“Move beyond the gender binary.” That was the message the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton used to promote a children's book event earlier this month in Hamilton, New Jersey.
The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton sponsored a reading for local children of "My Shadow is Purple" by Scott Stuart at the Hamilton Township Public Library.
The book is described by the publisher as “a story about being true to yourself, just as you are,” and features a young protagonist realizing it’s okay to be themselves, even if they don’t fit comfortably within the gender binary.
Though the event itself reportedly took place with little trouble, now some local parents are outraged that a Catholic charity would sponsor the event. They argue the message goes against Catholic principles and the best interests of children under the church's watch.
My Shadow is Purple
What exactly is the content in the book that parents are objecting to?
"My Shadow is Purple" uses color metaphors to challenge the gender binary and explain the concept to a younger audience. The author uses a pink shadow to symbolize being a girl, and a blue shadow for being a boy.
"My dad has a shadow that’s blue as a berry and my mom's is as pink as a blossoming cherry," state’s the book’s young protagonist in its opening lines. "There’s only those choices, a two or a one. But mine is quite different. It’s both and it’s none. If theirs are straight then mine is a circle."
The main character is described as having a purple shadow, different from their mom and dad. “My shadow loves playing with all sorts of toys. Things loved by girls and things loved by boys,” he says in the story. The book tells children they don’t necessarily have to conform to traditionally masculine or feminine roles, and that it’s okay to enjoy both ‘boy’ things and ‘girl’ things.
Wearing a combination suit and dress, the child is forced to choose whether to stand on the girls’ side or boys’ side at a school dance, and breaks down in tears at the thought of doing so. In the end, however, all the other children join the protagonist to dance together in the center of the dance floor, joined by their various multicolored shadows – pink, blue, purple, and beyond.
You can see and hear the book read aloud in full below.
The Backlash Begins
Of course, not everyone was pleased that a book promoting gender nonconformity was read to kids, and some local parents expressed outrage when news broke that a local Catholic charity coordinated the reading.
"We are in a state of complete disbelief that our Diocese would align itself with something so clearly in opposition to the teachings of our faith,” explained one parent. "We seriously question how this sponsorship is anything other than a sad example of secularized virtue signaling… I would also like the Diocese of Trenton to explain how moving children 'beyond the gender binary' will move them closer to God?"
The Diocese has a response: they were simply fulfilling a legal contract with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, which occasionally includes book readings like this one.
“[We offer] a wide variety of educational and prevention programs for students, families and educators to ensure the children in the county have access to behavioral health care as well as information about numerous issues that can impact a student’s mental health," the charity explained.
Past Controversy
It isn’t the first time this particular book has made headlines. In 2023, longtime Georgia teacher Katherine Rinderle was fired from Due West Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia, after reading the book to her 5th-grade students.
In a 4-3 decision, the Cobb County School Board voted to fire Renderle following parent backlash, on the grounds that she violated the state’s law on teaching “divisive concepts,” which bars teachers from “espousing personal political beliefs” in the classroom.
At the time, Scott Stuart responded to Rinderle’s firing, calling it “disgusting.”
Beyond the Binary
By most standards, "My Shadow is Purple" is pretty tame, especially compared to some other books that have been in the crosshairs of anti-LGBTQ advocates.
Fans of the book note that it also doesn’t tear down or disparage those who fit into traditional gender norms, and its overarching message is to teach empathy for oneself and kindness to others.
Clearly, though, critics feel as though the content crosses a line and is inappropriate for children.
What do you make of the controversy? Are parents overreacting, or is the message truly antithetical to faith teachings?
126 comments
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Krystal Lynn Rains
So sad that the folks that are so against this book have never taken the time to learn why the author wrote it. It was done to support his son that doesn't fit into the normal gender binary of boy things/girl things and in support of his personal expression, his father wrote the book. It was a loving and accepting gift from a father to his precious son. Something that some "Christians" here, might want to examine as that loving support is expressed in their own written theology.
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Russel A. Kester
Krystal, the motivation of the author doesn't mitigate its unsavory message. But if a parent wishes to read it to his or her child, no one is stopping them. However, it is not okay to read it in public to a group of children and certainly not in a religious organization like the one in the article.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
And why is it not okay to read it in public to a group of children? Hm? What's "wrong" with the book? What is Unsavory about it? Oh let me guess you're claiming it's to "groom" kids to be "sex slaves" and to "sell themselves" and be "perverts" right?
You mean like the bible passages that encourages families to murder the gay individuals, and then sell their little 5 yr olds off into slavery for a small herd of goats, and to close their ears when the kids are raped?
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Russel A. Kester
Bridget, it's not okay to read this book to it's intended audience, small children, because they are not in a position to deal with the issues of gender dysphoria or what their sexuality is or isn't. It's wholly inappropriate. And it violates the rights of the parents to decide if at this age it is something they wish to discuss with THEIR child. Stop believing you have a right to teach their prepubescent children YOUR BELIEFS! Such utter arrogance.
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Mark Bales
I do not understand how anyone who doesn't believe in God, would bother to get 'ordained'.
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William Lewis Vass
Let me be perfectly clear here. God, whether exists or not, is a crutch for religion. I have a transgender son so I'm speaking from experience. If you start questioning whether books are good or bad you are no better than hitler and the nazi Party. A book is neither good nor bad its simply words on paper. Saying this particular book is against your faith is as far from christ as the east is from the west. Do you think he would approve of your behavior or call you out as he did the scribes and pharisees. I can guarantee it would be the second choice. Look in the mirror and what you see looking back is your true nature. You may see a reflection of yourself while others see themselves in the wrong physical body.
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Elizabeth Jane Erbe Wilcox
Thank you, William. I have a transgender daughter so I appreciate your kindness and sensibility.
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John Casillo
i wonder if God thinks everyone is so lost
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James Riggle-Johnson
This book is not about being transgender or homosexual. It is about ebing gender binary, and they are not the same thing. Being gender binary as a child means it’s okay for little girls to climb trees, play with GI Joe, to wear pants instead of dresses. It’s also okay for boys to play with dolls, and yes, you can dance with another boy being labled as gay.
Apparently, Christians and the far-right think that blue must be blue, and pink must be pink and if you talk about purple, you’re encouraging children to be homosexual or transgender. This book is not some kind of soft programing or indoctrination or about religion. It’s about children feeling good about themselves as they are.
