Choice has begun to prevail over traditional and biological
distinctions. You can choose your sex and sexual orientation, and, in many
places, raising any counter-arguments has now become a criminal offense. Even scientific
distinctions have been discarded in favor of allowing children to choose their
own sex and sexual orientation.
How is it that such sexual and biological confusion
justified? It is argued that we should not be coerced to conform to an identity
that doesn’t feel right or comfortable to us. Instead, we should be free to
choose what feels right rather than having a choice imposed.
To illustrate this, I had made a gross generalization
between males and females. I stated, when we observe a mugging, the male is
more inclined to want to see the mugger captured and punished, while the female
is more concerned about taking care of the victim.
However, when my friend heard me make this generalization,
he indignantly responded, “I too am more inclined to help the victim.” Evidently,
my statement called into question his “maleness,” although I didn’t mean to do
so. I just was talking about a general
tendency. Of course, many other factors are at play.
In fact, our categories are like scientific laws. For
example, gravity operates in accordance with a fixed, elegant, and predictable
law. However, gravity makes certain things rise and others fall, relative to
the nature of the objects. Lead weights fall and helium balloons respond in the
opposite manner, both due to the influence of gravity.
Does this variation mean that gravity is no more than a
matter of choice? Certainly not! It merely means that other factors have to be
taken into account. Helium balloons rise because of their lack of density
compared to the surrounding air, but it goes up because of gravity rather than
choice. Gravity is still at play.
Maleness still exerts its influence even in the case where
the male chooses to be a woman. However, this male might be responding to many
other factors, like his perception of the expectations of society and friends,
or even his relationship or non-relationship with his father.
My male friend might have been influenced by his family to
honor compassion over justice. However, this factor doesn’t mean that he is any
less a male than I am. Nor does the behavior of a helium balloon invalidate
gravity. Instead, it merely injects another factor into the gravity equation.
However, many today reject the reality of maleness or
femaleness by virtue of the fact that many feel and choose differently.
Therefore, they not only want to rid the world of these categories and also of those
who hold to them. However, although their maleness still exists, it might have
merely been pushed underground by other factors.
Instead, rebelling against these categories is like
rebelling against the reality of gravity. They are free to rebel all they want
against gravity. However, if they jump from a building, they will pay a dear price
for it.
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