{"id":37487,"date":"2024-04-14T17:02:55","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T00:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37487"},"modified":"2024-04-14T17:02:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T00:02:55","slug":"engaging-in-the-strange-new-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/engaging-in-the-strange-new-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging in the Strange New World"},"content":{"rendered":"

In less than a generation, Western culture\u2019s view of human gender identity and sexual preference has dramatically changed. In his 2022 book titled Strange New World<\/em>, Professor Carl R. Trueman attempts to explain how and why this shift occurred through a philosophical, theological and historical lens. He also proposes a way for Christians to respond.[1]<\/a> In this blog I share my key takeaways from the book and describe how the issues Trueman discusses pose a potential challenge to my doctoral project.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

What I appreciated most about this book was that Trueman was direct about his stance on the issue\u2014he is a social conservative, yet he communicates his perspective in a compassionate manner that acknowledges the \u00a0humanity, value and pain of the people on the other side. Trueman proposes that the LGBTQ+ movements resulted not from political agendas, but from an overall shift of societal consciousness or what he terms \u201csocial imaginary\u201d. In a podcast interview with Solas Associate, David Nixon, Trueman describes the shift from the institutional influence of the past to individuals\u2019 influence of the present.[2]<\/a> Basically, the way we view \u201cselves\u201d today is a completely different mental model than that existed even 30 years ago. In the book, Trueman states that \u201cthe modern self is one where authenticity is achieved by acting outwardly in accordance with one\u2019s inward feelings.\u201d[3]<\/a> Because feelings are fickle and individual, the self can choose its identity in a way that did not seem possible when the body and biology were the core of a person\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

Trueman\u2019s suggestion for traditional (likely older) Christians who believe that God made male and females for a reason and that identity comes from God, not from ourselves, is to NOT try to argue the point using judgement or malice, rather to employ heart-centered, God-centered approach. Benjamin Storie summarizes that:<\/p>\n

\u201cTrueman encourages the Christians who are the primary audience of his book to offer the young \u201canother culture,\u201d a \u201cloving community\u201d rooted in \u201ca true vision of what it means to be a human being made in the image of God.\u201d For all his intellectual espionage, Trueman knows that the best weapon in the culture war is not a weapon at all, but true Christian charity. To win our culture\u2019s battles is not to own the libs, but to touch hearts, change minds, and save souls.\u201d [4]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Relevance to Doctoral Project<\/h2>\n

My doctoral project is a four hour in-person workshop that tween girls attend with their mothers (or primary female influencer) to build resilience skills. With a project solely focused on females, I know the issue will eventually arise where a male who identifies as female wants to attend either as a tween or as the adult. This issue has been in the back of mind for a while, but reading Strange New Worl<\/em>d has forced me to think about how I will respond. The \u201ceasy\u201d answer is to fall back on biology and have a policy that only biological girls and women can attend, however I fear the question of \u201cwhy?\u201d In the video scenarios I present, there is one that focuses on a crush the young girl has on a boy in her class. Will lesbian attendees take offense?<\/p>\n

It is a quandary because it is many of the people who most need protective resilience skills like the ones I teach in the workshop are people these in these very groups. The Trevor Project\u2019s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People found that 41% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including roughly half of transgender and nonbinary youth.[5]<\/a> I want to love them all well and help them learn the skills they need for positive emotional and mental health, while also acknowledging the very real biological and hormonal differences that occur during this key adolescent time of development. It truly is a strange new world we operate in where these questions must be considered. There are no easy answers and in some cases, lives may depend on the answer.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Carl R. Trueman and Ryan T. Anderson, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution<\/em> (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2022).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Strange New World – an Interview with Carl Trueman<\/em>, 2022, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3wD-Bn2mMxc.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Trueman and Anderson, Strange New World<\/em>, 23.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Benjamin Storey, \u201cThe Art of Intellectual Espionage,\u201d National Review<\/em> 74, no. 8 (2022): 35-.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cFacts About Suicide Among LGBTQ+ Young People,\u201d The Trevor Project, January 1, 2024, https:\/\/live-trevor-web.pantheonsite.io\/resources\/article\/facts-about-lgbtq-youth-suicide\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In less than a generation, Western culture\u2019s view of human gender identity and sexual preference has dramatically changed. In his 2022 book titled Strange New World, Professor Carl R. Trueman attempts to explain how and why this shift occurred through a philosophical, theological and historical lens. He also proposes a way for Christians to respond.[1] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3187],"class_list":["post-37487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-trueman-dlgp01","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37488,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37487\/revisions\/37488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}