Judging Morality

We don't usually turn to Nashville based evangelical firm LifeWay Research for good news of any sort.

But LifeWay has surveyed 1000 Americans and found that nearly 60% do not believe that it is morally wrong for someone to identify with a gender different than the one usually associated with the one assigned at birth. And the majority do not believe that it is morally wrong to change one's body to match one's gender identity by taking hormones or having surgery.

A majority of Americans reject the view of a creator giving them a gender that shouldn’t be changed.

--Scott McConnell, LifeWay Executive Director

Asked to react to the statement "It is morally wrong for an individual to identify with a gender different than the sex they were born," 35% of respondents agreed, 45% disagreed, 14% said it was not a moral issue and 6% were not sure.

However among evangelicals 54% believe it is morally wrong to identify with a a gender other than the sex assigned at birth. That is significantly higher than Catholics (26%), members of other religions such as Judaism and Islam (35%) and the nonreligious (20%).

Asked to respond to the statement "It is morally wrong to change the gender you were born into through either surgery or hormones," 42% agreed, 43% disagreed, 11% said it was not a moral issue and 4% were not sure.

In a weird comment thrown into the mix, McConnell added:

A growing percentage of Americans don’t believe in right and wrong. They don’t believe there’s absolute truth — and if there’s no absolute truth, then they’re reluctant to talk about morality.

Christians as a whole, both Protestant (22 percent) and Catholic (23 percent), also are least likely to say they know a transgender person, which affects one’s beliefs about the morality of being transgender, according to LifeWay.

Among the 27 percent of all Americans who say they know someone who is transgender, 25 percent say identifying with a different gender is wrong and 28 percent say transitioning is. Those numbers are higher among those who have no transgender acquaintances: 39 percent say it is wrong to identify with another gender, and 48 percent say it is wrong to transition.

The survey was conducted during September of 2015 and had a margin of error of 3.6%

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WaveyDavey's picture

I'll be sure to point it out to my friend Kimberley who last month completed here reassignment surgery and is now a full-fledged breast wielding and vagina toting woman.

We first became friends a year ago and although I didn't understand why at the time she was so happy to hear me say, "I don't understand and I don't think I ever will, why you would want to go through all that painful surgery." She responded that people always look at it from their own set of standards and she was happy that I "just said honestly I don't understand."

Is it wrong for me? Yes. Is it wrong for everyone? HELL NO!

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The people, united, will never be defeated.

TheOtherMaven's picture

People feel they need to change, let 'em change. No skin off my butt either. (And I know several trans people - knew some of them both before and after.)

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

jwa13's picture

that sometimes it's more difficult to change your mind than it might be to change your body.

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When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said “How well he spoke”.
When Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said “Let us march”.

featheredsprite's picture

If you are religious, some things are just between you and your Maker.

If you aren't religious, some things are just nobody's business.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

Alison Wunderland's picture

It's something you are. It's complicated and the whole phenomenon, by no means rare, is very much in the initial stages of study. Acceptance is building slowly as more people feel safe to come forward. The world isn't cats & dogs. It's cats & dogs & parakeets & goldfish & hamsters & guinea pigs & snakes & turtles & ... Everyone is different.

I'm not jumping on you guys for not understanding. It's normal, but the "wanting to change" would be similar to some person "wanting to" have their cancer cured. It's the difference between being yourself and being a chimera, a simulacrum, or a chameleon. We have no peace, no serenity until we get right within ourselves.

This report is yet another step in the right direction.

Thank you, (((((Robyn)))))

Alison

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TheOtherMaven's picture

was a SCAdian, like me, and back in the day presented as female but had a male persona. This person liked to go full Templar, complete with false beard, white mantle, and the whole nine yards. Maybe that was the real person after all, because eventually they decided they were male all the time.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.