Gender ideology, which seeks to blur differences between men and women through movements such as transgenderism, “makes everything the same,” Francis said.
No mate, your paedophile organisation is an actual danger, genocide in the name of religion is a danger, Christianity is a danger.
Trans people are not a danger. Non-binary people are not a danger.
Huh. Fascism is on the rise everywhere. The planet is being destroyed by greedy billionaires. People are struggling to pay for food. There are wars and genocides. But he thinks the ugliest danger is "gender ideology", whatever that is.
And he says it erases differences. If "gender ideology" is being a non-bigot about gender, then that respects differences. What erases differences is forcing everyone to conform to only two set gender stereotypes.
It's saddening that dogma prevents him seeing how dramatically advances in understanding and respect for gender have improved so many people's lives. And it's disappointing to see him align himself and his church with forces of oppression.
I'm upvoting this, not because I agree with it, but because it is relevant for this community. Like it or not (and I certainly don't), the Catholic Church has massive global power. Knowing where they stand on this issue is important, especially since this Pope, seemingly, has been trying to appear more progressive.
Our planet becoming nearly uninhabitable or uninhabitable with millions if not billions of people dying seems like a bigger problem. But then again spreading hate about the LGBTQ+ is more important to the spokesperson for 'god'.
“It is very important that there is this meeting, this meeting between men and women, because today the ugliest danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences,” the pope said during an audience with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute (CRAV).
Gender ideology, which seeks to blur differences between men and women through movements such as transgenderism, “makes everything the same"
I mean...isn't this a good thing? Why the fuck do men have to hold doors open for women, specifically? Why are women supposed to be the stay at home parents? Equality seems pretty fucking good tbh. I mean, good lord, men have nipples and that line on the scrotum because we start out as women while in development. The proto-ovaries descend to become testicles. We have some hormonal differences and some brain development differences, but we truly are not that different. Being seen as equals should be a thing we strive for. At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter who you fuck or what privates you have. We all only have one life on this planet, make the most of it. And be nice to other people while on this place.
The world is on fire, fascism is rising, and your god is dead.
ETA: I actually personally left the Catholic Church over their stance on trans people. I had had other issues for a long time, and was firmly pro abortion, gay marriage, and female priesthood, but those were things I thought I might see them come around on. But then I got to trying to figure out why I was so damn miserable. Long story of self discovery later I learned I’m trans and that the psychological agony I’d been in my entire pubescent life was gender dysphoria and that’s why nothing was fixing it. The Catholic Church’s stance was that I either accept easily curable pain for the rest of my life that has little downside or a loving god will punish me forever when I die. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I took a year off of Christianity to cleanse my palate as I transitioned expecting to go episcopal or Quaker and wound up atheist -> pagan with an understanding that I will choose gods by their morality rather than choosing my morality by my gods.
The pope did not read the full address, instead delegating the task to Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli. “I still have a cold and it’s tiring to read for a while,” the pope said to the participants assembled at the Vatican.
Where's your god now? Can't even give his #1 on earth the strength to mumble his message of hate. Fucking losers.
Counter argument: Your organization raped thousands of kids repeatedly and covered it up repeatedly for decades, probably hundreds of years. Never mind all the other horrible shit the Catholic church has done, so uh, fuck off and leave trans people alone? Their lives are hard enough without your bullshit.
“It is very important that there is this meeting, this meeting between men and women, because today the ugliest danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences,” the pope said during an audience with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute (CRAV).
He's demanding that everyone conform to his narrow worldview... in the name of preserving our differences?
That's some impressive mental gymnastics, even for a Pope.
Focusing the Friday morning address on the “anthropological crisis and the necessary promotion of human and Christian vocations,” Pope Francis said this task is challenged by myriad social challenges arising from the cultural zeitgeist, including gender ideology.
Highlighting the anthropological angle of the conference, the pope pointed to “an elementary and fundamental truth, which today we need to rediscover in all its beauty: The life of the human being is a vocation.”
The pope emphasized that this is a foundational element “which underlies every call within the community” and “has to do with an essential characteristic of the human being as such.”
"today the ugliest danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences"
Well I'm glad he said the misogynistic part out loud. In a religion in which only men can hold power, blurring the lines between who can be a man undermines their power structure. They see women as inferior chattel and the strict gender binary allows them to enforce their hegemony. I suppose the pope thinks that LGBT* people around the world being murdered and persecuted is a good thing as long as the cis white straight men get to stay in power.
Your position is a joke, and everyone with 2 brain cells can tell that it can only exist by enslaving half of the population and trying to murder another 2%. Like any good tiny dictator, you don't inspire respect for people to follow you, you reach for the cudgel of violence, and make no mistake, your words inspire violence just as much as if you lit the torches yourself. Your god will judge you accordingly.
“This discovery,” the pope added, “brings us out of the isolation of a self-referential ego and makes us look at ourselves as an identity in relation.”
So racism is good because it creates a "tension" that allows you to compare yourself to others too, I take it?
Fundementally these arguments aren't even about trans folks. They're reheated arguments about second wave feminism.
A "fun" game when reading quotes from bigots is to swap out "gender ideology" with "bodily autonomy" to realize how absurd, hateful, and fascist the message really is. That's really what we're talking about; being trans isn't a choice but expressing your true gender is somewhat* a choice you make with your body and aesthetic. Fascists don't want people to have freedom, they want to have power over you for power's sake. The pushback against "gender ideology" isn't the reasoned philosophic debate that they want it to sound like, it's a war against already-marginalized people. It's "a boot stamping on a human face" because power is both the means and the ends for these fucks. Anyone supporting these assholes should ask themselves what happens if they finally succeed to stamp out the queer menace. Fascists' continued existence requires another group to persecute and if history is any guide it will be religious minorities, racial minorities, political rivals, etc. until the world is empty and there is no "fruitful ‘tension" that Pope Franky states that he values so much aside from the powerful and those that they decided to keep as slaves.
*somewhat because for many the choice is transition or suicide
To steelman, or whatever they call it. Perhaps he's calling for radical acceptance; that men and women are undeniably different, and those differences are something that should be celebrated rather than denied.