Thank you so much for this exceptional paragraph- "Leaning on Philip Rieff rather than Pius XI, Trueman points out that, "in traditional cultures, the role of the elites is to transmit society’s values and beliefs down through the generations, ensuring continuity and stability;" whereas our modern elites have "adopted the opposite calling." They have taken up the posture of "irresponsible iconoclasts," who see their task, not as one "of preservation and transmission," but rather as one of "demolition and negation." Of this, says Trueman, "we have a prime example in Williams’s complicity in demolishing even what it means to be an embodied person, transforming it from an objective given into play-dough, the raw material of a sacred—or perhaps better, sacrilegious—journey."
Thanks for another essay, Douglas. I reviewed Trueman's book last year for PJTR. An eye-opening work. Obviously indebted to Taylor's Sources of the Self; not as magisterial as the latter but Trueman fills a big gap in Taylor's work. Stan
Thanks again Mr. Farrow. If you would like to read an interesting story from a young woman who went to hell and back I will leave the link below. A snipet from her story:
Instead, I silently berated myself and catastrophized internally until I mustered the courage to tell my very pro-LGBT therapist: being trans had been a massive mistake.
I remember her response clear as day: “But you always tell me about your terrible dysphoria!”
“I know, but I… I don’t think that’s what it is” I replied, and started to tell her my still developing thoughts on how I had developed the “dysphoria” after finding out about gender identities online as a teenager, when I had been struggling with so many other emotional issues for a long time, and that in retrospect I must have gotten carried away, thinking that being trans was the explanation and solution for all of my problems. She wasn’t really hearing me, and questioned the things I said from the angle of “you’re trying to talk yourself out of being trans because transphobia is making you hate yourself.” Ironic that nobody ever questioned my desire to be trans that way.
Thank you for drawing this to my attention. It is very powerful. I am among those who have tried to point out the disastrous consequences of Gender Mainstreaming—resulting eventually in institutional censorship, as you can see in the entry on that topic at https://douglasfarrow.academia.edu/research#institutional. But a single testimony such as Helena's is worth a great deal more than anything people like me can say.
I was struck by her conclusion: "the years of being trans were not really me, and the real me lied dormant under it all, finally able to come forward once the false persona disintegrated." Having attended last night a TLM vigil, which takes one deep into the darkness of Holy Saturday before releasing one into the joy of Easter, I pray that she and we will discover the true and full integration that the Resurrection makes possible.
I'd first like to wish everyone on this post a happy & blessed Easter.
Thank you so much for this exceptional paragraph- "Leaning on Philip Rieff rather than Pius XI, Trueman points out that, "in traditional cultures, the role of the elites is to transmit society’s values and beliefs down through the generations, ensuring continuity and stability;" whereas our modern elites have "adopted the opposite calling." They have taken up the posture of "irresponsible iconoclasts," who see their task, not as one "of preservation and transmission," but rather as one of "demolition and negation." Of this, says Trueman, "we have a prime example in Williams’s complicity in demolishing even what it means to be an embodied person, transforming it from an objective given into play-dough, the raw material of a sacred—or perhaps better, sacrilegious—journey."
The fine work is Trueman's. Get his book and you'll get more of that.
Thanks for another essay, Douglas. I reviewed Trueman's book last year for PJTR. An eye-opening work. Obviously indebted to Taylor's Sources of the Self; not as magisterial as the latter but Trueman fills a big gap in Taylor's work. Stan
Add a link, Stan, if it's accessible. Happy Easter to you.
Happy Easter to you.
https://www.baptistresearch.org.nz/current-issue [pp. 96-98]
Thanks again Mr. Farrow. If you would like to read an interesting story from a young woman who went to hell and back I will leave the link below. A snipet from her story:
Instead, I silently berated myself and catastrophized internally until I mustered the courage to tell my very pro-LGBT therapist: being trans had been a massive mistake.
I remember her response clear as day: “But you always tell me about your terrible dysphoria!”
“I know, but I… I don’t think that’s what it is” I replied, and started to tell her my still developing thoughts on how I had developed the “dysphoria” after finding out about gender identities online as a teenager, when I had been struggling with so many other emotional issues for a long time, and that in retrospect I must have gotten carried away, thinking that being trans was the explanation and solution for all of my problems. She wasn’t really hearing me, and questioned the things I said from the angle of “you’re trying to talk yourself out of being trans because transphobia is making you hate yourself.” Ironic that nobody ever questioned my desire to be trans that way.
https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name?r=18ll6h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&s=r
Thank you for drawing this to my attention. It is very powerful. I am among those who have tried to point out the disastrous consequences of Gender Mainstreaming—resulting eventually in institutional censorship, as you can see in the entry on that topic at https://douglasfarrow.academia.edu/research#institutional. But a single testimony such as Helena's is worth a great deal more than anything people like me can say.
I was struck by her conclusion: "the years of being trans were not really me, and the real me lied dormant under it all, finally able to come forward once the false persona disintegrated." Having attended last night a TLM vigil, which takes one deep into the darkness of Holy Saturday before releasing one into the joy of Easter, I pray that she and we will discover the true and full integration that the Resurrection makes possible.
It is a strange world that treats mental illness as a norm. And churches are turning themselves into pretzels.