Be a Good Christian Hermaphrodite
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.
1. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexuality
April 11th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I enjoyed your comments on intersexuality. I am one of the 100% you where talking about. I have learned to except things the way they are. Having to live as a intersexual does make me question the bible a lot. I don’t blame God for being born intersexual. I do however blame society for not being more educated about the subject. We all have our cross to carry. Someday I hope to set down with God and ask all these difficult questions. Everything is not black and white there is quiet a bit of gray. I have a book out called Looking Beyond the Mountains. You might want to read it. You can order it form amazon.com
June 9th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I asked the same question to a friend of mind who claims to be very astute in the teachings of god and he said dont even talk about that thats disgusting he just dodged the question what because the bible doesnt have an answer you just ignore their existance he just had a horrible terrible awful veiw on the subject in a way its worse than racism and im sure more people are prejiduced to hermaphrodites than to any one race it just makes me feel sick so much so im not even sure how to express how i feel its still up for debate weather or not homosexuality is genentic or not but being a hermaphrodite is 100% not a choice and you cant even get a sergery if you go by the bible at least thats what christians say it would be VERY hippocritacal to say men and women cant get surgerys to change thier genders because god made them that way for a reason then go and say oh god made a mistake it has both genders lets try and fix it so what is a hermaphrodite to do my question is if a hermaphrodite has sex with another intersex person is that homosexuality, are men and women really opposite genders if so where does intersex people fit in to the equasion i have too many questions and i dont know how to phrase them im not saying gods imperfect or that the original bible was imperfect but the english copies that we read most deffinetly are and its time people start admitting it but too many people beleive that admitting falt in the bible means admitting falt in god i wonder myself why an allpowerfull god would allow an inferior copy of the bible to circulate to unsuspecting readers but the fact remains a mistake was made somewhere in translation or maybe a corrupt curch removed parts they deamed unchristian while copying bibles way back when maybe there was never anything about it to begin with who knows but people should think about it not just ignore or disregard it as erelavent to themselves anyway i cant think of a way to end this rant so ill just say by
June 10th, 2009 at 12:11 am
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
There’s… There’s no punctuation! Where dose the last idea begin? Where dose the next one end? I’m so confused.
September 12th, 2009 at 9:23 am
I have just come to educate myself on the statistics concerning hermaphrodites. In all the years I have been in ministry I have never met one, however I realize now that I just might have but they have been silent about their condition. I have not prayed about this just yet as I am still in the fact gathering stage. However I do not believe that God wants a hermaphrodite to live in guilt in any way shape or form concerning their sexuality. heterosexual people live in sexual sin just like homosexual people and a hermaphrodite can do the same. None of us should live in sexual sin. I personaly beleive that a hermaphrodite should be frr to choose a life long partner, get married and enjoy their sex life, (both organs) as long as the marriage is entered with their mates emotional health and full understanding, love and of course faith in Christ. There should be no shame where sin does not exist. no matter what we have been born into.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Please do not question the Bible or God. Remember, the Bible and God are infallible, it is people who are not. People may misinterpret the Bible because people are not perfect, like God is. I do not have the answers and I do not claim too. But I can tell you all this. God loves you whether you are intersexed or not. Jesus died for everyone’s sins, not that I am saying being intersexed is a sin. I am just saying that He loves all of us. Rely on God who loves you and do not let people turn you away from Him. Again I say, God loves all of us - intersexed or not.
On another note. God made you the way that you are. He did not make a person that was broken, malformed, weird or disgusting. He made you beautiful and unique. Society has no right to say otherwise. I love you all my brothers and sisters in Christ and I accept you the way that you are.
September 16th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
“Please do not question the Bible or God”
Every thing should and must be questioned. Other wise we can never know the truth. To try and put something above questioning is to out right ignore any possibility of it being wrong and any evidence against it.
“Remember, the Bible and God are infallible, it is people who are not.”
But is this not the interpretation of a fallible person? You believe the Bible to be infallible the fact is it doesn’t have to be and in fact would seem to be other wise. More to the point seeing how there are so many widely differing interpretations on the same book, what dose that say about it’s author(s)?