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Joe R Day
Well written! This subject (and several others) lies at the border of 'What I believe is good for my offspring based on my beliefs.' I raised my 4 boys with the belief that everyone has different belief systems. To force our beliefs on someone else is not a good thing and can cause problems in that person's life. My sons are now in their late 40's and early 50's, two have families and I hope that what I taught them so many years ago has remained in their beliefs.
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Father Flanagan
Putting aside the religious aspect and argument - this goes against science and nature. This whole concept is designed by marxists and globalists to weaken society into becoming compliant with any insane absurd rule or idea these tyrannical wannabe “overlords” can come up with. There are only 2 genders period and they are not interchangeable as you cannot change your chromosomes or dna. I don’t believe in any of these religions but I do know what they say and no matter who your god is - they made man and woman only not something “in between” or in my case - I believe nature through evolution produced a male and a female to procreate and anything else such as homosexuality is in-natural, if the rectum were designed for intercourse it would be self lubricating like the vagina and would serve a purpose other than the disposal of poisonous waste. And if that isn’t enough - Logic, Reason, and Common Sense all say that this is all nonsense just like the climate change hoax and the 2020 election!
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Robert Michael Nodding
How could anyone argue with your perfectly logical conclusions? That last sentence was the clincher for me.
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Joe R Day
How neatly you bundle the human race... "There are only 2 genders period, and they are not interchangeable as you cannot change your chromosomes or DNA."
"Collectively, the DNA differences explained only 8 to 12 percent of the heritability of having same-sex partners. “There is no gay gene,” Ganna said, “but rather non-heterosexuality is influenced by many tiny-effect genetic factors.”
In 2018, the was a major study done. "Researchers examined DNA data from more than 400,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank and more than 69,000 people who had their DNA tested by the consumer testing company 23andMe. People who have given their DNA data to those research projects also answered a battery of questions, including ones about whether they had ever had a partner of the same sex and how many sexual partners they have had. The findings were replicated with data from three other studies, including one from Sweden. Findings from such large studies are more likely to be replicated than the small studies in the past, Bailey says. Researchers have “really gotten these studies down now and if they find things, it’s pretty sure that they’re true.”
So, the DNA and chromosome studies say that your thoughts are incorrect... Perhaps your belief that the 2020 election was actually 'nonsense' and the Climate Change science has solid evidence that it is happening to our planet and humans are to blame?
Just something to consider...
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Robert James Ruhnke
Sorry you feel that way, Father. You’re wrong tho
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Robert James Ruhnke
Sorry you feel that way, Father. You’re wrong tho
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Elizabeth Jane Erbe Wilcox
The “something in between” is intersex.
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Patricia Law
It is not pro trans the story allows all people to break free from maintaining set form of expression by gender .Why do women have to love cooking and cleaning? Men have to express no soft caring emotions? What the book is trying to explain is that we as people are beyond the prescribed gender roles placed upon us.
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Kathryn Mosa
Well you see... the problem is people don't actually read these books before they start complaining about them.
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John Donald Cox
Fear is what motivates those of us who say, "We've always done it this way." Fear is what motivates us to say, "Change is bad." Yet, the one thing that is a constant is change. Change is happening and it's going to continue to happen. There's nothing that's going to stop change. We can burn books and we can discuss the pros and cons about change but change will continue. Change will happen regardless of what we may have to say about change and no matter the extent of our fears.
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Joe R Day
Heraclitus said, "The only constant in the universe is the rate of change." Fear is a powerful motivator and drives many humans to do terrible things. This is just another example of how one belief system is used to try and control others...
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Rev. Donut
Right!
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Steven Ferrell
Stop pushing this crap on children. It’s sad there is no such thing as a tomboy anymore. If a girl shows the slighted t interest in boys toys, climbing trees, etc, or a boy wants to play with dolls then right away they want to say….. oh they must be trans and start pushing that on them. Just leave kids alone.
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James Riggle-Johnson
Steven, this book is exactly about tomboys, and boys that might want to play with a doll. It’s saying that’s okay. It has nothing to do with being transgender.
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
Just because a girl plays with boys toys or a boy plays with girls toys does not mean either are going to be transgendered. What it does mean is that they might just have different interests than you personally may approve of or encourage. Or it might mean one or both might be gay or lesbian. But it does not mean they are going to have surgery to become the opposite sex. That's where the problem lies with people like you: you don't know enough about what you talk/write about and so you just make stuff up as you go along. Gay and lesbian is not the same as trans. It may be a starting place, but in most cases, gays and lesbians are just that, people (made in the image and likeness of gOd) that are attracted to members of their own sex. Transgendered are people that feel that they are (and want to become) the opposite sex). I don't ask you to understand, or agree, simply that you "leave the kids alone"
And stop pushing religious crap on children FIRST! for DOG's sake man, making a child learn about goD and religion is just brainwashing. "Just leave kds alone." (that goes for the kkkristofascist pedophiles as well)
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Ari Joseph Bertine
Huge overreaction. It's not like they just taught kids how to target human beings with a rifle or how to mix cyanide into tea. It's just a book about modern gender representation and interpretation. Nobody who isn't adhering to the exact style of dress that was being worn by men and women in ancient Israel at the time of the writing of the OT scripture about gendered dress can say one word about what's proper and what isn't.
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Rev Ned
Some people find rainbows on things to be very scary.
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Matthew Mastrogiovanni
Once again the church chooses hate.
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Pamela Kay Waters
This stuff does not need to be brought up in school. Bad enough it's happening anyway but home is where this needs to stay. You are born a female with female parts or you are born a male with male parts. You are born this way for a reason WHY MESS it up. Unless you are born looking like a female down there but actually you are a male too with your stuff up inside. The people of this world is getting sicker in the head as the days goes on. What do people that care think what their god thinks
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
Clearly you don't understand what this issue is about or how it occurs. It's not clear cut as you wrongly suggest. Moreover, since your education is not medicine, science or egg coloring, it's best if you let those that have the knowledge to guide parents and children. Your god not only doesn't exist but doesn't care and certainly, your god doesn't matter
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ServantOfJudgement
The creator of penicillin is a Christian.
The creators of controlled flight are Christians.
Modern atomic theory was given by, yep, you guessed it, a Christian.
The coloring of eggs, non Christian but boy are they pretty, and tasty too!
Imagine reading book that inspired you to give the world the most profound medicine imaginable, fly through the clouds and wield electricity with your fingertips. Truly remarkable if not miraculous. Thank God for it all.
