Our perceptions of gender are changing. The role of gender in our society is changing. The relationship between gender and sexuality is changing. It’s a paradigm shift that has crested and simply will not be rolled back. It is also a shift that must be addressed in order to build an understanding of society’s relationship with Christian churches.

Shifts in the understanding of gender and toward gender equality are having dramatic impacts on individuals and social systems. Overall, in many countries of the world, it appears gender equality is increasing at the same time family ties are weakening.[i] Fears and superstitions associated with this shift are causing extraordinary friction.

Studied since the seventies has been a Gender Theory that poses gender as a social construct separate from human biology. It is based on a belief that our understanding and implementation of gender norms grow out of societal influence on stereotypical expectations rather than being wholly driven by the physical presence and configuration of sex organs at birth.

Developed to facilitate the study of the history of women and men while considering roles apart from the biological dictation of norms, the theory allows historical and sociological exploration and discussion of how persons’ gender identities are made by social constructs, rather than our just being born into what we understand to be man or woman.

One outcome of the Gender Theory approach to study is that it has laid bare the manifestations and influence of hierarchy on our world. The new ways to perceive gender are reshaping the understanding of sexuality, the use of language, and approaches to education, law, and medicine. The new understandings of gender are now positioned to have a dramatic impact on religion. The ideas are creating an enormous amount of social heat on the cutting edge of change and a big backlash among traditionalists. 

A Dutch Roman Catholic Bishop, aware of the potential impact on The Church has called on Pope Francis to issue a Papal Encyclical on Gender Theory. Speaking during a press conference, Dutch Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht called the idea of the role of man and woman being completely detached from biological sex, “incompatible with the vision of man presented by the Church, with Sacred Scripture at the basis of doctrine.”[ii]

With the swirl of controversy rising from traditionalists in the church, Francis may consider it ill-advised to issue any sweeping statements on gender at this point.

One reason for the recent doubling down entrenchment of some church leaders regarding increased LGBTQ and women inclusion emanates not just from fear of Gender Theory but from being worried about a dramatic shift in the masculinity/patriarchy paradigm. Gender Theory and opening the church to greater inclusion just puts it under a magnifying glass.

Latest Changes Are Undeniable

A paradigm shift occurs when the underlying foundations of a central set of concepts change. For example, one can consider the shifts that occurred when it was discovered germs cause disease. The discovery changed the entire basis of the science of disease, surgery, and medicine in general.

We are in an astounding period of shifting paradigms in society right now. Consider these areas of enormous change brought on by technology and social progress in the last fifty years:

• How we understand work and production
• How we understand aging
• How we communicate
• Gender power shifting
• Racial power shifting
• Geographic closeness and transportation
• Forms of wealth
• Medical advances
• Genetics
• Methods of socialization
• Definitions of community
• Computers and online presence/information
• Artificial Intelligence manipulation of reality

We can add to that list the paradigm shifts in societal views and experiences of gender, sexuality, femininity, and masculinity.

In this world of shifting paradigms, people have the experience of seeing what they have always considered a state of order challenged. It’s a world in which expectations can be turned upside down and a feeling of insecurity takes hold. The moving edge of a paradigm shift can generate heat in the form of anger, resentment, hostility, and a digging-in with ideas and ideals. Paradigms do have a tipping point which, once passed, indicates a certainty that the paradigm change will ultimately be implemented.

The Coming Tsunami of Monumental Change

As much as we as a society of humans may think the realities of our work and social experiences are already changing, we are on the cusp of a huge make-or-break overarching paradigm upheaval that will impact the world in ways we have not yet been able to imagine.

In their book Rethinking Humanity: Five Foundational Sector Disruptions, The Lifecycle of Civilizations, and the Coming Age of Freedom, futurists James Arbib and Tony Seba spell out the foundational sectors of energy, transport, information, food, and materials that interact and converge to drive shifts in society.

They claim that just as the shift from a hunter-gatherer culture to what they call an “extraction” culture that mined and grew and combined resources to produce; and just as that evolved into an industrial revolution, we are on the cusp of earth-shaking change. The coming change they describe is one that will be to a “Creation Society” of creativity and freedom. It will be driven by our technology and networking capabilities.

This change is forecast to grow exponentially faster than any of humanity’s previous mega shifts in societal paradigms. Rather than a straight-line drifting upward, say Arbib and Seba, the change will drive an “S” curve that rapidly shoots up toward freedom and a society of creation, or down toward devastation and one of humankind’s most abysmal failures.[iii]

…Such powerful shifts in human experience have always impacted all the sectors of our existence, including social norms. Gender identities and roles are no exception.

Whereas early tribes were sometimes organized by gender into hunters and gatherers, and the industrial revolution drove a misogynistic reality that men ran the factories and businesses, our new age is evolving into a state in which biological gender delineation is not even remotely important to our post-extraction Creation Society. Equality and maximization of creative human potential across the board are what now will drive our future success.

More every day, we are discovering that creativity and its creations are our biggest assets. This is evidenced in a rather strange way by the new emphasis on NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) that can sometimes represent art, unique documents, and many other things that are created and cannot be reproduced beyond the original form (after they are given NFT status on the information networks).

In this system, for example, simple works of graphic art have recently sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency and continued to be traded for increasing amounts of trade value on that crypto-currency market. It is a striking example of exchange in a technological, networked, Creation Society. 

“Reset” and Fallout

In 2020 the then Prince of Wales (now King of England) joined with members of the World Economic Forum in calling for what he called, “The Great Reset.” His message was echoed by Prof Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Forum organizes an annual summit in a Swiss ski resort for some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people. Schwab told attendees: “The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world to create a healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous future.”[iv]

The comments were focused on responding to environmental threats and reshaping and improving our economic systems in response to new technologies and increase in human capabilities.

