Gender ideology

The gender ideology is a snarl word and straw man argument used in both Catholicism and Protestantism, clerics or laypeople from other denominations or those unaffiliated with any religion to refer to transgenderism and gender identity/expression.[1][2][3] Similar terms such as "gender identity ideology" are also being adopted by TERFs.[4]

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The expression is also used as a catch-all term for many sexuality-related topics and moral panics, including, but not limited to:

  • Same-sex marriage (even civil unions)[5]
  • Same-sex parenting.[6]
  • Forcing male children to wear lipstick at school.[7]
  • Teaching children how to masturbate at school.[8]
  • Abortion, in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy.[9]

Italy, where Catholicism thrives, has seen the rise of many Catholic-inspired anti-LGBT associations. Among these:

  • Generazione Famiglia (which is the Italian version of La Manif Pour Tous),
  • Provita,
  • Sentinelle in Piedi (Standing sentinels),
  • Giuristi per la Vita (Pro-life Jurists),

and many others. These associations often perpetuate moral panics about and misinformation on transgenderism, same-sex marriage/civil unions, homosexual indoctrination, same-sex parenting and even surrogacy (which has not even been discussed in the parliament, but is used as a slippery slope argument against adoptions — even stepchild adoptions).

In the Italian[10], Polish[11], German[12] and Slovak[13] versions of the expression, "gender" is kept in its English form, since it sounds scarier and more mysterious than their native counterparts.[citation NOT needed]

Pope Francis' statements

Transgenderism and nuclear weapons

Pope Francis compared the arguments against nuclear weapons to those against gender identity and transgender people.

“”Let’s think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings. Let's think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognize the order of creation. With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator. The true custody of creation does not have anything to do with the ideologies that consider man like an accident, like a problem to eliminate. God has placed man and woman and the summit of creation and has entrusted them with the earth. The design of the Creator is written in nature.
—Pope Francis[14]

Beyond the inherent logical fallacies, this is a clear false analogy. Genetic modification and transgenderism both do not "consider man […] an accident" or attempt to eliminate humans — instead, they both try to make humans better. Conversely, it is very hard to argue that nuclear weapons, and war in general, are aimed at anything but human destruction. (Excluding theories about nuclear deterrence and nuclear peace, both of which were both theorized long after the first nukes rolled off the assembly line.)

The family - male and female
“”Modern contemporary culture has opened new spaces, new forms of freedom and new depths in order to enrich the understanding of this difference. But it has also introduced many doubts and much skepticism. For example, I ask myself, if the so-called gender theory is not, at the same time, an expression of frustration and resignation, which seeks to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it. Yes, we risk taking a step backwards. The removal of difference in fact creates a problem, not a solution. In order to resolve the problems in their relationships, men and women need to speak to one another more, listen to each other more, get to know one another better, love one another more. […] I would urge intellectuals not to leave this theme aside, as if it had to become secondary in order to foster a more free and just society.
—Pope Francis[15]

Amoris Laetitia

Amoris laetitia (The Joy of Love) is the apostolic exhortation that Pope Francis wrote after the two years of synod on the family.

“”Yet another challenge is posed by the various forms of an ideology of gender that “denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family. This ideology leads to educational programmes and legislative enactments that promote a personal identity and emotional intimacy radically separated from the biological difference between male and female. Consequently, human identity becomes the choice of the individual, one which can also change over time”[16]. It is a source of concern that some ideologies of this sort, which seek to respond to what are at times understandable aspirations, manage to assert themselves as absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised. It needs to be emphasized that “biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated”. On the other hand, “the technological revolution in the field of human procreation has introduced the ability to manipulate the reproductive act, making it independent of the sexual relationship between a man and a woman. In this way, human life and parenthood have become modular and separable realities, subject mainly to the wishes of individuals or couples”. It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality. Let us not fall into the sin of trying to replace the Creator. We are creatures, and not omnipotent. Creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift. At the same time, we are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created.
—Pope Francis[17]

Political parties

In March 2016, a political party called "Il Popolo della Famiglia" (The People of Family) was founded by Mario Adinolfi, one of the most well-known anti-LGBT activists in Italy. The party's motto is "No gender in schools".[18]

Alleged promoters

According to Christina Hoff Sommers and fundamentalists, those who promote the gender ideology are:

gollark: BEE this mysterious... user?
gollark: If a module doesn't exist it should simply infer it.
gollark: Why does Macron not have module inference?
gollark: The < messages continue. I blame <@738361430763372703>.
gollark: Not that the bridge is also an exit node.

See also

References
  1. Amoris Laetitia § 56
  2. http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/06/09/male-and-female-differences-must-be-recognised-and-valued-says-pope-francis/
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3hndmjeUhc
  4. Sanchez, Raquel Rosario. If ‘white feminism’ is a thing, gender identity ideology epitomizes it. Feminist Current, July 26, 2017.
  5. http://www.avvenire.it/Chiesa/Pagine/papa-francesco-a-vescovi-portorico-no-ideologia-gender.aspx
  6. http://osservatoriogender.famigliadomani.it/libri-gender-consigliati/adozioni-a-coppie-gay/
  7. http://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/mio-figlio-costretto-ad-andare-a-scuola-con-rossetto-e-specchio.aspx
  8. http://www.leggo.it/NEWS/ITALIA/teoria_gender_elementari_suore_masturbazione/notizie/1362985.shtml
  9. http://history.arts.cornell.edu/Robcis_Catholics_JMH.pdf
  10. https://www.wikisessualita.org/wiki/Ideologia_gender
  11. http://wyborcza.pl/1,75968,15075819,Co_to_jest__ideologia_gender___Nowe_narzedzie_walki.html
  12. http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article142893078/Im-Suedwesten-kocht-die-Wut-auf-Gender-Ideologie.html
  13. http://www.branislavskripek.sk/gender-ideologia-uz-aj-na-slovensku/
  14. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/02/21/pope-transgender-people-are-like-nuclear-weapons/
  15. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150415_udienza-generale.html
  16. Relatio Finalis, 2015
  17. Amoris Laetitia § 56
  18. http://www.lacrocequotidiano.it/articolo/2016/03/03/politica/litalia-ha-bisogno-dei-cattolici
  19. Dale O'Leary, Maschi o femmine? La guerra del genere, Rubbettino, 2006, page 11
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