As Christians, we believe that we were made in the image of God. That each of us is born with different gifts and different purposes within His kingdom. This is reflected in the duality of male and female, which Genesis 5:2 makes clear when it says, “He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them ‘Mankind’ when they were created.”
Consequently, Christians have fought to recognize these innate differences. For instance, they have sought to defend the claim that to be a “woman” means to be born a woman who can give birth and menstruate.
As simple as this claim may seem, making it could get you labeled with the demeaning title of “TERF” or “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” (even if you don’t identify as a feminist).
The phrase was popularized in a 2000s blog post by Viv Smythe in an effort to describe efforts by feminist activists to exclude transgender males-to-females from women’s sports and locker rooms out of concern for the erasure of women’s experiences and potential safety concerns. [1]
While modern feminism is a far cry from traditionalism, it seems pretty obvious that the cause of genuinely oppressed women is being overshadowed by an over-emphasis on the needs of a minority of transgender activists.
In the words of one feminist writer:
“Author and trans activist, Julia Serano, tweeted that ‘contraception-centric feminism’ has been ‘alienating’ for her. Yeah, well, that tweet is pretty alienating to the hundreds of thousands of women…still struggling for basic rights. I mean, what’s more important?” [2]
This attack on feminist activists, who would have otherwise aligned themselves with the transgender cause, is yet another example of the “cancel culture” recently bemoaned by actor Johnny Depp (which was memorialized in a mocking article by MovieMaker). [3]
Although it is slightly out of context, in 2 Peter 3:17-18, the admonition to avoid the dangers of disregarding the teachings of the Lord demonstrate the slippery slope posed by these movements: “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.”
While this may seem like a purely esoteric sounding concern, these kinds of conflicts and issues pose a serious danger to the well-being of people across the spectrum. A very clear example of this—which even Snopes fact-checks as “True”—is the case of a transgender male-to-female rapist being transferred to a women’s prison. This individual, unsurprisingly, then proceeded to sexually assault up to four women before finally being transferred back to the men’s prison. [4]
As it says in Isaiah 56:1 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.’”
We can take comfort in this verse because its timeless message is simple: we must continue to defend the truth, no matter what language is used to belittle and exclude those realities. For the sake of women and their basic rights, we can never back down.
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[1] Viv Smythe, “I'm credited with having coined the word 'Terf'. Here's how it happened,” The Guardian (November 29, 2018), https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened
[2] Penny White, “Why I no longer hate ‘TERFs’,” Feminist Current (November 10, 2015), https://www.feministcurrent.com/2015/11/10/why-i-no-longer-hate-terfs/
[3] Tim Molloy, “Johnny Depp Blasts ‘Cancel Culture’ From Literal Platform; More Strike Talk; R.I.P. Melvin Van Peebles,” MovieMaker (September 23, 2021), https://www.moviemaker.com/johnny-depp-blasts-cancel-culture-from-literal-platform-more-strike-talk-r-i-p-melvin-van-peebles/
[4] David Emery, “Did a Male Rapist Who Identifies as Female Transfer to a Women’s Jail and Assault Female Inmates?,” Snopes (November 30, 2018), https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/male-rapist-transfer-womens-jail/
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