“God made you the way that you are.”
So then did god also make people with other genetic characteristics such as the gens for ASL, homosexuality, promiscuity, sociopolitical tendencies, etc?
Don’t get me wrong I’m very happy that you say you accept everyone, but if you do you have some serious question to address regarding your faith, your holy book, and reality.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:18 am
Hello EndGameOmega,
I am sorry that I have upset you. It surely was not my intention. I am saddened that it has. The purpose of my comment was to reach out with love to people who have experienced rejection and been subjected to cruel words. In any case I will try to respond to your questions as best as I can.
“Please do not question the Bible or God”
In this particular instance, I am referring to people who question the Bible or God solely because of supposed Christians saying that the Bible or God is against them. I do believe in looking to the Bible and praying to God for answers to my questions. I am not suggesting that people believe in a God that they do not know. You have to know God to believe in Him. It is through the Bible and prayer that people know Him.
“Remember, the Bible and God are infallible, it is people who are not.”
You are right I am fallible. I do not claim to be otherwise. But the Bible and God are not. I cannot convince you to believe in a Bible and God that you do not believe in–that is between you and God.
Different versions of the Bible slightly differ because fallible people translate it. Translating old texts written in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek, written without spacing between the words and punctuation, is a difficult task. Even with the minor differences in the translations, the majority of the message remains the same.
Again, this was geared towards Christians who stray because of what people say. But I do hope that you one day find a relationship with God–even though the intention of my comment was not to preach.
“God made you the way that you are.”
Yes God did make you the way you are. Promiscuity, murder, sociopathic behavior and etc. are choices that people make, not a way that God made us. God gave us free will and some people choose to use their free will for bad. As far as genetic diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and etc.- I cannot say why disease exists. Maybe it is a result of people using their free will to contaminate the earth which causes genetic defects, or maybe there is another reason of which I do not understand. God never promised us answers to every secret in the universe, He promised to be with us, to forgive us and to give those that come to Him eternal life. I do know that when people suffer, God is there supporting them. I mention that God made intersexed people the way they are. Do you consider being intersexed a disease or a moral problem? Because you compared it to these things. I did not say being intersexed was a disease or sin. My intention was to say that God made intersexed people as whole beings who He loves.
You mention homosexuality. First off, I do not classify intersexed people as homosexual. Either way, yes the Bible does mention homesexuality as a perversion in God’s eyes. Is it a sin, I do not know. I think it is a bigger sin, to reject and alienate homosexuals. There is a large focus in the Christian community on homosexuals. So much focus, that people forget what God focused on. Very little of the Bible talks about homosexuality. It is not mentioned in the 10 commandments. Let us just say that it is a sin, for the sake of argument. Prostitution is looked down on in the Bible, but what did Jesus do. When the people were stoning the prostitute, Jesus stopped them. He said, “May he without sin throw the first stone”. Then he wrote something on the ground. What he wrote, we do not know. A pastor I once listened to, mentioned in a sermon, that he always imagined that Jesus was writing the other peoples’ sins on the ground. I wonder? What the Bible does tell us is that nobody was without sin, so they could not throw the stone. Jesus the son of God, took mercy on this prostitute. Does that sound like the mean, cruel, hateful God that some people portray! Look at the acts of Jesus, He acted with love and compassion.
You say that if I accept intersexed people that I have to question the Bible and my faith. That is not true. The Bible does not call intersexed people sinners. Jesus also tells us in the Bible, not to judge. So Christians who are judging others are wrong.
You do not have to agree with anything that I have said. It is your right to disagree with the Bible. You can nitpick it if you want. Like I said, I did not come here to preach. I hope that you find peace in your life. I did not come here to attack you or anyone else. If you have questions of me, I will answer them the best that I can. If not, that is fine as well.
October 31st, 2009 at 1:23 am
This is just my opinion, but here goes:
Many of us are born with either male or female organs, and therefore the rules of heterosexuality is enforced upon the masses in the bible, however, for the intersexuals (the special cases), the sin of homosexuality perhaps cannot possibly be committed when one is born with a Vagina AND a penis, however, (this is an example) there are intersexuals born with a penis, and develop breast’s later in life. If this is the case, God has given you a penis to create life, so perhaps for this TYPE of intersexual, he should choose a woman as a mate, since I child cannot be created with a man.