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Patricia Law
easter eggs are Pagon, Einstein was Jewish, first thoughts on flight was Leonardo da Vinci who was not christian
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Rev. Mike Eggleston
Male and female are sexes, not genders. Gender is masculine or feminine.
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Barbara Harris
As a little girl I loved to play with my Barbie doll, but Ken was not my idea of who I wanted her to be with, so I would abduct my brother's GI Joe. I hated wearing dresses, and still do to this day. I played I was a pirate or an explorer. I climbed trees to read books in the peace of a tree. I wanted to go to the Colorado School of Mines, but they didn't accept woman at the time. I was in heaven, when in the late 60s, my high school allowed girls to wear pants, jeans or heaven forbid those really short miniskirts, which were the only dresses/skirts that I did like to wear.
In the mid 70s I met and married my husband and we were together for almost 37 years. I look back at all the things that have occurred in all these years and it saddens me to see this amount of hate and angst. I never have fit the mold of being a girl/woman. My favorite color has been purple all of my life. Someone, once told me that was because my being vibrated at a higher level. Maybe that is why I am so accepting.
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Patricia Ann Gross
Thank you for this, Barbara. I grew up during the same time. I remember the first time I got to wear pants to school (it took another couple of years before they allowed jeans, but never shorts). I also prefered GI Joe or toy soldiers to Barbie. Today, I could be open as "gender fluid." Back then I was bullied, ridiculed, and excluded for prefering the "boy" things.
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ServantOfJudgement
This why public schools ought not teach the bible. Apparently even Catholic schools teachers struggle to teach it. If one does not believe or comprehend the subject he ought not teach it. This nonsense is 1+1 for a child getting prepared to go down that long and twisted rabbit hole of gender insanity. The basic building block for absurdity. It is after all in the lgbtq2ia++:( section isn't it?
It's good they ditched the teacher. She can get a job in a public school where they arm wrestle for a chance to drink the Kool aid.
Jesus warned Christians to be as wise as the serpent for he knew the naive and nature of us. Even Christians here are blind to this deception calling it harmless, even promoting it. A mosquito bite is harmless until it isn't. Once and evil seed is planted and takes root in the mind of a child, extracting it is nearly impossible.
Does anyone who opposes my opinion see that while you say stay out of our bedroom you also say to let me teach your children about our bedroom? You do it in our churches and in our schools. You demand your doctrine be preached while denying ours to be taught, even in our own places. You call them safe spaces, which used to make me laugh. Now the term puts me on alert.
Our mind is a battle field Christians. Be wise about things, our Lord commands it.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Gender identification has nothing to do with the bedroom, pervert. Your mind is checker board whilst the rest of us are plat 3D chess. We have no doctrine. We just have science as it is. You’re the one pushing for your psychotic Christian doctrine to be pushed on us. We are pushing for kids to be left alone, you’re pushing for them to be indoctrinated into being straight and Christian, like y’all have been doing for 2000 years now.
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ServantOfJudgement
Respectfully Robert, sexual preference identity is the entire lgbtqia2++ movement and excludes heterosexuals. The entire body identifies as a sexual preference. When I say something about the bedroom and lgbtqia2++ I'm standing on solid ground. When we introduce children to lgbtqia2++ material we're introducing them to sex and sexual preferences. If we do that in an educational institution we're indoctrinating them, as member Bishop William DunsberryDD sloppily stated.
You're right about me, I keep things real simple. There's actually just straight and gay. The big acronym is just picking variations of gay. I'd like to expand on your 3D chess and say you're playing 9K D chess with thousands upon thousand of rules, layers and an impossible etiquette to follow. I'll stick with checkers. Man and woman. Homosexual and heterosexual. Nice and simple.
It's a strange day when a person who identifies in a sexual sense to tell a guy who doesn't that he's a pervert. As I said of the lgbt2qia++ religion demands: Don't you dare invade our bedroom but you better let me tell you and your kids all about it.
I don't even make my own kids read the bible although I've read I'm supposed to. I sure don't make you or anyone on this planet.
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Robert James Ruhnke
There is no LGBTQ+ religion. That’s you being a pervert again. I was talking about gender identification, you brought up sexuality, whilst they do synchronize, they’re separate concepts. Explaining gender can be done without it being sexualized, same with orientation. Both can be explained clinically. It doesn’t exclude heterosexuals, y’all just aren’t the focus. All straight Allies are welcome. Projecting religion is just your coward’s way of undermining through projection. You’re the one with the bat-crap crazy religion invading school rooms with your superstitious nonsense. Trans men are men, trans women are women, they’re men and women, though some are non binary. Gender has more to do with feeling than actual biology. Sex is biological, but it’s still a spectrum that’s not cut and dry. That’s pretty simple. You trying to over complicate it is just more subterfuges
To be fair SOJ, between the four of you loud mouthed right wing regressives on here, I think your responses are the most thoughtful. I appreciate your candor.
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Robert Gagnon
Simple math. Traditional gender vs. gender confused. Who are more likely to leave this world early by their own hand? Don't make excuses why, just plain numbers. Consider per capita, the obvious conclusion is it's not in anyone's best interests to veer from the norm.
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Robert James Ruhnke
That’s not math. That’s just more ignorant nonsense, gags. 68% of all suicides in this country are white men. It seems like you guys confuse yourselves with what it means to be a man. The ideals you hold to be normal are so toxic they’re killing you guys off, Gags. Whilst lgbtq+ people do have a high rate of suicide, it’s because of the toxic norm that’s also killing you off is being pushed on us. You’re too busy thinking about men you’re not looking at the right numbers, gags.
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Robert Gagnon
What did I say? Just numbers, no excuses. Simple math turns into White males? Don't complicate a simple equation. Toxic norms refers to real society, namely reality in general? Let's confirm the real world. LGB is sexual orientation or attraction to another human. Other initials are state of mind including incels and the A's. Remaining initials are how people identify which are as numerous as the imagination. Gender fluidity is another word for whimsical. There are only male and female gender goals. Anywhere the ball lands between these goals is a matter of degrees. Why should anyone be accosted by another persons personal view of themselves? Keep it to yourself and don't force me to recognize your view of yourself. I don't care about your imaginary avatar. You are either a good person or not. I'm not going to dislike you for your politics, religion or orientation, until you assault me with them. State your case but don't insist. People should be remembered for their deeds, not what or who they imagine themselves to be. Deeds make a difference in the world, everything else is just the wind.
