Robert Jeffress is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. If he were not a "man of God, ", we would probably be tempted to say he seems to have a bit of trouble with the placement of his foot, vis-a-vis his mouth. Maybe the "if" should be removed.

Earlier this year he publicly supported comments by The Donald that indicated that women who get abortions should be punished.

Last Monday he opined that "the greatest threat to freedom of religion is not ISIS but the Chamber of Commerce.

I mean, it’s the businesses that say to our representatives, ‘Oh, don’t pass laws like that, don’t pass these religious freedom laws because people will interpret that as anti-gay and we’ll lose business,’

--Jeffress

He also averred that gender is "something that is assigned by God."

Robert, I checked: God did not sign my birth certificate.

The most loving thing we can do for those who suffer from gender confusion is to assure them their sex is not a mistake. Their gender is a part of God’s plan for their lives. That’s the most loving response.

(a) We're not confused, Robert.

I'll let University of Georgia Professor of Education Peter Smagorinsky respond to that:

I see their frame of mind as being quite different. Rather than interpreting transgender people as confused, I find them to be exceptionally determined. I can’t imagine making the decision to go against immense public pressure to declare that your anatomy and your personal makeup are unmatched, and that you want to alter your body to transform yourself so that you feel whole. Following through on that resolution strikes me as being an act of exceptional clarity and will, not confusion.

What Robert really thinks is that trans people are just plain wrong. God assigned our gender, but Robert knows best that the (God-assigned) gender we realize in ourselves is just wrong.

(b) Robert, we are not mistakes. We are people. As far as I can determine, we are people with free will. Your job, according to your religion, is to love us, as you would yourself.