2/27/18, by James Mosher,
Leftists in the Maine legislature are using a relatively unnoticed transgender bill to fundamentally transform the Maine way of life.
I will explain the bill and its consequences in just a moment.
But first, consider the following stories from across the country:
- “Fallon Fox, a male-to-female transgendered person, who has now decided to make a living by beating up women.” (March 2013)
- “Target CEO Brian Cornell has now spoken publicly about the backlash the company experienced after releasing a statement declaring that transgender individuals shopping at the retail giant can use whichever bathroom corresponds with their gender identity.” (May 2016)
- “High school girls in Alaska are crying foul after a male sprinter took home all-state honors in girls’ track and field. According to local reports, it was the first time in Alaskan history that a male athlete competed in the girls’ state championships.” (June 2016)
- “My Brother’s Pregnancy and the Making of a New American Family” (September 2016)
- “Transgender wrestler Mack Beggs identifies as a male. He just won the Texas state girls title.” (February 2017)
At the center of all these cases, is the celebration of diversity, tolerance, and acceptance. Leftist activists are using the transgender community, a tiny portion of the American population (roughly 3/10ths of one percent), to undermine American culture. Traditions that have assisted in making our country great have been turned inside out and upside down purposefully.
It is controlled chaos for the sake of power. It is a totalitarian endeavor illustrated superbly by George Orwell in his novel 1984:
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. … Power is not a means; it is an end … The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
The power-hungry Leftists are opportunists. They don’t care who they exploit because the end justifies the means.
Almost two weeks ago, the Committee on Labor, Commerce, and Economic Development heard hours of testimony regarding LD 912, “An Act To Clarify the Scope of Practice of Certain Licensed Professionals Regarding Conversion Therapy.” The proposal will limit the practice of licensed counselors here in Maine by imposing pages of constraints upon them to accommodate LGBTQ “needs.”
A key factor in the legislation is that licensed counselors will be unable to counter the claims of their clients. Essentially, counselors will have to sit on their hands because patients will be in the driver’s seat. In lieu of behavioral modification, therapists will be mandated to prescribe “coping strategies.”
Advocates of LD 912 pose that counseling should emphasize “coping strategies” rather than address the underlying factors that influence gender dysphoria. They propose that behavioral modification shouldn’t be sought in counseling because it is futile to think that the identity of a person can be changed.
They ignore the fact that 80% of children who are confused about their gender at a young age, grow comfortable with their bodies and no longer experience that same confusion later in life.
GLAD Attorney Mary L. Bonauto weighed in with thirteen pages of testimony. She suggested that the therapy should be prohibited because it “warps a young person’s sense of themselves, saddling them with shame and disgust…when they can’t change, they internalize failure, and become depressed and suicidal…this therapy tells them their core identity is wrong.”
Rep. Richard Bradstreet (R-Vassalboro) offered a succinct opposing argument:
“It seems to me that any counselor wishing to do right by his clients would examine each particular situation and then give counsel based on what he or she believes is right for them rather than simply being forced to recommend a pre-ordained outcome. What the counselor will be forced to do is less like counseling and more like channeling.”
Sen. Bradstreet further explains the practical impact of LD 912:
“That the bill calls for action against a professional license for failing to adhere to the company line is particularly onerous. The obvious intent is to force compliance regardless of what a particular licensee’s professional opinion and conscience may dictate. It appears to be a case of either capitulate to a particular ideological dictate with no tolerance for disagreement or lose your job.”
Why go to therapy if the goal isn’t change?
For example, if I was sent to therapy for believing I’m Batman should I be encouraged to cope with my claim, or would it be better if I was exposed to the truth? Is it a disservice to the individual and the community to foster delusion?
Maine’s ACLU doesn’t think so: “The fundamental right to autonomy and self-expression includes the right to have one’s own understanding of gender and to express it as one chooses.”
Today, laws are changing so rapidly to accommodate the transgender community. We have been led to believe, in the name of fairness, equality, and social justice, that heterosexuals are to blame for the transgender suicide rate, so we must make amends. Bathrooms, women’s sports, from mixed martial arts to track, school protocols governing acceptance, and counseling practices, have all been co-opted by Leftists.
In fact, late last year, the Portland School Committee voted to ban gender in schools and to instruct faculty to always side with the student over the parents if there is a dispute about the gender of the child.
As if there can be any dispute over a child’s gender.