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Robert James Ruhnke
No one. So why do you accost people with you whimsical and silly notions of things you refuse to understand or understand by means of outdated data? That’s just you goal post moving because when the numbers aren’t broken down, they tell a completely different story than you’re projecting, Gags. Again. It’s not math, and you’re not quoting actual science, just ridiculous right wing rhetoric based on a crappy black and white vision of what humanity should be, and not what it is. You’ve already assaulted others with your beliefs, when you reap the violence you’ve already sewn, don’t cry about it as you are now. Remember this, them existing on their terms, and you being a condescending disrespectful creep is all you’ll get in return. More people disagree and ultimately refute your outdated views than they don’t.
I really wish there was a laugh react here. You tell some of the most ironic and hypocritical whoppers, Gags. Again. Every accusation you’ve dished out, is a confession of your Ken garbage behavior. You don’t know what good is, so you don’t really get to lecture others what it is or isn’t.
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Robert Gagnon
Whimsical and silly is a fantastic description of the whole gender identity craze. And you are also right about why should I or anyone else of stable mind bother to give any of this childish movement a moment of serious consideration. If my math is so wrong then trans suicide rates are a non issue. This exonerates any blame on society as a whole, can't have it both ways. Maybe it's time to bring back lobotomies, better than risking suicide, or people harming themselves chemically or surgically. Both were approved by the same medical boards. Which is kinder?
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Robert James Ruhnke
It’s not a craze, considering gender nonconformity is a behavior which goes back 8000+ years. I’m bi, I have it both ways and more, meaning yes, we can have it both ways. You’ve already proven you’re not as stable as you project, Gags. Your obsession with people’s genitalia and what they do with them is already several red flags in one. An if you actually meant what you said about not giving serious thought, you’d not be giving your outdated opinions so steadily, readily, and heavily on LGBTQ+ topics. lol The high suicides rates of everyone are a problem, and problem can be traced back to opinions you echo. Once men like you are out of power people will be better off. If we bring back lobotomies I recommend you be first to get one. It might quiet your raging hormones finally
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Robert Gagnon
Excitable aren't we? yes let's talk about questionable outdated information. Cass report invalidated faulty reports 99 out of 102 were faulty. I don't care what an adult does until it affects others. When a small number of freaks push an ideology that results in years of emotional suffering and severe bodily harm with induced and unnecessary chemical dependence, I take notice. You're the one worried about kiddie bits.
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Robert James Ruhnke
lol excitable? Nah. That’s just you trying to deflect, project, and gaslight your way out of this argument.
You’re bring up a hotly debated and misrepresented report which nothing of the sort.
“When a small number of freaks push an ideology that results in years of emotional suffering and severe bodily harm with induced and unnecessary chemical dependence“ you and your weird lot are the freaks. You defend a religious tradition which has been mutilating and Murdering people for the last 5000 years, so clearly you don’t know your butt from your elbow. Every accusation you make is a confession of your sides notorious wrong doing. The way you obsess over other peoples genitalia and they way obsess over your own daughter in these conversations leaves me wondering what you’re trying to deflect from. lol.
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Robert Gagnon
Funny part is I'm not a bible thumper. If anything I'd say "nature of personal reality" is my life guide. It deals with seeing reality without any bias. I'm sure thats way over your ability to conform. Just saying Cass is irrelevant because you don't like it is no different from a child hating spinach. Hotly debated by who? Oh, the others that didn't follow scientific procedures, or the ones that hate themselves so badly that they chemically and surgically mutilate themselves thinking they can hide behind a facade? I get where you are coming from. The freak that sits in the basement in his mother's clothes dreaming about reading bad messages to little children. Hey I got a great name for your drag character. Mama Moose!
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Robert James Ruhnke
Not a Bible thumper? Weird how you just echo their talking points. You push social Darwinist ideals based on western biases of might makes right when that’s zero sugar social astrology for men lol. lol. Gags, you really need to practice your insults, they’re stale. Stop obsessing how others live and mind your own business. It’s obsessive and freaky. lol the “let people live how they want,” crowd ever proving they’re lying hypocrites. The only women’s clothes I may wear are your mothers clothes after a night of wild bachanalic rituals 😜 but that’s just because she asked nicely.
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Robert Gagnon
Ooh struck another nerve. Didn't realize your parents are the same size. Guess it's a narrow gene pool in your house out in the woods. Now I see where that elusive gene you know all about came from. Buffalo Bill had it too. Maybe a nice uniform like Rachael Levine's would do the trick. I think you should go now, I think Precious fell down in the well again.
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Robert James Ruhnke
You keep fishing and coming up with nothing, Gags. Lol parents basement? Shallow gene pool? Buffalo Bill? All lame over used attempts. 🥱 Poor Gags. Lmfao.
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Robert Gagnon
Mama Moose to Precious: don't step in the lotion. What's the Gerbil's name?
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Lionheart
Thank you for your thoughts. We actually have no evidence whatsoever that the biblical Jesus ever said anything meaningful other than what historians, (that never met him), like to imply what he said. So, in reality, we have no idea what he ever really commanded.
Those historians that were alive during his suggested time on earth never wrote about him. Weird…right?
🦁❤️
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ServantOfJudgement
Lionheart, your right, YOU have no evidence at all. The Bible says you won't have any and you don't. A believer's eyes and ears have been opened. We've got tons of evidence of a creator, it's everywhere we look. His message seems to be accurate within our feeble understanding.
Consider the colorblind and the color sighted. One sees colors and one does not. I'm surprised colorblind people believe me when I say the colors red and green exist but they do. For the life of me I just can't explain what those colors look like though.
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James Riggle-Johnson
Servant, I’m wondering. Do you believe the world is only 6000 years old? Do you believe dinosaurs lived with man? Some people believe that is exactly what the bible portrays. Science teaches us our solar system is about 4.5 billion years old while the universe itself is about 13 billion years old. How does that fit in with what the bible says? Do you really believe the entire human race began with just two people?
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Robert Gagnon
Remember gateway drugs?It's OK everybody's doing it, just because your parents tell you It's not healthy to let your imagination and symbols lead you down a bad path...etc..etc. And what a wonderful fairy tail, everybody accepted and converted simultaneously. Such a brave soul to change the world. Fairy tail, not a hero. Epilogue: No one else had such shadows, kid was bullied, started cutting them self, transitioned, world didn't get better, found em swinging from the ceiling fan. parents wonder where it all started.
