Probably thirty years ago, I heard on NPR that biologists had discovered the largest living organism on earth. Was it a whale? A towering redwood? Nope. It was a mushroom. A fungus!
A patch of forest in Michigan was known for its plentiful supply of this delicacy. Curious scientists began to dig like archeologists, carefully pulling away the leaves, debris, and soil, discovering that all of these mushrooms were connected by one large underground organism—at that time thought to be the largest in the world.
Oh, the sermon illustrations that has provided over the years!
Lately, I’ve been receiving invitations to speak on sexuality. Usually, I suggest we lay a foundation for sexual theology, but for the most part, the request has been to address gender ideology.
Theology and reason address the roots. But I get it. It’s simply too tempting to walk past what catches our eyes. Those tempting mushrooms!
But below the surface of the trans phenomenon lies this tangled network of politics, ideology, errant theology, and dark forces, beyond what even Frank Peretti would be able to imagine.
Last week I mentioned that Jordan Peterson’s foreward to Dr. Miriam Grossman’s Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness described three types of social contagion that can spread through a culture like a virus. The most obvious one as regards the trans phenomenon is that which has infected teens here and around the world. Isolation, the discomfort of puberty, and the bombardment they receive from online sources have drawn in the most vulnerable, especially among girls.
One example of such a contagion from the turn of the last century was observed by Sigmund Freud. When elite folks frequented the theater, hysteria would breakout. The power of suggestion had one woman swooning right after another. It was tragically misdiagnosed and treated with surgery. Hence the term hysterectomy. Yuck!
Other more contemporary examples include eating disorders, cutting, and most recently, body dysmorphia. Peterson goes on to say:
. . . sufferers, typically young women, suffer disproportionately and more generally and primarily from elevated levels of trait or state neuroticism, including its clinical and subclinical variants, depression, anxiety, self-consciousness, and confusion.
The second type of social contagion is political. Communism and Nazism are the clearest examples of how ordinary people can become blind to the bizarre and fall in line. And it seems obvious to many of us that a large swath of our culture and a good portion of our politicians have fallen under the trans ideological spell.
Here’s a surprise. The third social contagion is that which spreads among medical professionals and clinical psychologists. Once again, the clearest example is Nazi Germany. Though there may have been doctors who were exceptions, we know the horror stories of experiments done at concentration camps. Their collusion with Hitler began early with smaller steps, however. Euthanizing the disabled and chronically ill was posed as an act of compassion to relieve suffering. Eventually doctors blindly adopted ever more heinous practices.
The practical advantage of having the medical and psychological community under your spell was the level of blind trust the population had in their professions. Such unqualified trust led to the unthinkable.
A Virus Among Doctors
In Chapter One of Lost in Trans Nation, Grossman provides a more recent example of social contagion among professionals. Dr. John Money, a prominent psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University, was the first to promote gender reassignment, a practice he vehemently promoted and defended. He was the first to draw a distinction between sex and gender, coining the phrase “gender identity” in 1957.
He launched his theory by experimenting on identical twin boys from Canada whose parents were young and simple folk. One boy’s penis was severely damaged when circumcised. In their distress, they presented their case to the then famous researcher at Johns Hopkins. The year was 1962. He saw his golden opportunity to prove his theories.
They were simple people. He was a well-known doctor. They trusted him completely.
What followed was a story both tragic and thoroughly evil.
Though Money’s theories were totally debunked in 1997, they still fuel the gender controversy to this very day.
I’ll provide the horrifying details in the next article . . .
Our Current Root System
The three categories of social contagion help to explain what at times seems unexplainable. So few are willing to stand up to the madness. Those who do eventually pay a price.
Even though I would never go hunting for “shrooms,” I certainly love them trapped in Swiss chess and stacked on a burger. It interests me to know of the underground organism which connects them, but I am far more concerned about those delicate delectables that people pick.
Likewise, our greatest concern as Tsunami Surfers is the individuals under our care. Knowing the unseen network of dark roots gives us a better perspective on how best to minister to the ones who pop up before us. Our hearts, prayers, and intervention are for these young lives caught in this mesmerizing mire.
Hear our prayers, Lord Jesus!