Dear Parishioners,

Just about everyone I know wants to be nice. Deep down everyone has a need to be accepted and that requires us to bend the way we think and act to conform to those around us. If we lived in a virtuous and faithful society, this would be a very good thing because we would be encouraged to follow God more profoundly. But, we do not live in a society that celebrates the good. So, this kind of niceness that causes Christians to passively agree with the state of the world will always be in tension with what is true and good.

Specifically, I am thinking about the transgender movement which is slowly reshaping society. There are certain people that believe that their gender does not conform with their biological sex and that it is possible to change one’s sex through medical means. This belief flies in the face of reason and observable fact because it is obvious that one’s biological sex determines gender, not the other way around. It is contrary to what is good because people who take this seriously mutilate themselves in order to achieve their ideal appearance.

Yet, as much as these beliefs do not correspond to reality, many Christians go along with it just to be nice. Anyone who does not conform is called a bigot and no one bothers to discuss the merits of the transgender movement because they have no case. All rhetoric for transgenderism is meant to silence criticism, not engage with it. I fully appreciate that people who suffer with gender dysphoria ought to be sympathized with and helped. However, that does not mean we have to affirm what is obviously not true.

To make matters worse, this transgender ideology is a fad among the administration of public schools and children are encouraged to pursue transgender therapy because they display characteristics stereotypically associated with the opposite gender. There is a great video on the Pints with Aquinas podcast (and youtube channel, which also contains short clips of the highlights of the longer interview) in which a woman named Chloe Cole discusses how she was railroaded by school counselors to transition to male in her adolescence and has de-transitioned as a young adult. Her story is well worth listening to for anyone who thinks this transgender ideology is a good thing. Furthermore, I highly recommend Jason Evert’s book “Male, Female, Other?” which debunks many myths of this movement.

I know some people might be hurt or confused by me bringing up this topic. I am always open to dialog and willing to provide more information than can fit in this small article. So, if anyone needs to discuss anything I said, feel free to reach out. May we all continue to pray for one another as we pursue holiness.

God Bless!

Fr. Carter