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Robert James Ruhnke
It starts when sentiments like this are shoveled into their existences by people like yourself Gags. Cowards who don’t know how to leave people alone. More of us survive than die off, it’s why we’ve always been here. The bullies are the problem, not the child who is different. THe parents, like you, who push their children down the actual dark paths of bullying and cruelty are also the problem. It’s okay everyone is doing it is the only reason religion is so popular.oh and it’s fanatics forcing it with violence also helps.
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Robert Gagnon
Who's the coward? You complain how you were afraid of your own shadow (whatever the color) when you were a kid. The world will not change for the people that want to show off that they are different (strange). "It's OK everyone is doing it" is referring to this gender abnormality you promote. My kid was never a bully, she has inner strength and true character. But, she nor I will tolerate the meek and misguided trying to roar like a tiger. Stomping around in indignation, claiming that they deserve complete acceptance and praise while hiding behind respectable organizations banners. The world can be a cruel place to any non conformist. Just got to act like everybody else, not that complicated. Swim with the current or drown fighting it. That's a metaphor for you.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Lol oh Gags, trying be an edgy tough guy is adorable of you, but it doesn’t work. You just sound even more pathetic. I am aware of how cruel life is, which is why I’ve always chosen kindness to those who need it. You don’t qualify. Too much of a coward bully. I suspect your child doesn’t talk to you much. Lol
As someone who has taken my lumps. I’ve also given them bullies like you who need a reminding there’s always a bigger fish out there. When I reached 6’ the bullying stopped. When I hit 6’4 men like you never say these words to my face. Nor will you. Too much of a coward in love with harassing people on the internet. You speak of tigers when you’re just a snarling keyboard Chihuahua.
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Robert Gagnon
Is that not the definition of a bully? Only approaching adversaries that are much smaller or weaker than yourself? I'm sure anybody 6'2 or taller can say anything they want without so much as a whimper in response. I know my history and could care less what someone hiding in a basement thinks. Having a successful kid shows a contribution to society besides those of my own. Think giving your blessing is a contribution? You may come on this site, whine, bellow, call names, and make false assumptions. All the definition of a bully, a coward with the advantage of size, not character. And you brag about that. Sure you're not a red hat, sound Trumpist.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Living on the family farm and looking after my folks through their golden years while my sibling had the kids and families is hardly the living situation you try to push it as. Whining and bellowing are such a funny confession on your part, because so far that’s all you’ve ever done. That and advocating bullying whilst larping as an anti-bully lol. Typically I’m a jolly sappy giant who doesn’t need to bark, I smile and laugh my way through situations. A bully’s bully is still a bully, true. Yet I don’t brag about that, it’s not really much of a task keeping gags like yourself answered to. It’s more of a civic duty than anything. You don’t care but you care enough to try and parade trivial matters in front of me like they matter or sting. They don’t. lol sad pathetic try though.
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Robert Gagnon
Sounds more parasitic than caring for the elderly. But then, everyone paints their self as a hero in their mind. Having a family and children is more responsibility than some choose to accept. At least you admit to being a bully, and bravo for that. There are a few times I've done things I'm not proud of but I can count them on my 10 fingers. Not many can say that truthfully. I plan on leaving one more mark in my golden years, and thank you for contributing to that.
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ServantOfJudgement
What a tragic and profound analysis.
I've not delved into post transition suicides much but I know they happen. We use suicide as a reason to encourage transition then close our eyes afterwards and ignore the suicide because of transition. It seems like any voice encouraging pause is attacked then blotted out.
If anything in the world is truly fluid it's the youth. It seems unwise to lock them in on a course they don't have the foresight to comprehend.
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Robert James Ruhnke
They’re not though, SOJ, stop playing the victim. It’s not a good look for you.
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Bishop William Dusenberry, DD
Anything called a school, that uses indoctrination (brainwashing) into one specific point of view, only — should by force of law — no longer be able to refer to their places of indoctrination, as a school; schools are places to learn, not to be indoctrinated. Ditto: universities and colleges. If their primary objective is to indoctrinate, and/or brainwash, Notre Dame should be called Notre Dame Institute of Indoctrination, instead of Notre Dame University. Parochial Schools, should be renamed Parochial Establishments of Indoctrination. And, be reminded, parochial means narrow minded, which should not be followed by “school.”
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
you basically described churches and, religion in general
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Joe R Day
Just some information about the difference between indoctrination and teaching.
"The difference between indoctrination and teaching is as follows: Teaching is the act of imparting knowledge or skills to help someone learn new information, understand concepts, and develop abilities. It encourages inquiry and critical thinking."
"Indoctrination, on the other hand, involves instilling a set of beliefs in someone, often without encouraging questioning or critical analysis. It does not promote critical thinking or questioning."
Jim Jones and his followers used indoctrination to keep his followers in line... William, it would seem that you are in favor of indoctrination, rather than teaching.
JMO, but that's what you wrote...
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James Mounts
The mental-health crisis in this country is becoming alarming. Imagine people thinking shadows have sexes. Instead of teaching our children to be themselves, let's teach them to be better than themselves.
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Russel A. Kester
James, I really pondered the last part of your comment, I felt a sense of agreement but there was a hesitancy to my agreement. I we should be ourselves. But not in every way as we have a fallen nature prone to sin. Which made me agree with the very last part that we should be better than ourselves. That is better than ourselves when we're in the throws of sin. I concluded that as a compromise of these various feelings and thoughts, I will strive to be the best version of myself through God's guidance and grace. Thanks for prompting my thoughts to this conclusion.
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Elizabeth Jane Erbe Wilcox
Russel, if what you have demonstrated here is your idea of what your god is guiding you towards, you’re sadly being misguided. You demonstrate an evil, vile, and hard heart. I hope one day you will find truth, love, joy, and happiness.
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Russel A. Kester
Elizabeth, I demonstrate none of those things you say I do. I simply disagree with poorly informed opinions which some people dislike my doing. No one here on this ULC blog is as guilty of the terms you use to the best of my knowledge. But some people do display a terrible intolerance to views that are less than extreme left-wing progressive and woke nonsense. And these people do display anger, aggression, hostility, and even hatred in their responses. These are usually the ones claiming to be loving and inclusive. So they're easy to spot.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
That book is completely benign. There's no sex in it, it's not "Pornography", there is nothing except a gender fluid protagonist. I heard about this. They're screaming saying that the book is "pornography", that it's "abuse", that it's "grooming kids to be sex slaves", etc.
