I have an apron :D
May. 23rd, 2011 12:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
potato_headSo just got back from my first shift back at work again (at a chain donut/coffee shop). We have new uniforms! Dark blue jeans, white polo t-shirt, and a brown apron. I have never actually gotten to wear an apron before but I personally think aprons are adorable and also I am adorable in an apron :D
Anyways, I was thinking about this at work (closing shift at DD's=lots of time to think, lol...more cleaning than customers) and figured I could write up a post on it.
Basically, this is in response to those religious (often Christian) people who believe trans people are not 'really' trans, specifically because "God doesn't make mistakes". I have A Lot Of Thoughts on this, but have never really written them out, since my general policy is to not engage people who are being deliberately transphobic; but I suppose I should not wait to be provoked to have my say.
This is probably obvious, but I'll just point out here that beyond the cut there is a lot of religious talk, specifically Christian-centric, and it will probably be very YMMV for other Christians as well depending on your personal beliefs. It will also be YMMV for other trans people, I expect. Basically, these are just my thoughts and my beliefs (and don't even come close to representing the whole of my beliefs), etc. etc., y'all are mature so I know you can handle that.
God doesn't make mistakes.
My short response is: I agree. God doesn't make mistakes.
My long response is: I am quite sure that I am exactly who, and what, God intended me to be. I do not think that for me to be trans, God would have had to make a mistake.
You are the one saying that I cannot both have this body and be a man. God has nothing to say on the matter. It is strange, to me, to assume that God's idea of what is or isn't correct is based on our current society's values. What makes us more right than any other culture from which we are separated by space or time? What makes our current cultural ideals any more holy? I cannot think that God would mark successes and failures by how popular something is, being as he is neither an idiot (I hope) or a businessman (I am pretty sure of that one).
Besides the concept itself of being transgender, these types of people seem to make much of the medical procedures involved in (some people's) transition. I can see, to some extent, where they are coming from; they see it as spitting in the eye of God to arrogantly proclaim you know better than he what your body should look like - like taking a beautiful piece of art that has been given to you as a gift, and painting over it. Legal, to be sure, but morally questionable, and certainly very rude.
I feel, however, that to see the hormonal treatments and surgeries involved in transition this way indicates a vast undervaluing of the beautiful miracle that the human body is. If we want to read the tale of Adam and Eve literally (I prefer not to read too literally into the bible, but many people feel otherwise), we see that the differences between man and woman were something of an afterthought; the inner mechanics of the body, where we find the truly amazing complexity of God's work, are the same across all sexes. By taking testosterone, I am not devaluing the miraculous ability of the neuron cells in my brain to generate thoughts and emotions; just because I have top surgery does not mean I am any less grateful for the heart beating in my chest.
In short, and to use the metaphors I love to use, the problem is that the human body is not a piece of visual art, and that is not where its beauty lies. Its beauty lies in the fact that it is an incredibly complex and ingenious organic machine. Is it disrespectful to the person who engineered your car to have it repainted? Are you less grateful for your house if you remodel it?
God gives us all different paths to walk and different choices we must make. We all go through changes from birth; we are expected to grow and mature and become the people we are meant to be, and this means different changes for every person. Just because my path is different from yours, does not make it an ungodly path. Just because my change is not one you have gone through, does not mean I was not meant to go through it.
I do not need you to like me. But do not tell me what God thinks of what I'm doing with my life.
(Also, I just realized this is both my only queer icon and my only religious icon, lololol)
(...religious icon. LOL. Get it? 6 u 9)
Anyways, I was thinking about this at work (closing shift at DD's=lots of time to think, lol...more cleaning than customers) and figured I could write up a post on it.
Basically, this is in response to those religious (often Christian) people who believe trans people are not 'really' trans, specifically because "God doesn't make mistakes". I have A Lot Of Thoughts on this, but have never really written them out, since my general policy is to not engage people who are being deliberately transphobic; but I suppose I should not wait to be provoked to have my say.
This is probably obvious, but I'll just point out here that beyond the cut there is a lot of religious talk, specifically Christian-centric, and it will probably be very YMMV for other Christians as well depending on your personal beliefs. It will also be YMMV for other trans people, I expect. Basically, these are just my thoughts and my beliefs (and don't even come close to representing the whole of my beliefs), etc. etc., y'all are mature so I know you can handle that.
God doesn't make mistakes.
My short response is: I agree. God doesn't make mistakes.
My long response is: I am quite sure that I am exactly who, and what, God intended me to be. I do not think that for me to be trans, God would have had to make a mistake.
You are the one saying that I cannot both have this body and be a man. God has nothing to say on the matter. It is strange, to me, to assume that God's idea of what is or isn't correct is based on our current society's values. What makes us more right than any other culture from which we are separated by space or time? What makes our current cultural ideals any more holy? I cannot think that God would mark successes and failures by how popular something is, being as he is neither an idiot (I hope) or a businessman (I am pretty sure of that one).
Besides the concept itself of being transgender, these types of people seem to make much of the medical procedures involved in (some people's) transition. I can see, to some extent, where they are coming from; they see it as spitting in the eye of God to arrogantly proclaim you know better than he what your body should look like - like taking a beautiful piece of art that has been given to you as a gift, and painting over it. Legal, to be sure, but morally questionable, and certainly very rude.
I feel, however, that to see the hormonal treatments and surgeries involved in transition this way indicates a vast undervaluing of the beautiful miracle that the human body is. If we want to read the tale of Adam and Eve literally (I prefer not to read too literally into the bible, but many people feel otherwise), we see that the differences between man and woman were something of an afterthought; the inner mechanics of the body, where we find the truly amazing complexity of God's work, are the same across all sexes. By taking testosterone, I am not devaluing the miraculous ability of the neuron cells in my brain to generate thoughts and emotions; just because I have top surgery does not mean I am any less grateful for the heart beating in my chest.
In short, and to use the metaphors I love to use, the problem is that the human body is not a piece of visual art, and that is not where its beauty lies. Its beauty lies in the fact that it is an incredibly complex and ingenious organic machine. Is it disrespectful to the person who engineered your car to have it repainted? Are you less grateful for your house if you remodel it?
God gives us all different paths to walk and different choices we must make. We all go through changes from birth; we are expected to grow and mature and become the people we are meant to be, and this means different changes for every person. Just because my path is different from yours, does not make it an ungodly path. Just because my change is not one you have gone through, does not mean I was not meant to go through it.
I do not need you to like me. But do not tell me what God thinks of what I'm doing with my life.
(Also, I just realized this is both my only queer icon and my only religious icon, lololol)
(...religious icon. LOL. Get it? 6 u 9)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Thank you
Re: Thank you
Date: 2011-05-24 05:55 am (UTC)I wouldn't mind spreading it around, I just don't know where else I would post it, except maybe
Re: Thank you
Date: 2011-05-24 06:14 am (UTC)Re: Thank you
Date: 2011-05-24 06:18 am (UTC)Re: Thank you
Date: 2011-05-25 04:07 am (UTC)Re: Thank you
Date: 2011-05-25 04:13 am (UTC)I think in the meantime I'll at least repost it on