And people, keep in mind, if you pray to God and create a spiritual relationship, God will speak to the heart and lead you to the right path. God is above human opinion.
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Or it could just be the result of random gene sequencing and any attempt to impart a moral imperative upon someone due to there sex is not only unfair, but also unwarranted. Trying to say that someone must fit a certain gender roll based upon there sex organs and/or chromosomes formation ignore a significant amount of modern biology and human development, all of which draws in to question the nature of genders as a purely anatomical concept. That’s the point of this article, by pointing out the case of someone who is intersex it throws into question the idea of assigned someone a gender based solely on there anatomy, because an intersexed person doesn’t have a necessarily defined sexual anatomy.
Thought the possible reasons for someone being intersexed are numerous they are fairly well known in many cases. The vast majority have to do with fairly well understood genetic and biological cues all of which are natural in origin. If we where to sequence the initial DNA and monitor the hormonal balance of the mother or carrier, we could predict whether someone would end up male, female, intersexed or other wise. There is nothing supernatural about it.
As for finding a spiritual relationship with your or any other god or gods, what I can say is the actual act of praying or meditation can lead someone to believe they are having a religious experience when in fact they’re just activating various parts of the brain, such as the temporal lobes. This explanation is so interesting because it explains why all religious activity, even when devoted to different gods or even no gods produces nearly the same physiological and mental effects. These effect can and are exacerbated by physical and emotional stress, such as after fasting or child birth, serious surgery, etc. Again there are well know medical reasons for why you feel the way you do when you pray to god, and they are all completely natural explanations which require no outside interference from supernatural sources.
Anyway, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them. I will try to address any directed to me as time permits. Take care.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Hermaphrodite- the “true” hermaphrodite person is the most baffling subject for western religions,
Jewish, Islam, Christianity and all that fall under or within each, to deal with. While they had to
exist during the time of Moses, Abraham, Jesus & Mohammad there is absolutely NO mention of
any sort (Eunuchs are not Hermaphrodites) at any place in any way or a single verifiable inference made of any kind about these people anywhere in the bible. Therefore, “simply” put, these human beings were not seen as outcasts or as sinners or as defected or as mistakes or as mutants or as the result of sins committed
by their parents or as anything outside of being the most normal of creations known to have been created by the god of these religions. How blessed it is to have been ignored by the God of the western world for all these yrs. If only the homosexuals had been so fortunate.
January 4th, 2010 at 5:56 am
I just heard about a new book that is coming out about this. It is by a British author called Susannah Cornwall and it is called “Sex and Uncertainty in the BOdy of CHrist, Intersex Conditions and Christian THeology.” I agree witht he people above who sais intersexuality is not a sexual orientation like homosexuality, it is more to do with gender ID.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Being intersexed has nothing to do with gender identification, it has to do with a person who is born either both male and female or neither male or female.
A person can identify as man or woman, or something else if they are intersexed. It’s society that has the problem with us and we end up internalizing it and being forced to choose instead of going with what is natural to us.
I’m going to deny myself anything in my life, whether it be love, happiness, or my favorite books, etc. just because someone else thinks they know what’s right for me. It may take time for me to understand what the Bible says in relation to myself, but I’m not sitting on my butt judging people just because I may be wrong about something.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
*it has to do with sex, not gender. There’s a difference.
*I’m **not** going to deny myself…
Some typo fixes.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:18 am
This is just my opinion, so take it or not. I mean no harm or insult, but has the consideration been made that takes into an account the story of Genesis and When God made Adam he was made complete. Then when no helper could be found for him God made woman from Adams body. Could it not be thought of that these intersexed people are not genetic deformities, but rather throw backs to an example of Genetic purity when man was made complete. Therefor still being just my opinion, but that would mean that these intersex individuals where not either man or woman, but rather an example of man as he was before Eve.