Should Catholics Use Someone’s “Preferred Pronouns”?

Michie · Jul 10, 2024

Using preferred pronouns is not a harmless concession, but the first step in a cascade of interventions that make someone a patient of "trans" medical procedures for life.

You may have wondered, “Should Catholics use pronouns?” It may be near impossible not to. The simple and obvious answer, grammatically speaking, is yes, of course we should use pronouns if we want our language to be clear and correspond to reality.

In the English language, we use pronouns all the time to keep sentences from becoming repetitive and clunky. Without possessive pronouns like “their,” we’d have to say things like “John and Mary took John and Mary’s books to John and Mary’s car.”

But should we use someone’s “preferred pronouns” that do not correspond to their sex? No.

The truth can be defined as when what we believe corresponds to reality. St. Augustine said you don’t need to defend the truth, it can defend itself. The truth — reality — is self-evident. Ideologies, on the other hand, are not true, and therefore need constant affirming and propping-up.

Continued below.

Should Catholics Use Someone’s “Preferred Pronouns”?

Using preferred pronouns is not a harmless concession, but the first step in a cascade of interventions that make someone a patient of “trans” medical procedures for life.

crisismagazine.com

RileyG · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

What's wrong with being polite ?

Michie · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie said:
What's wrong with being polite ?

What’s wrong with feeding into a lie?

chevyontheriver · Jul 10, 2024

Michie said:
But should we use someone’s “preferred pronouns” that do not correspond to their sex? No.

If I have to use their pronouns then they have to use my pronouns. And mine are crazy hard to pronounce correctly. If they commit an aggression against me by mispronouncing my pronouns I go strait to HR and demand they be cancelled and fired and unpersoned.

But no, if they demand that I use unnatural pronouns then they don't really want me around and I can leave them to their own lonely little madness. I don't participate.

Chrystal-J · Jul 10, 2024

The list is so long now, who could keep up?

chevyontheriver · Jul 10, 2024

Chrystal-J said:
The list is so long now, who could keep up?

Make up your own. Add a zillion new pronouns, one for every mood and day of the week. Have fun with it. Just make it hard to pronounce.

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

Michie said:
What’s wrong with feeding into a lie?

Mich, it’s a free country, anyone can claim to be anything they want to be. If the guy sitting next to me wants to wear a dress and be called she, who is he hurting?

Michie · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie said:
Mich, it’s a free country, anyone can claim to be anything they want to be. If the guy sitting next to me wants to wear a dress and be called she, who is he hurting?

Himself. I’m not going to feed into it. It’s a complete denial of reality on several levels.

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

chevyontheriver said:
Make up your own. Add a zillion new pronouns, one for every mood and day of the week. Have fun with it. Just make it hard to pronounce.

I’m gonna surprise you Chevy.

on this I’m on your side.

English has three pronouns pertains to people: He, She and They.

Pock one I dont really care.

Make up one of your own and I’m out.

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

Michie said:
Himself. I’m not going to feed into it. It’s a complete denial of reality on several levels.

Ok Mich,

…..and ?

So what?

Half this world is in complete denial of way more important stuff then this.

But this is the hill you want to die on?

Sorry. I have real problems to deal with in life.

Chrystal-J · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie said:
I’m gonna surprise you Chevy.

on this I’m on your side.

English has three pronouns pertains to people: He, She and They.

Pock one I dont really care.

Make up one of your own and I’m out.

"They" is a plural, which makes sense for a confused mind. But not for a normal person.

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

They is what is used in English, by default, if you are unaware if the gender of the person you are referring to.

Grammatically, it not incorrect to use they singly.

Chrystal-J said:
"They" is a plural, which makes sense for a confused mind. But not for a normal person.

Chrystal-J · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie said:
They is what is used in English, by default, if you are unaware if the gender of the person you are referring to.

Grammatically, it not incorrect to use they singly.

There is no truth to the gender spectrum. They make things up as they go along.

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

Chrystal-J said:
There is no truth to the gender spectrum.

Chris, honest question.

At what point do you stop accepting science and just go with gut feeling?

There must be some point and I’m genuinely interested where it is and, if possible, why.

Becuase gender spectrum isnt even a new concept.

Chrystal-J · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie said:
Chris, honest question.

At what point do you stop accepting science and just go with gut feeling?

There must be some point and I’m genuinely interested where it is and, if possible, why.

Becuase gender spectrum isnt even a new concept.

