George, thanks for the thoughtful comments. I agree with most of your post. But agreement is boring. Here is a departure. You state that the Age of Reason was a reaction to a few centuries of religious passion.
Well, first the Age of Reason included a TON of religious thinking. Also, religious passion has been the norm. Muslims con…
George, thanks for the thoughtful comments. I agree with most of your post. But agreement is boring. Here is a departure. You state that the Age of Reason was a reaction to a few centuries of religious passion.
Well, first the Age of Reason included a TON of religious thinking. Also, religious passion has been the norm. Muslims conquered most of the known world because of religious passion. Nero slaughtered Christians because of religious passion.
Today, as you rightly point out, there are different religious stories. For instance, if you believe that you are a different sex than your body then you should be able to mutilate your body, destroy your fertility and everyone else HAS TO AGREE WITH YOU.
We all have a religious impulse. We should be careful about replacing the old until we know the consequences of the new.
The history of religions creating and being victims is rather endless and denominationally insignificant. Even the Buddhists have proven sadly capable of these crimes.
Religious enthusiasm didn't of course disappear during the age of reason, it just got back-seated. By way of understanding our place in time through music, art and literature, the Romantic period which replaced the Age of Reason has a very different tenor, and I was Quite surprised to read that 'enthusiasm' could even begin to be considered a derogotory term. Gave me a moment of thought as I rather considered myself to be part of the 18th century thought pattern.
Here's a little close-in story regarding sex-change in adolescence; I had a nephew who is now a niece. His/her father, as a football star in high school, had prompted his only son to be much like him. His/her Catholic mother was equally oblivious (or effortfully ignoring) the evolving psychological situation in their child. When the breakpoint became too obvious to possibly ignore about age 13, they realized that the life and happiness of their child was more important than their imagined son and allowed him to be put on hormone treatments.
At four years old this boy, when observed from an open bathroom door was seen talking to himself asking his penis if it was still there? and when was it going to go away? One Christmas when his sister received an assortment of gender based presents and he got a few sporty masculine gifts, he went into his bedroom and cried because he wanted what his sister received. I will grant you that the implications of sex-change in adolescents is fraught territory and should never be taken lightly, but the information the parents received that brought them to acceptance of gender change was that suicide was one of the more likely results of resisting the change.
Sex and gender loom large, like positive/negative, posing as veritable truths, but biology has its own odd ways of connection and disconnection. In the case of this family the father had to give up his only son, and bear the burden of parental sadness for having struggled to make him like himself; his mother gave up some of her Catholic morality to probably save her child's life. What do you think?
We are caught in an exponential swirl of technological (and its resulting social) change. Adaptability is one of humankind's strong suits; but religions and other ideologies tend to create castles that need protecting. My interest is in finding spiritual fulfillment without building walls to protect.
my favorite quote; "our emotions are Paleolithic, our institutions Medieval and our technology God-like.
George, I am sorry for the pain that your family has gone through. Your note conveys some (assuredly not close to all) of the gut-wrenching trauma of the process to date. It sounds like your family made hard decisions based on the best advice they could get.
However, new information has come to light, some of it quite recently. First, the studies showing that medical alterations yielding an apparently different sex reduce mental health issues, especially suicide, have been reviewed and found wanting. Most critically, they did not follow their subjects long enough. Immediately after surgery and recovery the subjects were enthusiastic. But five years later their mental issues, including suicide rates, were just as bad as before.
Further, the consequences of surgical and hormonal alterations are better known today. All of the individuals who have genital surgeries lose fertility. They also lose the ability to reach orgasm. The hormonal therapies cause high rates of heart and circulatory problems such as strokes for those wanting to appear female. For those wanting to appear male, the testosterone causes a slew of serious problems and the less-serious problem of pattern baldness for many.
In a court case in the UK the primary clinic for caring for individuals presenting with gender dysphoria, the Tavistock gender clinic, lost its charter to do so. A key part of the court findings was this: Essentially all boys and girls presenting with gender dysphoria who were given puberty blockers eventually moved on to take opposite-sex hormones and (for many of them) surgical alterations. However, if "watchful waiting" was used about 80% would become comfortable with their bodies by early adulthood.
The same drugs used as puberty blockers are used for chemical castrations.