Unfortunately, conspiracy theorists latched onto the setting and the message to claim the wealthy had created Covid-19 to paralyze society while they re-designed it. This ultimately spread to accusations that major church denominations were a party to the conspiracy and would gut the beliefs of the church to conform to the new world order of the “Great Reset.” Some radical religious groups railed and prayed against what they deemed a satanic conspiracy to “Reset” a society without God.

Despite the protests of the reluctant (and “Reset” or not) the Creation Society has already been launched through scientific discovery and human and technical development. The practical implementation of Artificial Intelligence, for example, has hit all of us in what seems like overnight impacts on multiple aspects of living..

Nations and peoples will find the assets of a Creation Society are most evident in an environment of equality and combined creative brain maximization. It is not a matter of whether gender identities and definitions will change. The change is already well underway as a response to how societies must function to survive in this interconnected age.

The societal shift is not a conspiracy, it is a reality driven by an unmistakable change in human circumstances. The paradigm has already shifted, and the changes will be emblazoned across new technology and new societal response. This means our discussion of gender here is simply one of the obsolete prejudices that are drowning in the belly of this impending monstrous wave of astronomical change.

Churches have only to decide whether, and how they will be relevant in such a world. Some have already decided the key to their continuing in power is to try to undermine and impede the unmistakable careening march of human development. It appears some billionaire manufacturing, industrial, and resource extraction magnates are helping fund them in that effort. Unfortunately, a current wave of hate, greed, ignorance and an international religious and political trend toward opportunism may be setting us on a path to a downward curve.

If circumstances create the unfortunate occurrence that humankind chooses the abysmal downward plunge in Arbib and Seba’s “S” curve predictions of how we as humans will react to massive paradigm changes, traditionalist religious institutions and those who empower them will have had a great influence on that dark moment for humankind.

It won’t be the first time misguided traditionalist religion has been associated with a “Dark Age” of our experience on earth.  In a repeat of that moment in human history, the church could again be the leading edge of the darkness, rather than a beacon of the light.

Of particular interest in our discussion is the history of gender in religion. We can note that The Talmud recognized up to eight genders. Rabbi Elliott Kukla writing in 2006 pointed out:

The rabbis of the Mishna who lived in the first two centuries of the Common Era identify at least four possible genders/sexes: the “zakhar” (male) and the “nekevah” (female) as well as two sexes that are neither male nor female called the “tumtum” and the “androgynos.”

They also had two other categories for gender identity that donʼt appear at birth but develop later in life. The “saris” is born male but later develops female traits; the “aylonit” is born female but later develops male traits.[v]

To believe a simplistic and flawed Biblical “inerrancy” stance claiming there are only two sexes recognized throughout human history simply does not have a basis in religion, history, or science.

The late Virginia Ramey Mollenkott was author or co-author of thirteen books, including several on women and religion. Writing in a Yale Theology School publication, she had this to say about, “gender normality:”

What I have learned from my most recent studies is that gender normality is a myth as long as it is forced to locate itself within a binary paradigm that fits very few members of the human race. I am not the only person who limited, shrank, and truncated aspects of myself in an attempt to fit that paradigm. Millions have done the same; and some have killed themselves or been murdered because of their inability to pass gender muster. …So much pain. So much waste of human potential. It cannot continue![vi]

Religious tradition is considered sacred, yet despite popular mythology to the contrary it has evolved quite a lot over time. It has slowly adjusted to changes in human knowledge and understanding. Christianity should always be searching for ways to nurture the human spirit and faith in the context of present-day realities rather than denying or ignoring them.

 

This article is an excerpt from the book Why the Clergy Lied: A Journalist’s Academic Report on LGBTQ and Christianity written and copyrighted© 2023 by author D.L. Day – all rights reserved (printed with permission)

Mr. Day is a former pastor and a retired journalist. He also hosts the podcast Outing Religion found on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

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[i] Poushter, Jacob and Fetterolf, Janell, “A Changing World: Global Views on Diversity, Gender Equality, Family Life and the Importance of Religion.” Pew Research Center, 29 April, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/22/a-changing-world-global-views-on-diversity-gender-equality-family-life-and-the-importance-of-religion/

[ii] Jones, Kevin J. “Gender theory confusion shows need for papal encyclical, Dutch cardinal says.” Catholic News Agency. 16 November 2022. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252828/gender-theory-confusion-shows-need-for-papal-encyclical-dutch-cardinal-says

[iii] Arbib, James and Seba, Tony. Rethinking Humanity: Five Foundational Sector Disruptions, The Lifecycle of Civilizations, and the Coming Age of Freedom. RethinkX. 2020, Parts 3-4.

[iv] Robinson, Olga, et al. “What is the Great Reset – and how did it get hijacked by conspiracy theories?”BBC, 24 June 2021.  https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-57532368

[v] Kukla, Rabbi Elliot. “A Created Being of Its Own: Toward a Jewish Liberation Theology for Men Women and Everyone Else.” Transtorah. 2006, p.1. http://transtorah.org/PDFs/How_I_Met_the_Tumtum.pdf

[vi] Mollencott, Virginia Ramey “Neither Male nor Female: Understanding the Complexities of Sex and Gender.” Reflections. Yale University School of Thology, Spring 2006 – “Sex and the Church.” https://reflections.yale.edu/article/sex-and-church/neither-male-nor-female-understanding-complexities-sex-and-gender