[1]ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)–“Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation,” said Edward R. Murrow. Though the famed broadcast journalist died in 1965, his quip adequately describes life in our post-modern world.
Consider the following: ESPN reported recently that “a female-to-male transgender member of the George Washington University women’s basketball team wants to be identified as a man this season.”
“I didn’t choose to be born in this body and feel the way I do,” said Kye Allums, formerly known as “Kay-Kay.” “I’m trying to help myself and others to be who they are.” She later added, “My teammates have embraced me as the big brother on the team.
For now, Allums will just be changing her name and any pronoun references — coaches and teammates will call her “he” instead of “she.” No drug protocols or surgery are expected this season.
Robert Chernak, George Washington senior vice provost, said the university “supports Kye and his right to make this decision.”
I have a question: If Allums believes so strongly that she is male, why doesn’t she go compete with the boys? Why does she want to remain on the women’s team?
[2]Allums and George Washington University simply reflect an emerging reality. In a post-modern world, you are whatever sex you believe or feel that you are.
In fact, there are some post-modern adherents that insist sexuality and/or gender should be fluid. In other words, individuals can feel like a male one day and believe they are female the next. I’m not sure this is what country singer Shania Twain had in mind when she sang, “Man, I feel like a woman.”
In an attempt to explain post-modern thought, social critic Os Guinness wrote:
“The old story of three baseball umpires provides a simple summary of such radical relativism. ‘There’s balls and there’s strikes, and I call them the way they are,’ says the first umpire (speaking with a traditional and Christian view of truth).
“‘No, no,’ says the second. ‘There’s balls and there’s strikes, and I call them the way I see them’ (speaking with a moderately relativistic view of truth). ‘No, no, no,’ says the third (speaking with a post-modern and radically relativistic view of truth). ‘There’s balls and there’s strikes, and they ain’t nothing until I call them.'”
So, you see, in a post-modern world there are males and females but a person is whatever sex they say they are. And, in some cases, that might even change with the wind.
The only trouble with post-modern thought, especially when it comes to sexuality, is that it denies reality. And, when people pursue a perceived “truth” without regard to reality, there are real consequences.
There are some individuals who embraced the post-modern belief that they are whatever sex they feel they are. Some have followed the path to sex reassignment surgery and later regretted it.
Perhaps one of the most famous transgendered individuals was 1970s professional tennis player and ophthalmologist Renee Richards. In a 1999 interview with “Tennis” magazine, Richards expressed some regret over having had a sex change operation.
“As far as being fulfilled as a woman, I’m not as fulfilled as I dreamed of being,” Richards said. “I receive letters from people who are considering having this operation … and I discourage them all.”
Another high profile individual who embraced the post-modern idea of sexual confusion was British millionaire Charles Kane. He had sex-change surgery in 1987 and lived as a woman for 17 years.
Five years ago Kane came to the conclusion he had made a mistake and had surgery to once again become a male. He announced recently that he is getting married as a man.
“People who think they are a woman trapped in a male body are completely deluded. I certainly was,” Kane told Britain’s “Daily Mail.” newspaper. He continued, “I needed counseling, not a sex change operation.”
There are those who will argue that many people who believe they are transsexual do undergo counseling prior to sex reassignment surgery. However, post-modern counseling only helps a person confirm feelings about his or her feelings. There is no concern with the absolute truth of male and female reality.
ABC News, on its website, recently recounted the story of Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner who in 2007 announced he was a woman. Penner became Christine Daniels.
In 2008, Penner missed his former life. He tried to return to his wife, but she rejected him. Shortly thereafter, Penner committed suicide. Sadly, post-modern sexual confusion ended tragically for Mr. Penner.
In her book, “The Death of Right and Wrong,” Tammy Bruce challenges the idea that sex-change surgery can transform someone into the opposite sex. “A woman’s identity comes from her complete history…. Ironically, the idea of becoming a woman through surgery and hormones could only appeal to men who are truly clueless about what it means to be a woman.” The same could be said of women wanting to become men.
The radical relativism of post-modern thought has produced a female who feels she is really a male but still wants to play on the women’s basketball team. Further, the whole situation is endorsed by the university she attends. If you’re not confused, you are simply not paying attention.
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Kelly Boggs is a weekly columnist for Baptist Press and editor of the Baptist Message (www.baptistmessage.com), newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.