We do indeed have powerful technologies. The question is, do we have enough wisdom and humility to use them well?
George, thanks for the thoughtful comments. I agree with most of your post. But agreement is boring. Here is a departure. You state that the Age of Reason was a reaction to a few centuries of religious passion.
Well, first the Age of Reason included a TON of religious thinking. Also, religious passion has been the norm. Muslims conquered most of the known world because of religious passion. Nero slaughtered Christians because of religious passion.
Today, as you rightly point out, there are different religious stories. For instance, if you believe that you are a different sex than your body then you should be able to mutilate your body, destroy your fertility and everyone else HAS TO AGREE WITH YOU.
We all have a religious impulse. We should be careful about replacing the old until we know the consequences of the new.
The history of religions creating and being victims is rather endless and denominationally insignificant. Even the Buddhists have proven sadly capable of these crimes.
Religious enthusiasm didn't of course disappear during the age of reason, it just got back-seated. By way of understanding our place in time through music, art and literature, the Romantic period which replaced the Age of Reason has a very different tenor, and I was Quite surprised to read that 'enthusiasm' could even begin to be considered a derogotory term. Gave me a moment of thought as I rather considered myself to be part of the 18th century thought pattern.
Here's a little close-in story regarding sex-change in adolescence; I had a nephew who is now a niece. His/her father, as a football star in high school, had prompted his only son to be much like him. His/her Catholic mother was equally oblivious (or effortfully ignoring) the evolving psychological situation in their child. When the breakpoint became too obvious to possibly ignore about age 13, they realized that the life and happiness of their child was more important than their imagined son and allowed him to be put on hormone treatments.
At four years old this boy, when observed from an open bathroom door was seen talking to himself asking his penis if it was still there? and when was it going to go away? One Christmas when his sister received an assortment of gender based presents and he got a few sporty masculine gifts, he went into his bedroom and cried because he wanted what his sister received. I will grant you that the implications of sex-change in adolescents is fraught territory and should never be taken lightly, but the information the parents received that brought them to acceptance of gender change was that suicide was one of the more likely results of resisting the change.
Sex and gender loom large, like positive/negative, posing as veritable truths, but biology has its own odd ways of connection and disconnection. In the case of this family the father had to give up his only son, and bear the burden of parental sadness for having struggled to make him like himself; his mother gave up some of her Catholic morality to probably save her child's life. What do you think?
We are caught in an exponential swirl of technological (and its resulting social) change. Adaptability is one of humankind's strong suits; but religions and other ideologies tend to create castles that need protecting. My interest is in finding spiritual fulfillment without building walls to protect.
my favorite quote; "our emotions are Paleolithic, our institutions Medieval and our technology God-like.
Wow, I hadn't heard a personal account like this. Thanks for sharing.
George, I am sorry for the pain that your family has gone through. Your note conveys some (assuredly not close to all) of the gut-wrenching trauma of the process to date. It sounds like your family made hard decisions based on the best advice they could get.
However, new information has come to light, some of it quite recently. First, the studies showing that medical alterations yielding an apparently different sex reduce mental health issues, especially suicide, have been reviewed and found wanting. Most critically, they did not follow their subjects long enough. Immediately after surgery and recovery the subjects were enthusiastic. But five years later their mental issues, including suicide rates, were just as bad as before.
Further, the consequences of surgical and hormonal alterations are better known today. All of the individuals who have genital surgeries lose fertility. They also lose the ability to reach orgasm. The hormonal therapies cause high rates of heart and circulatory problems such as strokes for those wanting to appear female. For those wanting to appear male, the testosterone causes a slew of serious problems and the less-serious problem of pattern baldness for many.
In a court case in the UK the primary clinic for caring for individuals presenting with gender dysphoria, the Tavistock gender clinic, lost its charter to do so. A key part of the court findings was this: Essentially all boys and girls presenting with gender dysphoria who were given puberty blockers eventually moved on to take opposite-sex hormones and (for many of them) surgical alterations. However, if "watchful waiting" was used about 80% would become comfortable with their bodies by early adulthood.
The same drugs used as puberty blockers are used for chemical castrations.
We do indeed have powerful technologies. The question is, do we have enough wisdom and humility to use them well?