“’If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” -George Orwell
Keep this quote in mind as I walk through this blog, which covers one of the most crucial topics today that quite possibly could cripple free societies as we know them. I am talking about the radically ideological movements surrounding gender identity.
Yes, as with my video on the abortion debate, this video may rattle some cages as well. However, as we know, silence on an issue can have several meanings – including accepting defeat. And this is one issue in which free societies must not be defeated.
Now, it may sound ironic to rally against certain freedoms while wanting to uphold free societies – yet there is a strong line between individuals having the right to express themselves within reason (without being mentally or physically abusive) versus pushing society into accepting every single person’s definition of reality – and even worse, legislating it so that everyone else is required to accept every single view of reality.
The momentum for this has been increasingly gaining traction within the past 10 years – and has recently flared up even more, thanks to our love-hate relationship with social media.
Along with that, it appears the video content world is dividing into two primary camps: Camp A — YouTube – which already has a mind-numbing variety of content, yet does not have any particular agenda; and Camp B — TikTok – which now seems to be a haven for radical social justice warriors to push made up ideas about reality and gender. It is so alarming now, it’s not just conservatives who are pointing out why the whole debate about gender is a social disaster: Even some who identify as “classically liberal” (that is, before liberal ideas went off the rails) are now calling out the insanity of normalizing made-up realities.
Yet radical social justice campaigns are still persisting: false claims that the patriarchy is fundamentally oppressive; false claims about systemic racism; false claims about the gender pay gap (though, ironically, radical ideologues also think gender is a social construct); false claims about socialism as a cure-all for society (driven by a small, but increasing number of university students and professors, some of whom identify as Marxists); false claims about toxic masculinity; and false claims that fathers are not critical to child rearing.
Do you see a pattern here? Wild claims that are not rooted in reality – yet our social media world makes it possible for even a tiny number of loud voices to perpetuate ideas as if the whole world is ready to rush up and embrace them.
And while I have a whole lot of thoughts about all subjects mentioned above, let’s first focus on the one that appears to be most out of touch with reality: gender identity. That isn’t just meant to be a slam against this topic – it’s an expression of sheer disbelief that we are even having this conversation in the first place.
Which leads me to Christopher West, author of Good News about Sex & Marriage: Answers to Your Honest Questions about Catholic Teaching: West, who is not only a Catholic author, but also a well-respected theologian and educator on marriage and family matters, also has a YouTube channel, where he discusses marriage and sexuality in the Catholic faith.
In Good News about Sex and Marriage.., West draws on Pope John Paul II’s book, The Theology of the Body, as well as Sacred Scripture, to explain why the human body is sacred, how to discuss mild to wild topics regarding sex, and why the intimate connection between soul and body establishes true identity. West’s tone throughout the book is direct and to-the-point – He doesn’t shy away from potentially awkward topics, while making sure to keep them in plain English.
The same goes with West’s YouTube channel: As part of sharing Good News… with the world (yes, the pun was kind of intended!), West has a video series on topics covered in Good News..., and which West gives even more insight on each topic.
One of the videos, “Born in the Wrong Body?”, gets right to the root of the gender debate – why it is not only worlds away from reality, but that it also ironically kills the whole concept of identity and self-acceptance. For instance, if a man is short and overweight, yet identifies himself as tall and slim, he is not only distorting what it means to have an identity, but it also collapses the need for self-acceptance. In other words, it is ok to reject yourself – but if you act like a different self, then you will accept yourself?
Near the end of the video, West drives this point home with these statements: “Our culture has bought in – hook, line and sinker – to the ancient Gnostic heresy that ruptures body and soul” And “a fork in the relationship between the human body and human identity creates a fork in the tongue. Words like male, female, boy, girl…sex, gender, they become meaningless. Separate the human body from human relationships, and words like husband, wife, mother, father…, the meaning of these words get totally eclipsed as well, and new words are then reinvented to reinforce the rupture and impose it on the rest of the world.”
And that is the point right there: If we are forced to accept subjective realities that are being framed as objective realities, it also means being forced to revamp our entire language just to appease every possible view of reality. It is somewhat like the idea of equal outcomes in all areas of life (instead of equal opportunity): It creates a never ending, impossible standard to meet. Further, and as the 20th century showed, time and time again, the more a society caters to some perceived oppression or made-up reality, the more it pits oppressors against oppressed, when that is not even remotely the case. Hence why, yes, the gender identity debate could very much lead to a complete collapse in free societies.
Which leads me back to the opening line in this blog: “’If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” -George Orwell
“Born in the Wrong Body?”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdqG-w47b0
Good News about Sex and Marriage: Answers to Your Honest Questions about Catholic Teaching: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079YLRDP9/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
The Theology of the Body Human Love in the Divine Plan: https://www.amazon.com/Theology-Human-Divine-Parish-Resources/dp/0819873942