Encouraging and cultivating a moral reflex

With the election of Donald Trump to his second term, we find ourselves observing a societal recoil against trans insanity. President-elect Trump has called the gender ideology being pushed on children “child abuse” and promised to stop the chemical, physical, and emotional mutilation of our youth. He has pledged to revoke policies that encourage “so-called gender-affirming care” and end any federal programs that promote “the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.” Moreover, he has called on Congress to pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation nationwide, encouraged victims to sue doctors who have performed these procedures, and instructed the Department of Justice to investigate Big Pharma to determine whether it has covered up information about the long-term effects, enriching itself at the expense of vulnerable patients.

How should Christians approach this development?

First, we ought to celebrate and welcome it. After years of slouching toward Sodom (and beyond), we ought to be encouraged that millions of Americans appear to have finally reached some limit of sexual perversion and insanity. The grooming and indoctrination, the mutilation and disfigurement, the harm to female athletes, and the increasingly grotesque displays of sexual debauchery—Americans finally had enough. And for that, we ought to be grateful to God. It is a sign of His mercy.

Second, we ought to be clear-eyed at the limitations of the coalition arrayed against the gender insanity. Over the summer, the Republican National Committee removed from its platform language insisting that marriage is between one man and one woman. The former co-chair of the RNC, Lara Trump, along with Trump surrogates such as Vivek Ramaswamy, have made clear that the battle against gender insanity is one targeted specifically on the transgender issue, especially as it relates to children. Trump, we’re told, “doesn’t care who you love.” In his interview before the election with Joe Rogan, Vice President–elect J.D. Vance said he was hopeful that the Trump campaign would win “the normal gay guy vote.” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., in waging her war on men in women’s restrooms, has made it a point to remind everyone of her support for gay “marriage.” These are clear examples of attempting to artificially divide the LGB from the TQ+. As such, faithful Christians must recognize that this is a coalition of cobelligerents united against the extremes of the gender ideology cult, not true allies in preserving and protecting the natural family as the foundational unit of society.

Nevertheless, third, we must recognize the opportunity posed by the coalition. In particular, the most important long-term element of President-elect Trump’s statements about sex and gender is his call for Congress to enshrine in federal law that the United States only recognizes two sexes—male and female—and that they are assigned at birth. This is a good first step in recovering the foundation of two sexes.

Thus, we might begin by pressing for a friendly amendment. There are only two sexes (male and female), and they are recognized (not assigned) at birth (and, we might add, present in the womb). In pressing for this legal recognition, Trump has pledged himself to what might be called the Mister Rogers view of sex and gender: “Boys are boys from the beginning. Girls are girls right from the start. If you were born a boy, you stay a boy. If you were born a girl, you stay a girl. … Only girls can be the mommies. Only boys can be the daddies.” Reestablishing this foundation is essential for any further recovery of sexual sanity.

Fourth, from this reestablished foundation, we must be prepared to press the argument. The current coalition wants to be down with LGB but not T. Such a position is inherently unstable. You can’t be a little bit pregnant. These issues are connected. We can’t sow seeds of sexual sin and confusion and reap the fruit of social stability and fruitfulness, and we must resist attempts to celebrate and defend the more culturally accepted forms of sexual immorality.

We must be ready with arguments—there are only two sexes, and they are essential for procreation. The natural family is best for kids. In this, the work of Katy Faust and her organization, Them Before Us, is vital. Children have a right to their mother and father.

More than pressing arguments, we must encourage and cultivate righteous sentiments. Fundamental to the current backlash is a kind of reality gag reflex. The trans insanity is quite frankly disturbing. We ought to encourage and cultivate that gag reflex. Sodomy is not only immoral, it is gross and disgusting. Effeminacy is ugly, and most people have a good and right recoil from it. That’s why the mockery of the Dudes for Harris advertisement was so promising. Millions of normies are saying, “That ain’t right,” and Christians must be ready to strengthen and fill out the natural order that lies beneath that sentiment.

In this, churches and Christian families are essential. Pastors must teach their congregations about God’s design for sexuality and the goodness of the family. The Church must teach and practice the glory of the natural family—one man and one woman united in a lifelong covenant for the purpose of mutual help, companionship, and the bearing and rearing of children—godly marriages and fruitful homes filled with lots of kids who are being raised to trust in Christ.

There is an opportunity before us. In recoiling from the disgusting and the gross, perhaps we can rediscover the normal and the healthy, and through them, the good and the true. Shore up the foundations, and pray for God to give more grace.