The central theme for transgender activists seems to be the argument for acceptance. They have fabricated a war against bullying because they claim that intolerance leads to suicide for a significant number of trans-genders; according to research, the suicide rate of trans-genders is upwards of 40%.
We live in a postmodern era where society has been heavily influenced by progressive thought. They have managed to whittle away at absolutes. When the essence of what has made nations great, is tossed out and replaced with nihilism — prepare for a vacuum that sucks up every ounce of beautiful life; darkness ensues.
And what happens to society when the moorings that hold it together are undone? What happens when the goals of the powerbrokers supplant honesty, truth, and reality?
Just look back through history:
Adolf Hitler was a megalomaniac with identity issues, who forced the extermination of millions of people during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Imagine if a policy of appeasement was embraced because being nonjudgmental, tolerant, and inclusive was deemed paramount over putting the brakes on the blitzkrieg.
Suppose instead of countering the conquest of Europe; there was a greater concern that the Nazis would be triggered by dissenters and become self-destructive.
History attests that distorting reality and dispensing with truth can have hellish consequences. There is no freedom without truth.
God only knows what kind of world we’d be living in if the allies hadn’t mounted an effective opposition that ended the Nazi occupation of Europe.
I’m not comparing transgendered people to Nazis. My point here is simple: ideology matters because of its influence upon behavior.
Certain beliefs/behaviors are more conducive to life and liberty than others. The statement Arbeit Macht Frei, work makes free, was symptomatic of the nihilistic ideology that influenced Nazism. It is the infamous phrase that adorned the entrances of many Nazi death camps like Auschwitz.
Perhaps if Hitler’s forces were unimpeded many of us would find ourselves waiting in those long lines that led to human ovens, or already part of the myriad of ash heaps.
Today progressives espouse postmodernism; in the book, POSTMODERN TIMES, Gene Edward Veith Jr. expounds:
“In postmodernism, the intellect is replaced by will, reason by emotion, and morality by relativism. Reality is nothing more than a social construct; truth equals power. Your identity comes from a group. Postmodernism is characterized by fragmentation, indeterminacy, and a distrust of all universalizing…Instead, individuals are locked into the limited perspective of their own race, gender or ethnic group. It is Nietzsche in full bloom.”
You may recall Queen’s iconic song “Bohemian Rhapsody:” Freddie Mercury, the songwriter, captured the gist of nihilism, the core of postmodern thought. Nihilism is the “viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded, and that existence is senseless and useless.”
The line in the song, “any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me” is the gist of postmodern ideology. And it is a dangerous one.
Dr. Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, outlines the problem of a meaningless world:
“If you have nothing to believe in because you have no value structure left (this is better than this) No value structure, no positive emotion. What’s the problem with that? It is easy to get rid of your positive emotion. That’s not a problem because it’s rather fragile and tenuous. Try getting rid of your negative emotion. Good luck! That is not going to happen, so what happens is that if your value system collapses then all you are left with is negative emotion…totalitarian certainty might be preferable to nihilistic chaos.”
Freddie Mercury’s line, “Nothing really matters” may work for self-indulgent, anti-God humanists — but those of us who have kids know better. Someone must behave responsibly, or the house succumbs to chaos, and it all goes to hell. The Left is pushing destruction because they anticipate holding the keys to power when the structures fail.
There will be great human suffering if they succeed. This is precisely why it IS compassionate to tell the truth. Perhaps it will enable some to better prepare for the coming storm.
Excellent points and very well written, but it will fall on deaf ears. Why? David Horowitz when he was a radical in the 60″s, before he became a conservative leader, often said, “The issue is never the issue; the issue is always the [Marxist] revolution. Pick an agenda, gay rights, civil rights, the environment, immigration. Name it. For the Left, the issue is only relevant if it advances their agenda of accumulating power and wealth at the expense of all else.” Now, we can add trans-gender “rights” and that the taxpayer must pick up the tab if they transition while in the military.
The hell with our American culture, traditional Judeo-Christian values, our sovereignty, marriage between a man and women only, our U.S. Constitution and so on. They don’t care a whit about any of those principles. They will do whatever it takes to destroy this country even if it means an alliance with Islamists. They’re disgraceful and must be stopped. President Trump was elected not because he was cautious, but because he was aggressive. His successes make them apoplectic and we must continue to support him to defeat their nefarious agenda. Keep up the great work!