These people are INSANE. I'm betting there's going to be a bunch that are going to grab copies of the book to do tiktoks of themselves burning them and screaming how it needs to be banned, etc.
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Russel A. Kester
Bridget, simply because the book doesn't have pornographic material doesn't mean it's benign. Nazi propaganda didn't use pornographic material but it wasn't benign. Far from it as is this book.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Using a false equivalency doesn’t mean your opinion is correct, Kester. The Nazis burned down a museum, burned all of its research and books. Both were dedicated to early modern studies an trans and LGBTQ+ individuals. You’re siding with those who would silence all voices included yours in the community. The LGB will not be spared from them.
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Russel A. Kester
No, I don't side with those who would silence dissenting voices which is why I don't side with the progressive left.
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Robert James Ruhnke
You side with the regressive right who burn or ban books, lynch people, shoot up schools, and advocate for child marriage. We know you side with predators of all stripes, Kester. Your side for silence dissenting voices. It’s what you’re trying to do now.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
So you're saying that a book about a gender-fluid individual is the same as the hate-filled rhetoric of Nazi propaganda which pushed for the persecution and destruction of an entire culture?
That's a lot of raw, unadulterated, hatred you have there
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Russel A. Kester
A false equivalency as anyone can see and suggests things not said while ignoring what actually was said.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
Not at all. You're the one, btw, who compared the book to such hate-filled propaganda, not myself. Unless you're trying to state that you words were, in fact, using a false equivalency to deliberately try to denigrate and show hate toward the LGBTQI+ community, and such a harmless book without outright saying it?
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James Riggle-Johnson
Kester, you just compared a book of acceptance to a brutal regime who killed millions of people. This book is telling children not everyone is the same. It has nothing to do with transgender ideology. Gender fluidity is not the same thing as being transgender. They are totally different things.
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Russel A. Kester
James, I showed that Bridget's statement that the book was okay because it didn't contain any pornography was bad thinking. I offered a counter example of another ideology that did not contain pornography but was definitely bad. I attacked her reason for defending the book as poor reasoning which it was. I asked Google AI to define gender fluidity and it responded, "Gender fluidity is a term that describes a person whose gender identity or expression is not fixed and can change over time or from day to day." So, yes, a person can have a male body and claim to be a girl which is transgenderism on steroids because it said that they can change an hour later. So gender fluidity is another umbrella term under which transgender falls. Gender is not fluid.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
Actually, no, gender fluid does not mean that at all. And you did not "offered a counter example" you outright compared a book about a gender-fluid individual to the brutal, hate-filled, propaganda of the Nazi regime.
And transgender does not fall under "gender fluid." Transgender, aka intersex, means an individual that outwardly looks as though they may be one sex, but, instead, are actually, genetically, another.
And the outward attributes do not always match an individual's genetic traits. And the fact is, when you attack a book like that and call it "Nazi propaganda", you're showing the exact same hatred that the Nazis also had against LGBTQ+ individuals and the brutality they quite happily enforced upon those individuals in the camps.
That book is 100% harmless. It's NOT "Nazi propaganda" in any way. And the fact you have the cajones to call it that says more about you than anything else you could ever say. Banning that book is beyond evil because it has the chance to teach kids to actually accept those who are different instead of hating and rejecting them.
And it also encourages those who are transgender to not "hide in the closet" or hate themselves, but to be willing to accept themselves and not live in fear.
But apparently the idea of accepting others, and allowing people to accept themselves for who they are, is "Nazi Propaganda", too.
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Russel A. Kester
Bridget, you wrote, "Transgender, aka intersex, means an individual that outwardly looks as though they may be one sex, but, instead, are actually, genetically, another." Even planned parenthood disagrees with your definition. "What does intersex mean? Intersex is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit the boxes of “female” or “male.” Sometimes doctors do surgeries on intersex babies and children to make their bodies fit binary ideas of “male” or “female”. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/gender-identity/sex-gender-identity/whats-intersex Intersex is a biological problem with the development of a fetus's reproductive organs and has nothing to do with gender identity which you want to call a genetic trait inconsistent with their fully and properly developed sexual organs. Where do people get such ideas? Really, what are people reading, watching, or studying that gets basic information so wrong?
My comment about Nazi propaganda was a proper counter example that showed her REASONING was flawed. I did not say the book was equally as bad as Nazi propaganda. Though I might think that. What I did say was that her reason to accept the book BECAUSE it had no pornography was a bad reason to except the book. I then showed an example of something we all reject but would be acceptable BASED ON HER REASON FOR ACCEPTING THE BOOK. The presence or absence of pornography is not a good criteria for finding the book acceptable or not.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
Your comment about Nazi propaganda not a "proper counter example", your comment was completely to compare that book to horrific works like Mein Kampf and to try to claim that anyone who supported such books are as evil as the Nazis. And that supporting trans individuals are nothing more than genocidal murderers.
Yeah, the presence, or not, of it IS a good criteria. To simply reject and ban the book because it encourages kids to accept those who are LGBTQ+ means that those throwing fits about the book and calling it "porn" are encouraging hatred and the same time of cruel discrimination that the black community suffered in the Jim Crow era.
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that book.
And, btw, Planned Parenthood is only half-right. It's also the DNA. The Genetics. You know, the one thing that most who hate the LGBTQ+ community, esp. those that hate trans / intersex individuals, and yeah, trans ARE Intersex whether you want to accept it or not, is to try to claim either they are not the same, or that both are "groomers" and trying to "violate kids."
Oh, and btw, I have actual research on my side.
Gender variants are extremely common and seen most often in individuals who are bisexual or intersex aka Trans.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj6958
There are multiple human genders beyond just born male or born female, but in fact genetics proves that gender dimorphism is more common than people may think. Though it is not always fully expressed, that is to say, the indivudals hormonal reactions via same sex or opposite sex attractions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10483070/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1Qk_0R2WNqc90IpZwk74Z5_S0C3Ac9EoQBBgBdaugpabpsF62BdprZYYQ_aem_AQh-RkFUFBlspSHCDLYSVLpaFVmAzxcOKGcrf5IqT2IAJfNmqrCANq1vnNMGlRrpNzSsqIsMeT0x-V-DuvE1Taic
How genetics plays a vital role in gender dimorphism in the human, that is to say, for an individual to be Intersex or, in layman's terms, "Trans".
