Did Pat Robertson Really Endorse the Transgender Movement?
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) agenda is getting some unintended help from CBN founder Pat Robertson this week. Robertson, 83, offered what some conservatives may view as shocking advice to a viewer named David who wrote in asking how he should address two transgender female co-workers who have undergone sex reassignment surgery.
“I think there are men who are in a woman’s body. It’s very rare, but it’s true,” he said. “Or women that are in men’s bodies and that they want a sex change, and that is a very permanent thing—believe me—when you have certain body parts amputated and you are shot up with various kinds of hormones.”
He continued, “I don’t think there’s any sin associated with that. I don’t condemn somebody for doing that.”
I don’t condemn anybody for having a sex change operation either. Nor does Jesus. But unfortunately, much like the gay agenda took Pope Francis’ recent conciliatory words about gays—”If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”—as a sea change in the Catholic Church, LGBT equality activists are now crediting Robertson with helping to forward the transgender movement.
I don’t think this is what Robertson intended any more than Francis intended to sanction homosexuality. Again, I agree that we are not to condemn people who have fallen into the snare of homosexuality or gender identity issues. But we need to be careful when speaking with compassion not to endorse it, either, especially at a time when immorality is displacing Christian values at such a rampant rate.
Make no mistake, the LGBT agenda is actively seeking mainstream acceptance and is positioning likeable, smart, charismatic spokespeople to help forward its cause. I wrote an article yesterday about how the transgender agenda has found a Father Knows Best-style poster child. Jennifer Finney Boylan is a father-turned-mother of two boys and just released a book called Stuck in the Middle With You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders. She’s getting plenty of mainstream media attention for her work. She has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, The Today Show and Rock Center With Brian Williams on NBC.
My article was not condemning toward Boylan or others like her. In fact, it was dripping with God’s compassion and offered an example of an ex-transsexual man, Sy Rogers, who found deliverance in Christ and is now taking the ministry of reconciliation around the world. Yet some of the comments on the article reveal how deep the deception runs among those who are caught in this snare. The comments show how hard some hearts are to the love of Christ and why we need to keep battling in prayer for the deliverance of these precious ones.
One commenter named Denise wrote, “I was born knowing that I was a girl from the earliest that I can remember and no amount of religion or prayer can ever change that just as no amount of religion or prayer can ever turn Jennifer LeClaire into an elephant should she want that.” Another commenter named “Violacioius” says he was “born classified incorrectly as a man. I have now had the errors of my birth corrected and I am happy, confident and can hold my head up when I walk down the street.”
These are sad statements, of course. God was not confused when He created male and female, and although some babies are born with ambiguous genitalia, women aren’t born trapped in male bodies or vice versa in the way transsexual people describe. This is a lie from the enemy, who is holding captives in bondage. Jesus came to set the captives free (Is. 61:1). I believe prayer does move mountains, and Sy Rogers, among many others who have been delivered from transsexual lifestyles, prove that truth.
Another commenter named Bellerose offered, “Is it so hard to imagine that god might create trans people to add diversity to humankind and maybe to act as a test for people to teach them to have compassion and acceptance for people they may not readily understand? I’ve never understood how transsexuality or homosexuality for that conflicts with christianity. I don’t believe in a god who cares more about who you love than that you love and I reject the notion of a god who would condemn people for the way they dress instead of the character of their heart.”
Yes, Bellerose, it is hard to imagine a God who would create trans people to add diversity to humankind and to act as a test of compassion. Just as God didn’t intend for people to be born blind, God didn’t intend for people to be born with gender identity issues that drive misery and suicidal thoughts. Bellerose, I pray that God opens the eyes of your understanding and reveals Himself to you as the lover of your soul, your deliverer and your Savior.
Of course, some commenters aren’t as reasonable as these. Although my original article was filled with compassion, it elicited some comments that aimed to draw blood. Bethany Wade writes, “What a load of specious crap this article spews. Allowing an uneducated cretin like the author of this piece to make uninformed statements about a medical condition, is both wrong, and in the case of Transgender individuals, should allow the surviving families of transgender individuals to sue the writer and paper if they commit suicide from not seeking treatment, as culpable through their giving medical advice without a license.”
That last comment bothers me the most, not because of the vicious personal attack but because you can see the pain in Bethany’s heart manifesting. As my first article stated, the risk of harassment and suicide among transgender people is well documented—and it’s heartbreaking. We should not—and I do not—condemn people with gender identity issues. But I can’t endorse the belief that little girls were born inside little boys’ bodies—or vice versa. The bottom line: God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). I pray that the Holy Spirit breaks in with light and healing for all those struggling with gender identity issues. Check out my first article to read more about Sy Rogers’ breakthrough in this area with an open mind and open heart.
Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can email Jennifer at jennifer.leclaire@
