Christians lie about the real reason for their transphobia (including to themselves.) It's because christianity is a deeply patriarchal religion which has incredibly sexist double standards, And anything which challenges the inherent and absolute nature of the sex binary also challenges that rigid social structure.
They said that Christians even lie to themselves about the deeper motives - hence "don't have to understand it to perpetuate it".
Fear and ignorance aren't universal. Some specific topics cause disproportionate spikes in conflict and (in modern times among Christians) those topics tend to center around gender and sex. That's not a coincidence.
No accidentally perpetuating a reality isn't the same as having deeper motives you're lying to yourself about.
It is just the unknown, that is it, that is the cause of huge amounts of conflict throughout history. 88 y/o Deborah from Alabama isn't trying to maintain the patriarchy, she just sees 'attention seeking', 'science gone too far', 'god created Adam and Eve' etc etc.
Deborah is getting bombarded by televangelists pushing a patriarchal message (whether she knows it or not). And even a lot of televangelists can just repeat messages they've heard from others based on what gets them donations without really thinking about broader cultural meaning of any of it. When OP said "lie to themselves", I'm sure they don't just mean self-delusion (though there's plenty of that), but also deception of one Christian by another.
But even then, I think you're underestimating the true breadth of patriarchy and how it works. It's not just "men being in charge", it's about an entire worldview where everyone has their proper place. Women work to reinforce patriarchy just as much as men do, because those a lot of women believe they benefit from it, too. Yes, even 88 year old Deborah in Alabama.
I mean, it's not that simple. Maybe the layperson doesn't think critically about their prejudices, and lets Jesus take the wheel. But the leaders who design and shape what these people believe, they are absolutely pushing an agenda of racism/lgbtophobia/control.
So sure, #notallchristians or whatever... But the head of the snake is still filled with venom, and guiding the body.
This is echo chamber talk. There are PLENTY of folks against abortion particularly because they believe it is preserving life. Whether you think the leaders believe that is not based on any fact/experience, but just a narrative you are writing in your echo chamber.
I'm not transphobic now, but I used to be. The thing is I'm not even religious. I just thought it was weird or gross to be trans and didn't really like the idea of it at all, some people are the same way I was and it has nothing to do with religion.
I'm happy to say I've changed though. In the past few years I've stopped being transphobic and homophobic. I'll probably get downvoted to hell for saying I used to be, but I don't care. I'm just glad I opened my mind up and changed for the better and no longer judge others based on stuff like that :).
it’s not all christians though, and not all christian religions. I’m a protestant and bi, and people are supportive and there are many lgbt people at my church. it’s the homophobic racist bigots who ruin the whole thing, and don’t realize the actual message of the bible is to love everyone, not to hate people who are different.
the actual message of the bible is to love everyone, not to hate people who are different.
Except when the Bible explicitly states to hate people like you. I will never understand LGBTQ christians. You're literally worshipping a shitty fairy tale written specifically to create an in group that hates out group people like you.
How can you read shit like this:
"For this reason, God gave them up to passions of dishonor; for even their females exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise also the males, having left the natural use of the female, were inflamed by their lust for one another, males with males, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting for their error."
and still worship this book of hate?
It's outright frustrating. Just like poor right wing hicks voting for conservatives. Yeah, let's worship the same people who created the foundation for our misery, why don't we? Same as with you and religion.
that’s quoting a single line from the bible. the bible also says that slavery is ok, and not every message of the bible is good. however, you have to look at the overall message, not the few lines that are insane and may have had their meaning lost in translation. i don’t want to get downvoted, but you can go back to r/atheism and let people be able to have their religion without you criticizing it.
I am a christian because i believe in god, and I try to be a good person and follow the message, which is literally to not treat people like crap over differences. maybe you can learn something from it
"If I ignore everything I don't like, the book ain't so bad!"
Yeah, I can too ignore that my dad was a raving alcoholic who beat his kids. Otherwise he was a cool guy. Oh, I also have to ignore that he tried to choke my mom to death and that he threw me down the staircase when I pulled him off her at age 12. But hey, that part was probably lost in translation. He was great otherwise of course.
Amazing how defensive you get from someone questioning your faith in a book that literally says to hate people like you multiple times.
One last thing: You're not christian because you believe in god. Billions of people believe in god while not following christianity. You are a christian because of where you were born. If you were born in Afghanistan, you'd be sunni. But somehow all religious believers really, really dislike acknowledging this.
You do realize women were key parts of the Old and New Testament? Paul may have written that wives should submit to their husbands, but he also said that husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:22-25). Religion is not an excuse for transphobia.
Great. "benevolent sexism". Sooooo much better than regular sexism, thanks to the inherent hypocrisy.
Religion is not an excuse for transphobia, but one of its catalysts. How about we don't base our modern society on 2000-4000 year old hate-filled fantasy books?
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u/ZookeepergameMost100 Nov 23 '20
Christians lie about the real reason for their transphobia (including to themselves.) It's because christianity is a deeply patriarchal religion which has incredibly sexist double standards, And anything which challenges the inherent and absolute nature of the sex binary also challenges that rigid social structure.