A friend messaged me with a resource to learn more about Preston Sprinkle and his theology on the Transgender community. Like Stuckey, he has a book out on it—only his book is the whole book on it, not just a chapter. 🤦♀️ Talking about other people’s experiences without the people in the room is just so cruel and disturbing. They may find one person who will support their view and put in an anecdotal example. But, no diverse perspectives (the community is diverse, believe it or not. One trans person does not speak for all trans people), and the scholarship is low-quality—just like Stuckey’s.
It is affirming to listen to this analysis by Celestial Navigation and hear their critique of Preston Sprinkle match my analysis of Allie Beth Stuckey. The only difference is that Preston thinks you can be polite but not affirming; Allie Beth Stuckey is straight-up not polite, and actually argues it is not loving to be polite about it. Both use spiritual language to affirm their positions as the answer, and that is dangerous and how high-control religion works—which is a cult. When you tell people this is the word of God you are sharing and why you do not affirm their full humanity, you are hurting them. There are very real spiritual and psychological effects on the person on the receiving end of that theology. There is a lot of peer-reviewed research on that form of spiritual abuse, and more is being written right now.
These are just some things to think about. I am taking a break for a while now. My brain is breaking, and I am making mistakes. I am grateful for the deeper journey into what is happening, but I need to enjoy some of this life, too. I will be back at it again soon.
In the meantime, here are some Trans Christian voices I recommend:
Ellie Dote
Trans Grams— Teri Colleen
Austen Hartke
Flamy Grant
Laura Beth Buchleiter
There are more. I would love for anyone reading this to add to the list. Let’s hear from the actual community. They are the experts and each of their experiences and thoughts on life will be different. Isn’t that great? They are fully human like us!
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