Show your support for this open letter by signing your name below.
We, as a people united in our trust in Jesus Christ, uphold the fundamental conviction that we are bound as parents and adults to love and protect our children. This posture necessitates an uncompromising commitment to safeguarding a child's welfare until he or she reaches adulthood. Abdicating these essential responsibilities constitutes gross misconduct.
We also hold to the biblical truth that God designed the natural world and mankind, and our biological nature is part of this divine order. Therefore, the human form rightfully deserves respect and reverence. To be content with who he or she is, a man or a woman must esteem human nature as a gift from God.
One key aspect of creation is human sexual differentiation. From the beginning, humanity has been created as male or female, in God's image (Genesis 1:27). That God made only two sexes was reaffirmed by Jesus when He stated in Matthew 19:4 (ESV), ". . . he who created them from the beginning made them male and female." To respect God's fashioned order, one must honor the human person as man or woman.
In recent years, a false gender ideology has emerged, teaching children that they can ignore and even alter God's gift of male and female bodies. This ideology exploits realities. First, it uses confusion that kids sometimes feel in early childhood with regard to who they are. Second, it preys upon vulnerable adolescents who have been abused or poorly parented, offering them the chance to change their bodies and thus "become who they truly are." To state it bluntly, teaching and imposing this ideology upon children is abuse.
In sum, modern gender activists teach our youth that they can choose their own identity. In love, Christians must counter this convoluted misconception. We may feel like our bodies do not fit us, but our feelings cannot erase the biological reality defined by our Creator. Sadly, there is an ever-increasing political, economic, and cultural movement in America to push life-harming transgender perspectives onto children. The Biden-Harris administration and the Democratic platform are doubling down on endorsing radical mutilating surgeries and powerful sterilizing chemicals for minors who, in many cases, are merely confused due to extreme social pressures.
Even in the wake of England's National Health Service announcement, stating there is insufficient evidence of "safety and clinical effectiveness" to suggest that minors need to receive puberty blockers, the Biden-Harris administration and other liberal officials disgustingly refer to removing a young girl's breasts or chemically castrating a little boy as "gender-affirming care." There is nothing "caring" about it: puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones cause irreparable harm to children. Promoting conflict with biological reality is child abuse, and this must cease. Stopping these abusive policies and procedures is the right thing to do as responsible parents and adults.
Therefore, we ardently and actively oppose the transgender philosophies that seek to harm young people.
As Christians, we adhere to timeless biblical truths supported by biological reality.
1. All children are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image, as male or female.
2. All children suffering any form of gender-related confusion or gender dysphoria deserve compassion, truth, and appropriate mental health care.
3. Parental authority is a fundamental right within the God-given roles of mother and father, and no form of governing body has the right to circumvent that responsibility without cause.
As a nation, we already do not trust a minor's mental capacity to cast a vote, tattoo his or her body, or drive a vehicle, so how can we propose allowing a child to decide to permanently alter his or her body through "gender-affirming" surgeries and puberty-blocking drugs? This gross irrationality must come to an end before countless more children suffer irreparable harm.
We implore the Biden-Harris administration, before God and man, to:
• denounce the ideology of transgenderism
• acknowledge the integrity of God's created order
• benevolently assist children who are struggling to cope
• help young people reconcile with their biological sex
We will render to Caesar what is Caesar's; however, this does not include the reckless endangerment of children.
By signing this letter of declaration, we are going on record and giving due notice that we rightfully oppose the current promotion of "gender-affirming healthcare," and we will do everything within our legal and electoral power to protect minors from this evil, life-harming dogma. Our voices and votes will be heard, and we urge Christians to elect candidates who will stand against the new gender ideology. This is a line in the sand.
We also join in unified prayer for our children—for their physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare.
May God have mercy upon our nation in this hour of great need.
Respectfully,
James Dobson, Ph.D., Founder Chair, Dr. James Dobson Family Institute
Joe Waresak, President, Dr. James Dobson Family Institute
Gary Bauer, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Dr. James Dobson Family Institute
Dr. Owen Strachan, Senior Director of the Dobson Culture Center, Dr. James Dobson Family Institute
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