Joseph Stringer is a concerned citizen who submitted this letter to his local Virginia newspaper and shared it with NWEF. He believes that the current approach to children experiencing gender confusion is unethical and abusive to the very children it claims to protect. An author and thinker, Stringer writes on cultural issues impacting families and communities through the lens of his Christian faith. 

“The greatest kindness one can render a man is to lead him to truth.” – Thomas Aquinas

Today an unprecedented epidemic of suffering and destruction plagues our children as they struggle with feelings they cannot control or understand, which dominate their lives and command their minds.  Some will get the help they need.  For others…?

Kaylee suffers from Anorexia.  She feels fat, though she weighs just 80 pounds.

Shawn suffers from Body Dysmorphia.  He identifies as handicapped, so he wants the doctor to amputate his healthy arm.

Billy suffers with Neurosis.  He feels like everyone hates him and is out to get him.

Emma suffers from Manic Depressive Disorder.  She feels wildly positive one day and suicidal the next.

Rob suffers from Gender Dysphoria.  He feels like a girl.

Kaylee, Shawn, Billy, Emma, Rob.  We have great compassion for each of them, because they are enslaved by feelings they can’t control; feelings which have most likely grown from other traumas in their lives; feelings which are much too real to them, which overwhelm them, and which they cannot separate from reality.  They are all the first victims of the Tyranny of Feelings.  Any of them deserve our help with compassion, counseling and care.  We desperately wish to provide them the help they need.  If they ask, they will get it — except for Rob. 

We would never agree with Kaylee that she is fat and provide her diet pills.  Nor would a doctor agree to amputate Shawn’s arm.  We would not provide Billy with a gun so he can go get “them.”   Nor will we give Emma a razor the next time she is depressive so she can commit suicide.

Rob’s case is different.  He is the greatest victim of the Tyranny of Feelings because no one will be allowed to help lead him to truth.  Rob will be told he cannot change his feelings.  If Rob hoped to aid for his condition, to find a way to accept his own body, no help will be forthcoming.  He will not be offered counseling — other than the kind which encourages him to “pursue his feelings more deeply.”  He will be told there is no hope for him to be like other boys and he must accept the feelings he has.  He must give in to them and begin the painful chemical and physical “therapies” which will mutilate his body so that it more closely resemble a girl’s.  No counselor or psychologist will dare to advise otherwise, to help him to find a way to combat this illness, nor seek what causes might have engendered it.  No one will support him if he wishes to remain a boy. 

The adult teachers and counselors who might have aided Rob have now become the secondary victims of the Tyranny of Feelings.  They dare not speak.  Today, Rob — backed by the power of government and the reigning culture — will seek to force them to join in his illness, accepting and celebrating Rob’s feeling that he is a girl.  Because he feels that way (in spite of the fact that every single molecule in his body is male), all other people must bend to his feelings and pretend that what he feels is reality and what is evident before their eyes is not.  Teachers must refer to him as “she,” and young girls must be exposed to his presence in their private locker rooms or bathrooms. 

Here are the third group of victims: the children who go to school with Rob.  Their teachers will — either willingly or under the force of law — tell them that truth and reality do not exist, that they must NOT see what is obvious to them, that they must lie to themselves and others about that reality and deny the truth for the sake of Rob’s feelings.  Our youngest children are being indoctrinated about “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”  and are being taught explicit lessons on sexuality.

The final victims are the parents and our entire society who must continue the lie to the bitter end — and that end will often be bitter.  Ignoring the reality of Rob’s illness is not kindness; it will not lead him to truth or aid him.  Those who suffer from Gender Dysphoria have a suicide rate which is over forty percent, even in societies which fully support the “transgender” idea.  Our indifference and indulgence provides no help for him.

Why is Rob different?  Why would we seek to help the others with treatment for illnesses which endanger them or cause them great harm, yet celebrate Rob’s illness?  Because Rob is expendable, a victim to be sacrificed to the latest social cause surrounding our societal obsession with sex.  He is a victim being groomed by those with an agenda.  He is a victim because we choose to blind ourselves to reality, logic and common sense when issues of sex are involved.

Yet common sense has awakened from its long slumber.  People are beginning to stand against the reigning culture of anti-reality.  Throughout the nation, we have seen parents addressing school boards to campaign against “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” laws and regulations.  For example, recently close to one hundred people attended a meeting of the Pittsylvania County Board of Education in Virginia and addressed the board with forceful arguments — and I would guess some anger.  They may have been out of order according to Roberts Rules, but their anger reflects the fact that our state and national governments and our courts have overstepped their bounds in bringing forth unjust laws which deny reality, science and common sense.  

Gender Dysphoria is very rare but nonetheless a terrible illness. We have compassion for people like Rob, young and old, who suffer from it.  They should never be bullied or attacked, but need our understanding.  However, the answer to this issue is not to accommodate their feelings.  We should not accept them for who they think they are based on errant and unreliable feelings, but who they truly are as real, physical human beings: complex, deeper than sexual desires, valuable beyond measure, more precious than they could imagine, worthy of help to find the fulfillment of truth.  

Kaylee, Shawn, Billy, Emma — and Rob — are more than their illnesses.  They deserve to be treated equally as full human beings.  Our purpose as parents, teachers and members of society is to help them find their true identity.  Thomas Aquinas says, “The greatest kindness one can render a man is to lead him to truth.” Today’s culture, backed by irrational and unjust laws, forces people to participate in a lie.  We are not being kind to those suffering, nor do we honor the truth of who they are, made in God’s image and precious in His sight.

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Note from the Editor: We thank all our contributors for their insights and expertise. However, the views of guest authors or interviewees are not necessarily those of Noah Webster Educational Foundation.