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13293-023-00515-w
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Russel A. Kester
I will gladly debate with you about why there are only two genders, but the immediate topic is that I showed your reason for accepting or describing the book as benign was BECAUSE it had no pornography. I quote, "That book is completely benign. There's no sex in it, it's not 'Pornography' ..." Those are not reasons to accept the book as benign. I showed those are bad reasons with the counter example of Nazi propaganda which meets those two criteria. So, just admit that something is not benign simply because it has no sex or pornography in it and give better reasons why you think the book is good. What subject matter I use in my counter example doesn't matter as long as the REASONING of the argument is the same. This is BASIC logic and argumentation in any college course on critical thinking. Good God Almighty already.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
It is 100% benign. It encourages people to look at it in a peaceful context and acceptance. And yet, you are, outright, saying it is as hateful, and as filled with vitriol, as the book Mein Kampf. You are, in a nutshell, saying anyone who supports the LGBTQ+ community in general, and Transgender / Intersex individuals are literal nazis.
It is 100% neutral in every way, and your "Counter argument" to claim the book is not, in fact, benign shows nothing more, and nothing less, the one thing your "Jesus" fought fiercely against, and even declared pure evil in the "Sermon on the Mount" and that is to say, you are showing pure hatred.
The book is completely benign, not only because it shows no porn, nor does it describe anything about any sex act, but also because it encourages people to be peaceful and to accept those who are different whole-heartedly.
So just admit it. Your rant calling the book Nazi propaganda, and comparing it to Mein Kampf, and comparing those that support the book, and the LGBTQ+ community in general, to, literal, mass-murdering Nazis, is nothing more than pure hatred against that community which you fight tooth and nail to try to polish as being "acceptable."
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Russel A. Kester
Perhaps Google AI can shed light on counter examples in an argument better than I, "A counterexample in an argument is a scenario that shows that an argument can have true premises and a false conclusion. This can be used to show that an argument is invalid or weak: Invalid An argument is invalid if it's possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false, regardless of whether the premises or conclusion are actually true. Weak An argument is weak if it's likely that the premises are true and the conclusion false."
If at some time in the future you would like me to actually make an argument that this book is as bad as Nazi propaganda, then I'll see what I can do. However, in the proceeding comments I have only assessed your premises and conclusion.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
You can debate me all you want claiming that "there are only two genders".
I have SCIENCE on my side. Both the research into genetics and the research into neurological studies completely, 100%, disagree with you.
The fact is, you CAN, outwardly, look male but, at the genetic level, be female. And you CAN, outwardly, look female, and at the genetic level in fact, be male.
Then there are those who, genetically, are more ambiguous. Where outwardly they look one gender, but internally, they have the undeveloped organs of the opposite gender within their bodies. This is, believe it or not, and I highly suspect you will refuse to believe it despite the fact I've shown a TON of evidence to refute every argument you try, not super-uncommon. Being gender-fluid is also a genetic trait. Though as an individual gets older, that neuro-chemical alterations within the brain usually settles. And not ALWAYS on the gender they physically were born appearing to be.
You can scream, "But God!" And "the bible says!"
I don't follow your god, or your bible. That is the nice thing of the ULC, it accepts all faiths. But I do follow, and believe in, along with my religion, proven genetic research. And that debunks your "There's only two genders" completely.
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Russel A. Kester
You made the claim that gender is genetic. On this we agree as a biological males also has male genders. Your actual assertion is that transgenderism is genetic and that has not been proven. There are many, even in the scientific community, who want to find that link but it's simply not there. The literature, including the sites you listed, use words like 'may', 'might have', or 'could have'. So, no, there is no genetic proof whatsoever. Nowhere. Doesn't exist. However, science continues to work on this and it's conceivable it might find such a link, but it does not exist today. The science is not on your side and in past comments I've provided actual quotes from real scientific articles which show this to be true. But by all means, give us an actual quote from a respected scientific source that says clearly that transgenderism is caused by gene number ZZZ on the X or Y chromosome and you will have won the argument. We're waiting in anxious anticipation.
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Robert James Ruhnke
lol of course your goal post moving, Kester. All you have is outdated nos as to why you think you’re right. Science does not deal in absolutes due to the fact we are always expanding and learning what’s new. Historically there have always been gender nonconforming, non binary, and non western views of gender and gender roles. They’re always changing. Gender is a form expression which has always reflected the culture crafting and guiding it. Trans people are more real than your childish concept of god is.
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Colleen McAllister
This book is nothing more than a simple story telling children to be themselves. I see nothing here that violates my faith (Christian) so perhaps Catholics need to lighten up and let children be children.
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Barbara Harris
Colleen McAllister, you have always been a voice of reason and compassion. As a Pagan I find this so refreshing. Thank you for being here.
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Russel A. Kester
Colleen, while the book is designed to appear as you described, it is actually well crafted propaganda to teach transgender and queer ideologies to vulnerable children whose minds are not yet developed enough to be critical the material or its presentation.
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Robert James Ruhnke
That’d be you pushing maga ideology, Kester. Not this simple book which explains that some people are just different. No more. You trying to pervert it says more about you than you’re able to realize.
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Russel A. Kester
A truly sad comment.
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Robert James Ruhnke
A joyous wonder compared to the lies and hate you spread, Kester.
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ServantOfJudgement
Young men of this day call it "putting the tip in".
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Joe R Day
How would you know that?? curious
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Russel A. Kester
It's inappropriate for any public setting. It's clearly indoctrination of the worst kind. I listened to the video (thank you ULC for including the link). I was hoping all the hoopla was wrong and that I would like it, but I didn't. I was hoping it would actually be about the variations expressed within both genders, but instead it was pushing the ideology of trans genderism without using the term trans. And written so playfully and cute that it's author was hoping to bypass the cognitive thinking of the brain using lyrical prose and colors and place its ideological message into the subconscious while the conscious was lulled with pleasant sensations. So while the book's cute, I have to say shoot. Please close that book, the author's a crook.
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
those are exactly my thoughts only with regard to the bible and religion. funny how we can each say the same thing but about something completely different. religious brainwashing is worse than any so-called "indoctrination" you are referring to.
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White Owl
And those who say that about the bible also say it should not be taught in schools, so we all agree neither of these books belong in schools?
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Robert James Ruhnke
One of those books is just a helpful summary of gender fluidity, the other has been a source of devil for 2000 years. The Bible has no place in school aside from history class or some kind of theocracy class. I have no issue with it being used as example of human folly.
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Russel A. Kester
Foolishness.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Yes, you throwing trans and non binary people under the bus to impress right wing fascists is foolish of you Kester.
