What does it mean to "Be a good Christian hermaphrodite"? How can we possibly know without consulting the Bible? Let’s do that now.
The Bible spends quite a bit of time talking about and legislating sex, and for many millions of people it is the single unquestionable source of perfect moral teachings. What then does the Bible say about the sexual relationships of intersexed people? Little to nothing.
This leaves the few Christians who even consider the question with a dilemma. "Do I try to find an answer hidden in other Bible verses, do I make up my own answers, or do I simply dodge the issue in a way that can’t be seen as sinful?"
While most seem to take the latter approach and ignore the issue or give meaningless answers, some of the more moderate Christians actually understand the issue and take a more reasonable approach, ignoring the "slippery slope" to homosexuality, and accepting gender reassignment surgery and sex with the opposite of the chosen gender.
Fundamentalist Christians on the other hand seem to have only one possible answer, as given by the infamous preacher "Brother Jed" to an intersexed friend of mine: Abstinence. He prescribed life long abstinence.
The reason that no other answer was viable for him is that he shares the common fundamentalist idea, which appears to be supported by the Bible, that homosexuality is a horrible sin. If a physically intersexed person is allowed to have sex with anyone then they would at least outwardly appear to be having homosexual sex, and there is no way a good queer-hating fundamentalist Christian could support such an "abomination".
Sister Pat, one of Brother Jed’s sidekicks, said that an intersexed person could get into heaven by "living as a good Christian Hermaphrodite", although what exactly this entails was never made clear. Brother Jed himself also opined that the reason some people are born intersexed is that their parents were bisexual.
Hermaphrodite at the Louvre
This shows a gross misunderstanding of genetics and sexuality, and basically punishes babies for their parents’ "sins" through the miracle of divine intervention. If these scapegoated children live their lives in complete devotion to God and abstain from (potentially homosexual) sex and all other sins to the best of their ability, will God, their omnipotent creator, perform the simple miracle of assigning them a singular, complete gender so they can then produce a family to worship him forever?
The answer seems to be no. Like the miraculous healing of amputees, miraculous sexual reassignment does not happen.
The reality is, like most people in general, many Christians do not know what actually causes people to be born intersexed, and they have just as little information about how these people should live their lives.
Intersexed individuals (formerly described as "hermaphrodites" from the Greek god Hermaphroditus who possessed both male and female physical traits) are those who are neither exclusively male nor exclusively female. They may have biological characteristics that are both male and female, expressing physical traits (phenotype) of one sex but possessing the sex chromosomes (genotype) of the other. Variations in physical expression occur, and it is possible that someone who appears physically "normal" is, in fact, intersexed due to their genetic makeup. The birth rate of all of these "hermaphrodites" is generally 1%, and while this sounds low, remember this is one out of every 100 births[1].
In most societies intersexed people have a hard enough time already without trying to live by the conflicting and often unrealistic expectations of Christians and their outdated and inadequate book.
The best an intersexed person can do is find what feels right, with the help of genetic testing and counseling if necessary, and with or without surgery just try to live life the best they can as the gender(s) that they feel they are.
RE****If a physically intersexed person is allowed to have sex with anyone then they would at least outwardly appear to be having homosexual sex, and there is no way a good queer-hating fundamentalist Christian could support such an “abomination”.***
Not really, an intersex person’s Genome will almost always consist of one phenotype, XY or XX. Male or Female. It’s the physical characteristics which tend to be skewed. Mind you that many intersexed individuals do not feel that their genome actually reflects their psychological state and hence will seek out a mate with a phenotype similar to their own, i.e. a HOMOsexual one. So an intersex person who looks more feminine and identifies as a women may have an XY Sexual chromosome (genetically male) but would likely seek out a male as a mate, and hence be at a genetic level homosexual.
Good to know that Hitler was redeemed while many of the gays tortured and killed by the Nazis are burning in the lake of hell fire. Godwin for the win! The problem is your phrase “Genuine Christian” is completely subjective. What you say is a Christian may not be what another person considers to be Christian, and the bible is in no way fully clear on this.
Given that two people of the same sex can’t marry acodding to the bible, your question becomes a loaded one. As I already explained above an intersexed person is very to be in a homosexual relation.
Some people have no internal sense, and are physically asexual or bisexual. The same goes with intersexed people. You see this is the problem that this article was pointing out, that the biblical vilification of sexuality is completely and utterly bullshit, due in at least part because it does not deal with such real world examples as intersexed individuals.
Humans, just like other animals, don’t always have a clear sexuality or a clear physical sexual orientation. Hell, it’s possible to argue that some homosexual individuals are intersex in that their wetware is wired to exhibit homosexual attraction while exhibiting physical and psychological traits of their genetic sex. i.e. I can argue that there is a strong semblance between intersex and homosexuality, in that a homosexual individual will likely have cortex feature identical to the opposite sex and hence give them a native attraction to the same sex. Hence if intersex is biblically OK, then homosexuality must be as well.
There is no clear “internal gender” though.
I see, so is a true Christian anything like a true Scotsman? I’m sorry but historically it has been the case that christens were indeed “queer-hating”, and I’m sorry but many modern christens aren’t much better. More to the point, it’s not your place to judge.
Anyone who favors their fan club can not be said to be impartial. Plus like I’ve pointed out, if homosexuality is a sin then in all likelyhood any sexuality by an intersexed person is also likely a sin as it’s likely homosexual at some level.
That’s great, it’s good to know that the activities of two mutually consenting adults are no worse (or better) then murder. You know just the other day
God also condemns heresy as blasphemy against the holy ghost. Be carefully how you interpret your scripture. One false move is truly unforgivable.
Fundamentally you continually speak of TRUE christens. Unfortunately that is not your place to decide. Even by pointing this fact out you are still judging that some people are or are not true christens. You can’t do this. Since only god can judge and you are clearly trying to judge the behaviors of other christens you are in fact (knowingly or not) raising yourself to the same level as god. This is most certainly blasphemous, if not our right heresy.
Bit off topic, but this is why I’ve stopped arguing with street preachers. I’ve come to the conclusion that if the bible truly is correct (which I’m dead certain it’s not) then they will be just as likely as me to burn in hell. If the bible isn’t an excuse for Hitler, then why would it be for anyone else?
Luke 6:37 ““Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven”
Basically so long as you don’t judge other’s you will not yourself face complete judgment, your sins will be forgiven, you will be allowed into heaven, ect… However, should you judge then you your self will be judge by the same full set of standards that the other is being judge upon. Hence Christ’s blood will not save you as you would have effectively wiped it away in this instance. You can’t judge another and expect to end up passing gods judgment, as it’s not your place.
… I just realized that my quotes got eaten… Well if you need any help sorting out what was quoted and not let me know.