Is the Left's gender jihad the new face of terrorism?
This past week, three small children and three adults were gunned down in cold blood. The killer had a carefully laid out plan to murder as many people as possible to further her social-political goals. According to the FBI definition, this was clearly an act of domestic terrorism. Yet, strangely enough, the media and the White House are scrambling to vindicate the perpetrator rather than call attention to the ideological extremism that underpins this violence.
Though the shooter's exact motives, as described in her manifesto, have not been released, the police department confirms that she planned for months to commit mass murder at the Christian school. Several commentators point to the recent surge of what some call “anti-trans” legislation, including those passed in Tennessee, which could have inflamed the sentiments of this troubled young woman. There was also some discussion that she resented being sent to the Christian school as a child.
As is customary in the United States after a terrorist attack, the focus of the media and public officials immediately turned to gun legislation. A futile discussion that enrages both sides of the political aisle, the ban on assault rifles will never solve the underlying problems that lead people to murder. Conservative pundits point out the surprising pattern that Audrey Hale is the fourth in a string of mass casualty attacks perpetuated by people who identified as trans or non-binary in recent years.
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Rather than calling national attention to why this phenomenon is occurring, the White House scrambles to declare “Trans Visibility Day” just days after the shooting. The Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, denounced the “anti-trans” bills that “attack trans kids and their families” as if to imply that trans violence is justified as self-defense. They are being rewarded with permanent victim status by the left. In fact, the president laughed when asked if this was a hate crime. “No, I don't have no idea,” he said.
There is a blatant disregard for the status of the victims or the fear in the hearts of Christian families who now worry if they will be the targets of additional attacks. Consider what other movement could get away with plotting a “Day of Vengeance?” This language is acceptable to them because they feel entitled to affirmation and submission by the wider society. The media and government support their cause of retaliation because it is directed at a common enemy: those rebel conservatives. It is the Bible-thumping bigots who are the problem. This is clearly a movement of hate, not liberation or freedom.
Our constitutional order holds that we are equal under the law because we are all created in God’s image. This essential insight is precisely what transgender ideology is determined to undermine. They claim man can “make” ourselves in whatever fashion we deem fit. Anyone who disagrees with this premise must be forced into submission, isolation, and now even death. It's not enough for them to insist on the legal right to castrate their children and expose them to pornographic content in kindergarten; everyone is forced to accept it or face grave consequences. We also should realize that transgenderism is an extremely lucrative industry. Corporate elites in the pharmaceutical and medical industry, including major political donors, are all profiting from the despair of others.
This demonic ideology claims dominion over man's divine status, which Christians can never accept. However, we certainly do not use it to justify physical violence. “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thessalonians 5:15).
Instead, Christians advocate for laws to ban gender reassignment in minors because we want to protect all children from making decisions they could regret once they mature into rational adults. The facts about gender dysphoria, which psychiatric professionals classify as “gender identity disorder,” validates this approach. The study published by the Journal of Psychiatry Treatment and Research states:
“The psychiatric comorbidity [presence of two or more diseases] in these patients shows shocking figures. Some studies demonstrate that 40-45% of trans adolescents have psychiatric comorbidity … the most frequent are depression, anxiety, self-harm episodes, and suicide attempts … Furthermore, other studies suggest that up to 80% of transgender children and adolescents seem to give up, or in other words, they try to identify as cisgender when reaching an older age.”
Knowing that 80% of them grow out of it, allowing children to physically mutilate themselves is irresponsible and cruel.
Later, as an adult, if the dysphoria continues, they have the legal freedom to undergo gender transition. It is their free will to choose. Christians are not transphobic. We do not hate those who live in contravention to God but have a deep-seated desire to prevent harm. As Christ’s followers, we despise the sin, not the sinner. We pray each and every one of them come to a saving faith that will free them from the bondage and death of sin. However, there is no compulsion.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
Over the past two years, this administration and the media have recharacterized the passion of parents, Catholics, and conservatives to protect children as the greatest threat to America and democracy. Yet none of these groups is gunning down innocent people. The true face of domestic terrorism is the deceived followers of the radical left agenda.
Hedieh Mirahmadi was a devout Muslim for two decades working in the field of national security before she experienced the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and has a new passion for sharing the Gospel. She dedicates herself full-time to Resurrect Ministry, an online resource that harnesses the power of the Internet to make salvation through Christ available to people of all nations, and her daily podcast LivingFearlessDevotional.com.
