The wicked coherence of progressive ideology

Should we be surprised that Planned Parenthood is now endorsing transgender ideology and has jumped on the “gender affirming care” bandwagon? We will not be surprised in the least if we look at what is going on with gender and sexuality in Western society today from a Biblical perspective.

On May 28, Planned Parenthood tweeted out this message: “It’s not just about abortion. Advocating for abortion goes hand-in-hand with advocating for gender-affirming care and birth control. Access to health care is a right, no matter what.”

They also released an ad in which a biological female dressed as a man with a deep voice says “I tell my abortion story because people need to understand that it’s not just a women’s rights issue. It is a people’s rights issue.”

Gender theory says that gender is more a matter of subjective feelings than biology. There is a deep connection between the belief in gender fluidity and the desire to control fertility while reducing sex to a matter of sensual indulgence. These pathologies are both born out of rebellion against the created order and the Creator. Both constitute a refusal of a gift from God.

Most people wonder at some point in their lives what is the meaning or purpose of life. The Bible tells us that our lives, including our bodies and souls, are gifts from God. We are not products of random chance, nor are we self-creating autonomous beings. We are God’s creatures and life is His gift to us.

God created us male and female and inscribed our sexual identity on our bodies. This gift is the basis for marriage and family. In the relationships of husband-wife, mother-child, father-child, and all the other relationships that flow out of procreative marriage (uncle, aunt, cousins, grandparents, etc.) we find a web of love relationships in which we can flourish as human beings. We all need roots and identity, and family provides them. We all need help and loving care, and family provides them. We all need to belong, and family is the place we belong.

To refuse a gift is ungrateful and to refuse the gift of sexuality is to be ungrateful to God. Even in a fallen world we can still experience a great deal of the blessing God intends through the gift of sexuality if we accept it with humility and gratefulness.

As Paul looked around at the Greco-Roman gentile world of his day he identified the rejection of God’s gift of life in the body as the root cause of the widespread oppression, exploitation, and brokenness. In Romans 1 he traces all the sins of a fallen world back to the root of ingratitude for God’s gift.

Planned Parenthood, of course, is well known for rejecting the link between sex and procreation. Now it is rejecting the link between gender and biology. This is a dastardly worldview, but we cannot say they are being dishonest. In many ways, Planned Parenthood is showing the logical fruits of progressive ideology. A rejection of the givenness of nature by a Creator leads to all sorts of insidious outcomes. By providing contraception and abortion to those who wish to engage in sexual activity while not open to new life, this evil organization encourages the rejection of God’s gift. It encourages the depersonalization of sex and the pursuit of sensuality over relationships.

In the covenant of marriage, unplanned pregnancy is a surprise soon transcended by the joy of new life as parents accept the gift of a baby. Outside of marriage, however, unplanned pregnancy is often seen as a disaster. It is the decision to use our bodies for sexual pleasure outside of marriage that leads to a desire to use whatever means necessary for birth control. When the procreative purpose of sex is rejected and the gift of new life becomes a burden, sex becomes a battleground for the clash of wills, which leads inevitably to the violence of abortion. Planned Parenthood epitomizes the pagan sexual disorder that dominated the world prior to the coming of Christ.

As Paul puts it in Romans 1 the gentile world refused to acknowledge life as a gift from God and was ungrateful to God for His gift of life in the body. This ingratitude led to the suppression of the knowledge of God, and humanity began a swift descent into all sorts of depravity and brokenness. Paul uses homosexuality as his main example of how dark their minds became.

As we look around at our society today, we can see a resurgence of pagan immorality as the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic loses its hold on the minds of people. We should not be surprised by the rise of transgenderism because it is just one more example of the refusal of the gift of sexuality. Ungrateful humans refusing God’s good gift of sexuality is the root of much of the social pathology, grief, and heartbreak that we see all around us.