Against the Truth: Pope Benedict XVI, the Natural Order, and “Human Auto-Emancipation”
I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read this headline at the BBC yesterday:
Gay groups angry at Pope remarks.
Really. You don’t say.
Now, these “gay groups” have good reason to be angry not just at the pope’s remarks but at the pope himself:
Speaking on Monday, Pope Benedict said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was as important as protecting the environment.
The comments were “irresponsible and unacceptable”, the UK’s Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) said.
Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender former Italian MP, called his words “hurtful”.
What Pope Benedict said — and the BBC has the “key extracts” here — was that any blurring of the man/woman “order,” including any efforts at “human auto-emancipation from creation and from the Creator” (whereby humans make themselves on their own), is “against the truth.” It seems to me that this has more to do with transsexualism than with homsexualism, but the pope’s point is clear: In nature, and by God, there are men and there are women and there is an order to gender and sexuality, namely, that gender is fixed (or ought to be) and that, sexually, only a man and a woman ought to copulate (and reproduce), each according to his supposedly natural, God-given purpose.
Now, I’m with the “gay groups” on this, more or less, whatever my concerns about humanity’s efforts to conquer, by overcoming, nature. We are all little Nietzscheans now, perhaps, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. What I recognize, unlike the pope, is that nature is flexible and that it is part of our nature, as rational creatures, to seek to shape it according to our desires. And the fact is, gender and sexuality are rather complex. There aren’t just men and women and we aren’t all straight. (It is easier to determine what is male and female, given our chromosomal natures, than what is straight and not straight. Is anyone absolutely straight or gay?)
But here’s why I couldn’t help but chuckle: What did these “gay groups and activists” expect? This is the Roman Catholic Church we’re talking about. It may be more “modern” than it used to be, but it’s not exactly a bastion of progressive thinking on anything, let alone on gender and sexuality. And the head of the Church is Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, hardly a liberal. (Even the liberals in the Church are pretty conservative on such matters.) It’s a wonder his remarks weren’t much harsher.
So, fine, they’re angry. I suppose they have a right to be, and I suppose I applaud their efforts to protest what is the Church’s (and the pope’s) “irresponsible and unacceptable” positions. Maybe one day, if it still exists, genuine liberals will take over the Church and bring it forward into Enlightenment. In the meantime, all we’re going to get is more of the same from the same old narrow-minded fools and bigots (sorry, “true believers”). They’re far too influential to ignore, but they’re also far too ridiculous to take too seriously.
(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)
5 Responses to “Against the Truth: Pope Benedict XVI, the Natural Order, and “Human Auto-Emancipation””
I think god gave us these amazing human brains precisely so we could sort out and process more complicated concepts and adapt to “new” ways of thinking. That said, there seem to be a great many people who are determined to keep their mental and emotional gearshifts in “park”. I guess I should be glad the pope at least understands the need for the world to become more “green”. Baby steps are well and good, but to the extent that time is a factor in resolving many of the pressing issues we have on this planet, heel dragging is something of a luxury. Obviously I'm referring to more than just gay issues here, but that is one of the easier things to come to terms with since it only requires people to start THINKING instead of circling the wagons around stale points of view. The pope is as human as the rest of us, and is missing an opportunity to do something constructive here.
Article->”It is easier to determine what is male and female, given our chromosomal natures, than what is straight and not straight.”
Hi, I'm transsexual, and I beg to differ with that statement.
This article provides the most concentrated introduction to the findings that support gender being independent of which 'pair' of chromosomes we have at the 23d pair:
http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2008/06/bigender-an…
CAUTION: The information density and the fact that it flies in the face of Common Sense makes reading it a bit like drinking from a firehose,
What about Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome? The 23d pair of chromosomes is XY, but the genes that code for sensitivity and response to Testosterone are inoperative, and the body and brain remain unmasculinized even though the 23d pair is set to 'male'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensiti…
Or how about Diethylstilbesterol, the drug given to pregnant women to lessen the risk of miscarriage and 'promote healthy babies'? It's a synthetic estrogen, and cancels out many of the effects of fetal testosterone. It's most pervasive effect is to hinder or prevent the masculinization of the fetus's brain, truly leaving a female brain trapped in the wrong body (as the cliche goes…)
These are but some of the rare but entirely possible outcomes of nature that do not fit neatly in to the boy/girl dichotomy.
The Pope is in reality against the 'natural order' he's calling for us to support.
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