Funny Watchtower Article on Homosexuality

by garbonzo 33 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  WTWizard

  These washtowel articles are, as usual, rubbish. Changing one's sex is a major procedure, and not one that is to be taken lightly. You will be irreversibly changed--no going back. You forfeit your ability to have children in the traditional sense. You will be on medication--sex hormones--for life. There are risks associated with this major operation. And, to boot, there is as good a chance that it will not solve the underlying problem.

  That said, if an adult understands these risks and that it might not even solve the problem and still wants to go through with it, I see no problem with it. They understand that such a change is much more radical than homosexuality--which can be reversed at will if the person goes straight or bisexual later. But, either way, the person should not be guilted into it. Nothing is worse than taking mere homosexuality, which carries relatively little risk and is potentially reversible, and guilting such person into a sex change operation with all its irreversibility, major consequences, and that it still might not solve the underlying problem.

  And those washtowels are full of rubbish. Since when is someone that has had a sex change operation supposed to refrain from sex? To me, that is pure rubbish. Taking the stigma out of volitional homosexuality practiced by willing adults would solve that problem--that way, the person would be able to enjoy sex either with people of their old opposite sex, the new opposite sex, or both without added shame and guilt.

  This is all regardless of that, technically, you don't change a person's sex. That is determined at conception--if you have a XX chromosome, you are female. If you have a XY chromosome, you are male. Sex change operations, technically, take a XY person and give him feminine traits--even new genitals, but it does not change the XY chromosome. If they would only leave the damn shame and guilt out of it, that would solve the problem as it would not matter whether a person is XX or XY--or some other abnormal combination like triple X or XXY or even XYY.
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  PenelopePaige

  Everyone will hate me for saying it but I don't see what's wrong with that article?

  There was a show on television a few years ago called "Transsexual Hospital" or something like that- about men having surgery to become women and women having surgery to become men and I have to say; they never seemed happy afterwards. They always seemed miserable, even after having the surgery that they thought would heal them. I'm not so sure becoming the opposite sex is the right answer. The show was really depressing because I was always hoping they would be happy in the end and they actually seemed even more depressed afterwards. I don't know why. :(
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  PaintedToeNail

  I agree with Penelope, happiness is a product of the mind, not a product of the genitals (except for the time they are engaged in sex). If you can't be happy in your mind, you can't be happy in the most perfect circumstances. People use the 'if only' when pursuing happiness, i.e. if only if lost weight, if only I had a better job, if only I lived somewhere else, if only I was single/married/had children, if only I had more money. Some achieve what they thought would make them happy, only to find out they still aren't happy.
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  garbonzo

  I didn't actually read the whole article. I just found it funny that they said it can all be resolved by praying to God, as it's all in the mind.

  @designs How do elders deal with Hermeraphrodites? This is how I found this article. I was searching for that word, and intersex and found 3 (2 and 1 respectively) search results only. I'll create a new thread for this question, also....
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  jwfacts

  Interesting find. What article was that from?
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  transhuman68

  *** w74 6/15 p. 360 Insight on the News ***

  Born in the Wrong Body?

  From Mythbusters post....
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  steve2

  Penelope,rest assured that prior to surgery a full psychological assessment is completed. When you understand the strong orientation that the individual has that they inhabit the 'wrong' sex, it is possible to develop compassion and respect for the individual's plight. Try thinking about how you would feel if you woke up tomorrow morning with a man's body but you still "felt" like the woman you are. Among other things, you would endure a significant level of psychic distress and desperation.

  I am a registered clinical psychologist and while my scope of practice does not entail assessments of suitability of undergoing surgery, I work closely with some of my professional colleagues who do. The clinical literature shows that there is a higher than average likelihood of suicide completion among transgendered individuals who do not access surgery. You state that the programme show that (some) transgendered individuals still report being unhappy after realignment. That is no argument for declining the procedure because my understanding is that suicide completions among those who have realignment surgery are significantly lower than among those who do not have the surgery. This is a complex iisue that deserves careful consideration of a host of variables and not simplisticcoverage as found in the appaling Watchtower article. It makes me thankful that I feel at home in my body and with gender.As the saying goes, walk a mile in my shoes...
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  nugget

  Not funny if you are someone who sincerely believes that they have been born in the wrong body. It reflects the attitude that such individuals are unlikely to find acceptance within the religion and tries to diminish their struggle as some passing fad. I feel sad for anyone struggling with such doubts within the organisation where they are unlikely to find a listening ear.
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  PenelopePaige

  Steve2- Agreed. I don't know what I would do if I woke up to find I were a man. I LOVE being a woman; love the make-up, love the clothes, - I see what your saying. It's just that sometimes the surgery and healing afterwards itself that they had to go through, seemed like torture and I just thought, "This is not the answer for them" but I know I don't know what the answer is.
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  steve2

  I see where you're coming from Penelope. I guess my view is that, for all sorts of reasons and in all sorts of situations, people in general - not just those wanting gender realignment! - do not necessarily "feel" better once they've solved problems and "fixed" something. Call it human nature.

  Sometimes "progress" is scary because it means more will now be expected of us. E.g., if someone can learn to apply "strategies" to manage depression and they succeed, they also realize that they will probably have to keep applying those strategies even on days when they don't feel like it - because they know it helps in the longer term. Ask this person in the middle of a difficult day whether the strategies have made them happier and they may truly wonder whether they are happier. Yet - and this is the important point - the routine quality of their life has probably improved and they now feel like they are "truer' to themselves.

  It's hard to get our heads around the fact that progress, including solving problems, does not necessarily lead to happier states, but on a host of other relevant variables (self-efficacy, personal integrity, etc) , there may still undoubted improvement. And, truth be told, some people do end up worse off after trying to solve their problems - but it would be contentious to assert they shoudn't have tried to solve them in the first place.