Pillars of truth and propagators of lies

Although many people are blind to this fact, this age is increasingly becoming characterised by Satan’s war on truth. Of course, this is not unique to our time. His war on truth began in the Garden when he asked the simple, but subtle question, “hath God said?”. His intention was not to enquire – his intention was to deceive. The God that we worship is a God of truth. He not only speaks truth, but it is also part of His divine character. Stating that God is truth extends far beyond just claiming Him to be truthful, but that truth itself finds its very source in Him. That is why Jesus was qualified to say, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Truth flows out of His very nature. In contrast, we have an enemy who does not have truth as part of his nature and consequently, lies flow out of his nature. John 8:44 records this: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it”.

Truth and righteousness go hand-in-hand, as do falsehood and unrighteousness. Romans 2:8 says, “but to those who are self-seeking, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness – indignation and wrath”. Not only is falsehood connected to unrighteousness, but the book of Romans declares that those who practice falsehood are, by their conduct, also suppressing the truth in the process: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:18-19). Because they reject God’s truth, Romans 1:25 confirms they become people, “who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen”.

Many would claim that truth is unknowable and unattainable. But the Scriptures declare otherwise. For instance, in 1 John 5:20 we read: “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life”. You see, even though the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19) Jesus came to set sinners free from their sins, from their unrighteousness and from the falsehoods of the enemy (John 8:32; 36). How wonderful it is to know that, for those who have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, we have been delivered from sin into salvation, from lies into truth and from unrighteousness into righteousness. But for those who are still held under the sway of the enemy’s lies, not only are they lost but they are in rebellion against God and His declared order. It is clear from Scripture that God designed men and women and He also designed the family. And as the old saying goes, what God ordains, Satan opposes.

The name Susan Stryker might not mean much to many people, but she is one of the founding theorists of the trans movement. In her best-known essay on Performing Transgender Rage, Stryker wrote: “I am a transsexual and therefore I am a monster. And this body is destined to channel its rage and revenge against the naturalized heterosexual order, against traditional family values, and against the hegemonic oppression of nature itself”. It is interesting that Stryker refers to nature because the book of Romans does as well. Romans 1:26: “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature” (emphasis added). Whether or not Stryker realises it, the falsehoods she is peddling are from a position of unrighteousness and she is warring not against so-called social constructs of heteronormativity, but against the very Person of Truth and Righteousness.

But there is also a secondary element to this movement, and it involves politics. After all, we now see many governments approving of and advancing the transgender cause under the protection of government mandated programs and legislation. So, in other words, what we have is a collective personal identity formed to advance a collective political vision. Now, where have I heard of that before? That’s right – Marxism! In fact, in her book Transgender Marxism, Rosa Lee envisions trans people as “the new vanguard of the proletariat” who will help “abolish heteronormativity in the same way that orthodox Marxism promised to abolish capitalism”. So, in this sense, we see a concerted effort across the public and private sectors to reorganise society to not only affirm the new definition of gender, but also be forced to embrace their political activism.

In economic terms, Marxists argue that the nuclear family performs ideological functions for capitalism – that is, the family acts as a unit of consumption and teaches passive acceptance of hierarchy. Therefore, transgender activists who use the umbrella of Marxism to advance their goals hold a similar view of the family – hence their desire to see it abolished. Under classical Marxism, the use of economic crises (depression and recession) was the surest and quickest way to eliminate the family. After all, young men who do not have a job are far less likely to start a family. For those that did have a traditional family whereby the mother raised the children, rampant inflation was used in order to force both parents to seek employment, therefore separating the child from its parents and introducing the government as caregiver and educator.

It has been the goal of social engineers for many decades to spread their ideology by using the fertile minds of children. In my home state of Queensland (Australia), many parents have been sounding the alarm over the revelation that children in government-run schools are being groomed to change their name, pronoun and gender without parental consent. One family said that a guidance officer at the school instructed a child to lie so they could pursue a pathway to transition. The child was told to make the false allegation that they were unsafe at home because her parents did not want to “affirm” her new identity. In another incident, a father of a young girl recounted how staff had set up a new name and identity for his daughter without his knowledge or consent. When challenged on these matters, the Queensland Education Department dismissively pointed to their policy allowing school staff to deem a child a “mature minor” if they feel it is warranted. In doing so, the need for parental consent is negated. To give further evidence to how the Queensland Education Department disrespects the wishes and roles of parents, a teacher (who chose to remain anonymous) publicly shared an excerpt of a directive received by school staff directs them to lie: “Staff are now expected to talk to the parents and not mention it and they must use the name on the child’s birth certificate, but otherwise they should use the child’s preferred name and pronoun in the classroom.”

However, while the pro-trans movement is gaining plenty of publicity, the detransition movement is being censored and ignored. Yet, we need to hear the voices of those who regret following through with transgender surgery and experimentation. One such person, Chloe Cole, recently offered her testimony in Congress and criticised gender ideology for causing her “irreversible harm”. She said, “The gender specialist I was taken to see told my parents that I needed to be put on puberty blocking drugs right away. They asked my parents a simple question: would you rather have a dead daughter or a living transgender son? The choice was enough for my parents to let their guard down, and in retrospect I can’t blame them. This is the moment that we all became victims of so-called ‘gender affirming care.’” Susan Stryker gladly accepted the label of “transsexual monster”, but Chloe Cole feels differently. She said, “I look in the mirror sometimes and I feel like a monster.”

Chloe’s testimony is heartbreaking and graphic. Leaving aside the physical mutilation she suffered, the psychological scars are plain to see. In closing her testimony, she said, “Today, I should be at home with my family celebrating my nineteenth birthday. And instead I’m making a desperate plea to my elected representatives: learn the lessons from the other medical scandals like the opioid crisis, to recognise that doctors are human too, and sometimes they are wrong. My childhood was ruined along with thousands of detransitioners that I know through our networks. This needs to stop. You alone can stop it. Enough children have already been victimized by this barbaric pseudo-science. Please let me be your final warning.”

Russian chess grand master Garry Kasparov once said, “The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” And so it is, the enemy will continue his relentless campaign to bring chaos and destruction into this world through deception – that is his nature. As the church, we must, as Paul explained to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:15, be the pillar and ground of the truth. We must proclaim the truth of the gospel, the truth of God’s creation, the truth of God’s mercy but also the truth of Romans 1 – that there are many people who have a worthless mind because they are under God’s wrath. And for those who fall into this category, we must not subject our children to them and their depraved mind.