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Minister Rob
Agreed!
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Robert James Ruhnke
What you’re saying is more true about the Bible, than this book Kester. The only one pushing for indoctrination is you with your ideas that schools should be religious indoctrination centers that are segregated by gender. Again you confess what right wingers are wanting only with their brand on it.
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Russel A. Kester
Simply lies.
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Robert James Ruhnke
You do tell a lot of them 😊
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Patricia Ann Gross
Russell, I'm sorry you feel the way you do about this book, but it is totally benign. I grew up in the 60s and 70s, and the book, up to and including the point we were "required to choose" describes my childhood. I had to choose "pink" even though it didn't fit. I do and always have identified as female, but have spent more time doing more traditional male things than female things. I also have a more masculine build and features so I am often refered to as "sir." There is nothing subliminally suggesting becoming trans in the book. I know what it is like to be ridiculed and excluded because I liked the more "boyish" things than the "girly girl" things as a kid. This book only highlights that it is normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Transgender is a totally different thing, as it is the overwhelming need to live as a person of the opposite gender and is more of a binary than a fluid ideology. I would suggest that you search deep in your soul and find your "feminine" side, because as much as you want to deny it, there is probably a loving and nurturing side to you that perhaps once tried on his mother's high heels.
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Robert Gagnon
There is no suggestion? Did anyone notice the boy's shadow was wearing a dress?
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Patricia Ann Gross
Robert, so what it it is? A boy should be as able to wear a dress as a girl is able to wear pants. They often do, and are called Drag Queens. I went to seminary with a man that often showed up to class wearing a skirt, as well as "punk rock" style jewelery. How one dresses should have no bearing on their gender, and "gender specific" dress codes should be outlawed. If women are required to wear dresses, so should the men, and every other gender variant. Same applies to rules about suits and ties. As a child of the 60s, I fought this battle at school. I wore a dress to school every day until I was in sixth grade. If the weather was below zero, I was allowed to wear jeans or pants under the dress, but that was the only exception allowed. Boys weren't allowed to have hair that touched the collar of their shirt until I was in high school. We fought for the girl's right to wear pants and boys to wear their hair below their ears. It was a battle, but very seldom does the same school have girls wearing dresses to school any more, and many of the boys have hair below their shoulders and nobody gets bent out of shape about it.
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Robert Gagnon
Glad I had a real Mom. With the exception of traditional garb such as kilts, normal men do not wear dresses. The point is that there is obvious suggestion. I think it a shame that horrible things happen to kids because their parents want to make some anti social statement.
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Patricia Ann Gross
And what is your definition of a "real" mom. I gave birth to two children that I allowed to grow up and be the people they felt called to be. Some may not like the choices I made with my children, but all I did was guide them and allow them to express themselves. Both lived through some signiricant trauma during their high school years, but came through it unscathed, and both are thriving today. If they needed to express themselves outside the societal norm, I would have supported them the same way. Does that make me less of a "real" mom to you?
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Robert Gagnon
Yup, Knew a guy with a hippie mom that thought he and his brother having sex from 6 on up was a wonderful way for them to express their love for each other. In his world he thought everyone was like that until early teens. You represent the same pattern of thought, may even regret not endorsing it yourself.
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Patricia Ann Gross
I'm not a "hippie mom." I did not teach my children that unbridaled sex was a good thing or an expression of anything. I didn't do everything right, but my kids turned out fine. Had they come out to me as gender fluid, I would have accepted it, and helped them work through it in a supportive way. I didn't put the fear of hell or a vindictive God in their heads either, and they grew up knowing and understanding there is a loving God who cares deeply. They also learned not to judge others without knowing them (something your "real mom" apparently did not do very well).
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Robert Gagnon
So which is it? Fostering self destructive ideas rather than guide normality. Or make judgments on a woman (my Mom), someone you never met? What happened to judge not that ye be judged. Guess that only applies how you decide. I observe an unnecessary negative influence and you say so what. The whole discussion is about influential content, I point it out and you discount it. Which admits I am correct. And when these poorly parented kids get harshly bullied, I will discount it the same way, SO WHAT?
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Joe R Day
Well written Patricia. I echo your thoughts...
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Robert Hauck, MD, FAAP
Parochial school leadership can be heartless. My family member, one of a Catholic Elem. school's best teachers, was terminated for a minor religious issue they considered critical. Who lost? The kids in the Catholic school. Who won? The kids across town in the Lutheran school who knew her reputation as a teacher and hired her in a nanosecond. She thrived in her new less restrictive school environment and although raised as a Catholic soon afterward left Catholicism. Unfortunately rigidity and intolerance are the dark side of many religions
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John Donald Cox
Amen.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Saying something as benign as gender being fluid isn’t the phantom which right winger Christians are trying to project it as. When you break it down, no two cis hetero people express gender the same, so why should it matter when other don’t express on the cis portion of the fluidity?
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, the ideology that gender is fluid is wrong. Gender is inherent and enduring. Kudos on your efforts to slip that falsehood past the reader by referring to it as being benign. CIS hetero people don't exist, straight people do. This matters because it's pushing bad gender theory as correct when it's wrong.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Kester you attack the victim’s of child predators, like child predators when confronted by their peers. You have nothing credible or decent to say. You attack anything that isn’t white Christian nationalism, gender essentialism, and so many archaic ideals that are slowly but surely being moved away from. The idea that gender is not fluid is archaic and incomplete. You have no real science to back up what you’re saying, and everything you’ve said is just parroted from right wing media, nothing more.
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Russel A. Kester
I feel great sorry for those who think this way.
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Robert James Ruhnke
You don’t mean it though. Hollow words from a hollow soul. By the by Kester, the name for what you do every comment, is Gish Gallop people.
For those reading out there. It’s a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by abandoning formal debating principles, providing an excessive number of arguments with no regard for the accuracy or strength of those arguments and that are impossible to address adequately in the time alloted to the opponent. On the internet it takes the form of long winded novel sized statements most people don’t bother dealing with.
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Russel A. Kester
Gee, and to think that my last comment was only one sentence long while yours was 18 lines. Are you sure your comment wasn't an exercise in self-reflection?.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Well I’m just tickled you can even count, Kester. Good for you. 18 lines all devoted to your ego, I thought you’d be pleased. I guess there is no pleasing you. All well.
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If you don't want your children exposed to the book then don't let your kids go. Parents are ultimately responsible for their children. Stop letting others decide what is beneficial for your children.