The Next Big Wave

Imagine standing along the ocean shore and enjoying the gentle splashing of the waves. Then, without warning, a rogue wave flips you upside down and pile drives you into the sand. It actually happened to one of my coworkers, Herb, several years ago. One minute Herb was soaking in the pleasure of a beach vacation, the next he was being rushed to the hospital in the back of an ambulance, his shoulder painfully broken.  Herb never saw it coming.

Wave after wave of change has been hitting Western culture in recent years, and society as we know it is being turned upside down. The Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage, for example, has resulted in controversy and confusion on many levels. We’d be foolish to think, however, that we’ll soon be settling into our “new normal.”

Non-binary Gender

Another wave is rising on the horizon, and believe it or not, its influence may be further reaching. I’m referring to our cultural movement in the direction of non-binary gender.

“What,” your perplexed mind may be asking, “does non-binary gender mean?”

The gender binary refers to our traditional approach to the male/female classifications. If you’ve ever read the story of creation in the Bible, you’re probably familiar with the male/female distinction established by God on the sixth day of creation:

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 (NASB, emphasis added)

For most of known history, society has largely functioned as though men and women are innately different. This isn’t to say that all men and women fit neatly into stereotypical molds, but that the two genders serve to complement one another for procreation and the healthy function of families, among other things.

A massive and long-term LGBT public relations campaign effectively shifted public opinion on the issue of gay marriage. The push to classify non-binary gender as a normal and acceptable identity is next.

From Classroom to Culture

The intellectual elite on many of our college campuses now see things differently. Instead of a male/female classification, they are emphasizing a gender spectrum with male on one end and female on the other. The idea is that any gender expression between the two poles is entirely normal and should be seen by society as such. Thus, Bruce Jenner was publicly championed for embracing his non-binary identity of Caitlyn.

During my years of college ministry, I learned that whatever is being taught in college classrooms will soon be the order of the day in lower education and in society at large. Thus, I’m not surprised to see the push toward gender-neutral restrooms in public places.

It’s happening in Houston. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/melanie-hunter/houstons-proposed-bathroom-ordinance-endangers-women-and-girls-group

It’s happening at the high school in Hillsboro, Missouri. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/us/teenagers-protest-a-transgender-students-use-of-the-girls-bathroom.html?_r=0

And it’s happening at Miraloma elementary school in California. http://news.yahoo.com/us-elementary-school-does-away-gendered-bathrooms-234550022.html

Identity—Not Accommodation

Please be advised—we’re not referring to separate restroom facilities for transgender people because that would communicate that they are somehow abnormal. This isn’t an issue of accommodation, but of identity. Consequently, nothing less than complete acceptance and affirmation will be tolerated.

Furthermore, if you think it’s wrong for a young man who self-identifies as a female to use a girls’ locker room, you are ignorant, bigoted, and dehumanizing. In other words, you—not the male self-identifying as a female—are the one who is confused and out of touch with reality.

Potential Consequences

I’m not an alarmist at heart, but the potential for a tsunami-like disaster is huge. The difference between this wave and the last is the scope of its reach, including, among other things, the potential for confusion and even abuse.

The very idea, for example, of separate men’s and women’s sports teams might be considered discriminatory.  Furthermore, what is to prevent a hormone-driven teenage male from suddenly “self-identifying” as a female simply to gawk at anatomical females in the locker room? And who can say that’s wrong for a convicted rapist to do his business in the stall next to a binary female?

In addition to a rise in the number of females being sexually violated, the establishment of gender neutral restrooms may spell the death-knell for our public school system. I can guarantee that parents who are tolerant of homosexuality are mortified by the idea of their daughters sharing a restroom facility with an anatomical male.

The push for alternative schooling will rise, public school revenue will fall, and the rate of decay in our educational system will multiply. Furthermore, in order to accommodate female-identifying males, objecting females who are unable to obtain alternative schooling will be forced out of their own restrooms and into alternative options. All in the claim of non-discrimination.

If you think that mine are the words of a hate-filled homophobe, I’m also concerned about a potentially violent backlash against LBGT youth. As evidenced by the bizarre popularity of Donald Trump in the polls, a percentage of our population is increasingly frustrated by the way they feel political correctness is being shoved down their throats. We’d be foolish to think that transgendered youth will be politely accommodated as non-binary gender ideologies are forced upon society at large.

As always seems to be the case, when ideologies clash, young people are the ones most often caught in the crossfire.

Can the general public see where this is all heading, or will we continue to accept the claim that there’s no such thing as a slippery slope? Only time will tell, but regardless of where we stand on the issue, the wave is beginning to swell.

photo credit: the BIG wave via photopin (license)