The Problem with "Transgenderism": Michael Knowles and the Kingdom of God

[@MyMCProGaming]

Nice!

[@polikuszka]

as a trans person myself, videos like this are always a gamble to watch. i’m interested in other people’s views on people like me (especially other christians), but i also don’t want to spend 30 mins watching someone lay out a viewpoint, only for them to turn around at the end and call me a slur. this video was…fine? there explanations of the different views on gender and sex were good, and i appreciated the genuine attempt to understand the mentality of both sides. however, there were also some glaring flaws. 1. the idea of ‘social contagion’ influencing people to transition is completely flawed. someone who is content in their own sex and gender is not someone who is going to transition, regardless of how much their sex/gender combo is ‘made the enemy’. the reality is that left wingers tend to transition more often solely because they are allowed to open the door - those on the right wing, even if they feel genuine distress and discomfort in their gender and sex, would be immediately excluded from their social spaces. people like Kaitlyn Jenner, for example, are vehemently hated by many conservatives, simply for being trans (and not the more legitimate reason of her committing a hit and run). the best comparison for this is the rise of left handed people - it’s not that the lack of beatings makes people left handed, it’s that those who are already left handed are free to be so without fear of being beaten. 2. historical trans people are not solely ‘middle aged men’. in fact, gender non conformity throughout history has spanned all ages and sexes, and current transition rates for both FTM and MTFs are identical. gender non conformity/transitioning is also a massive part of the lesbian community, and lesbians often have complex views of their own gender. people like Leslie Feinburg are fantastic examples of this. 3. 16.00 - this is primarily because confining the trans experience into only two boxes, MTF and FTM, massively restricts the intellectual discussion, and inherent reality, of what being trans is about and like. by decoupling sex and gender, there is a far greater ability to discuss being trans in a way which is both thorough and represents diverse experiences. individuals will often talk about their own experience in more binary terms, simply because they aren’t exploring being trans as a whole, only their experience of it. 4. the knight example is just…really, really bad. knights were considered an honourable group of people in pretty much every part of medieval society - they were elite military, who fought for the interests of their communities. those communities, in turn, viewed them in a positive manner and being a knight had many social privileges. sure, whilst being trans may gain some kind of ‘clout’ (based on my own experiences in the kind of social spaces you described, it doesn’t), that is offset by the massive social exclusion you will face from the rest of society. trans people are not seen in a positive light by the majority of any society around the world. at best, some societies are more neutral/don’t care, and at worst, being trans will get you assaulted, raped or murdered. any ‘clout’ you may gain is microscopic in relation to the amount of pain and suffering you will experience from the wider world. the idea that this is an attractive proposition to anyone, even if they exist in trans-friendly circles, is frankly ridiculous, and drags down your entire argument considerably. 5. the ‘conquest of the world’ motif, when considered in relation to trans people, is not a causal factor - it is a symptom of western society’s obsession with binaries. in modern western society, there is still fundamentally no place for trans people. you are either male or female, a man or a woman. there is no box for other, and until recent there was no acknowledgement of any experience that did not fit into a box. compare this to native american society, with their concept of the Two Spirit. a lot of native americans today identify as two spirit rather than as simply a trans man or woman, because there is a societal space for them. their experiences are recognised and validated. whereas in western society, this is not available. you MUST fit into a box - so trans people choose the box that their gender is a part of, because it is a more defining part of their identity. this not only causes some onlookers to perceive a rejection of the defining realities of sex, but also harms trans people, who are forced to deny their own unique experiences to properly fit in the box. trans people don’t deny their sex - but are forced to act as if they do in order to function in current western society. ultimately, i would heavily encourage you to talk to more trans people. trying to form an opinion on ‘transgenderism’ from only scholarly or academic sources will always result in a view shackled by abstraction. what matters most is the actual lived experiences of the people this issue affects - not just the abstract discussion of the topic, by both trans and cis people. edit: also, i appreciate that you were attempting to give Michael Knowles a bit of grace, but it was really not the ‘transgenderism’ part of his statement that people were angry about. it was the ‘eradication’ part. you can only view his comments in good faith if you know for certain that he does not genuinely hate trans people - something which both he and most conservatives consistently fail to provide any evidence for.

[@BramptonAnglican]

People fear what they don’t understand

[@pennyception]

has mr big huge brain logic man ever heard of appeal to nature fallacy?

[@evan7391]

Have you heard of the appeal to human rights fallacy?

[@pennyception]

imagine making up a fallacy and simultaneously revealing that youre anti human rights

[@mahaajbradshawthelegendamo7631]

⁠@@pennyception Be consistent. If you were consistent, you would reject human rights as well. Since they are all based off of the fact we’re all human and nothing else.

[@pennyception]

@@mahaajbradshawthelegendamo7631 bro I never said human rights were some like universal constant, I just have empathy😭. in fact I didn’t even bring up human rights that guy did.