Outraged Christians are misguided about Transgender Visibility Day and Easter – Orange County Register

It appears that some easily disturbed Christians have been angry or offended by President Joe Biden declaring Easter Sunday Transgender Day of Visibility. Donald Trump, for his part, is throwing out Bibles and spreading the Gospel like the good, pious Christian that he is. This stark contrast truly reveals who truly cares about our traditional values.

Why couldn’t Biden just pick another day to declare TVD?

Easter can fall on any Sunday in March and April. Transgender Day of Visibility has been celebrated on March 31 since 2009, but it never coincided with Easter until this year. Beyond that, neither Biden nor the administration has a duty to defer to the beliefs and practices of Christians if they actually conflict with transgenderism.

Fortunately, we do not live in a theocracy. Although Christians make up approximately 63% of the population, this in itself does not give Christianity any special status compared to other religions or other equally valid social concerns. They are simply another religion in a country with many of them. By celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, the Biden administration was simply trying to raise awareness for a group of people who appear to be suffering undue social consequences, albeit for political reasons.

This is no different than the fact that the US government made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday in order to celebrate the achievements of the civil rights movement and to draw attention to any other concerns we should address in matters of racial equality.

It seems to me that part of the outrage comes from a continued attack on traditional Christian values. Having been raised Catholic, I can appreciate much of the good that comes with a religious upbringing, such as valuing family, forgiveness, introspection, and kindness.

Despite this, we should not remain totally indifferent to institutions, even when it comes to churches. Criticizing the Catholic Church for protecting pedophiles did not make you a bad Catholic – on the contrary, you lived up to the message the Gospel taught you.

Rationalize the obsolete status of biblical passages as you see fit. You must accept that the government should not allow slavery even if the Bible approves of it. We must recognize that sometimes the government is absolutely right to deviate from well-established religious doctrine, as was the case when same-sex marriage was legalized.

It is not the role of government to promote the teachings of one religion over another and it is acceptable for it to promote fairness towards vulnerable groups. On the other hand, one might think that religious groups are just another group. Why does it matter if it’s a religion? If the government can promote the concerns of transgender and non-binary people, why not Christians?

Neither group is inherently objectionable. In other words, both groups are composed almost entirely of decent individuals who attempt to live their lives in a way that respects their inherent dignity. If Christians were indeed discriminated against, there would certainly be a case to be made that this problem should also be addressed. In other words, we should respond to their suffering related to violations of their rights, which is different from promoting their ideologies.

Some might argue that, along the same lines, our government should not promote an ideology that causes so much social division. This argument has very clear counterexamples. Transgender Day of Visibility aims to bring attention to a group of people who feel they cannot enjoy all of society’s benefits. This day is about people facing discrimination, not their ideology. The civil rights movement was a source of deep social divisions and yet President John F. Kennedy’s civil rights speech was morally necessary.

If you want to object, you can do so about anything you consider objectionable in the transgender and non-binary movement, not just the fact that a day of social awareness overlaps with Easter Sunday. You can oppose attempts to provide gender-affirming care to young children if you like, but religious fervor is misguided when it opposes people having a fair chance at enjoying the goods that everyone should to have the right to.

Rafael Perez is a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Rochester. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.