will), it will be because so many LGBT people have become unwittingly wedded to a paradigm foisted on them by the oppressor.

In the case of Transgender people, so much has been written and spoken concerning "their being born in the wrong body" (And for a long time, I was guilty of teaching that very error.) that even they have come to believe this pronouncement as "fact."

Your analysis of this matter should once and for all lay to rest the fact that God doesn't make any mistakes; being Transgender is not an aberration; changing one's body to fit the fiction of gender duality is no cure, and can do inestimable harm akin to that done by "ex-gay therapies."

I truly believe that your essay will be a classic in the literature, once people give themselves permission to divest themselves of the destructive paradigms that have consigned Gay and Transgender people to a netherworld of brokenness that must be "fixed."

One can't improve on God's creation, and God created Transgender people in God's image, in "fullness," and that point, that truth, should be truly liberating to every Transgender person who is privileged to read your essay.

Best wishes, Jerry.

Alex Souplopoulos said...

I read the nicely written essay and it made me think a lot. I've been also using the "being in wrong body" phrase to describe transgendered people. I may have to change that wording. I refrain from using the word God, but I surely believe that nature doesn't always do things in black and white. So, if we perceive transgenderism as a natural phenomenon like bisexuality and homosexuality, then yes, society should be the one to adapt, and not the other way round. Having done minor cosmetic surgery myself (floppy ears), I understand how it feels to not look the way "you're supposed to". If people with floppy / big ears were more socially accepted and not ridiculed/made fun of, then there would be no psychological motivation to make any cosmetic changes. This of course scales up 1000% more for transgendered people, and surely it has to do with how the society views things at every time period. At the same time, I'd never judge someone who needs to undergo surgery to make themselves feel mentally stable. It's just something that needs to be first thought out and not done hastily. The government should also make steps to support this greatly abused minority, like some EU countries have started doing, giving funds for psychology sessions and surgeries.

Jerry Maneker said...

Thanks for your comment, Alex. Best wishes, Jerry.