Science plainly shows that there are only 2 sexes. The confusion is the "feeling" people have for their own agenda.

Michie · Jul 10, 2024

Cosmic Charlie said:
Ok Mich,

…..and ?

So what?

Half this world is in complete denial of way more important stuff then this.

But this is the hill you want to die on?

Sorry. I have real problems to deal with in life.

Then why are you bothering to waste your time commenting Chuck? You find time to critique here all the time. Go do life.

Wolseley · Jul 10, 2024

This Catholic isn't going to use "preferred pronouns". If they want to engage in self-delusion and stupidity, fine with me, but I refuse to be dragged into it. I stopped playing "pretend" when I got to age eleven or so.

If that upsets them (or any of their useful idiots), I don't care. It's a tough old world, kids. Do what you want, but stay away from me.

Again, I think about St. Anthony looking at the world, shaking his head, chucking the whole works in disgust and heading for the desert.....

Michie · Jul 10, 2024

From the op which is a worthwhile read:

When we fail to recognize the source of a person’s dignity, we perpetuate his or her confusion, and, even if well-meaning, perpetuate the harmful falsehood that has confused them. Leading someone away from the truth does not help them. Nobody is “born trans” or “born in the wrong body.” God made every woman a female, and she’ll always be female. He made every man a male, and he’ll always be male. God loves every woman and man, no matter what, and wants each of us to be the person He made us to be. As the Catechism teaches, “Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God . . . “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator” (369). Therefore, we must stand in the truth, rather than in the lie that causes confusion.

Insidiously, in their messaging to Christians, gender ideologues have intentionally framed transgender activism as “compassionate,” and suggest exploiting the inherent compassion of Christians to advance their false and harmful views. But we can never separate compassion and truth. Sometimes we might want to go along with someone’s transition and affirm their new chosen gender identity to make it easier on them, hopefully spare them psychological suffering, and to acquiesce to the social pressure of the transgender ideology that tells us this is what we should do. In fact, when we do so, we are only making it easy on ourselves. What is truly good for the person suffering from distress about their body or identity isn’t a lie, but the truth given in charity, and true support to accept their sexual identity. The only real choice is to help the person accept reality as it is.

One important way we can do this is by using language that expresses and conforms to objective reality. We should never refer to someone using opposite-sex pronouns, plural pronouns, or purely made-up neutral ones like zie. Participating in forms of social transitioning, like using opposite-sex pronouns, encourages a vulnerable person in their confusion that he or she can change their sex, and increases the likelihood that they will go on to have more dramatic, irreversible interventions, such as puberty blockers, high-dose cross-sex hormones, and surgery.

Importantly, parents and Catholic school faculty or staff members in particular, should never encourage or invite students to introduce themselves with “preferred pronouns.” Teachers and administrators especially must protect the common good in their classrooms and schools, and of the other students. To force those other students to participate in a lie would, in fact, be a form of bullying. And, rather than helping students discover and understand the world as it is, forcing them to use false pronouns and names would only undermine their growing — but fragile and immature — grasp of reality.

While we always want to stand in the truth and express and conform ourselves and our language to the objective and self-evident reality of the world as God made it, we certainly do not want to express the truth without compassion. But compassion without honesty leads to confusion and more pain. This relationship between compassion and truth is why the Ten Commandments prohibit “bearing false witness against your neighbor.” As Pope Francis said, “To live with false communication is serious because it impedes relationships and, therefore, impedes love. Where there are lies there is no love; there can be no love” (General Audience, November 14, 2018). It is truly loving and caring to help someone make sense of their own concrete experience in light of the truth. This fact is key: you cannot separate compassion and truth. The Church’s teachings on morality and the human person are compassionate because they are true.

God willed each of us to be either male or female at our conception. This truth is both observational and backed by science down to every cell in our body. God did not make a mistake when He created us, and it would be a violation of the truth to suggest that He did. So, to support someone in their confusion cannot be compassionate, even if we mean it to be. Why? Because it’s leading them away from the truth.

So, if, as Catholics, we should not use alternate pronouns for individuals suffering from body- and identity-related distress, or new opposite-sex chosen names, what should we do? We should affirm the person, but not the perceived trans-identity.

We need to listen with compassion to every person’s story and how they came to their identity beliefs. Behind every need to assert one’s identity, there is a story we should always seek to understand with empathy, because there is a vulnerable person in need of love. As welcoming and loving members of the Church who are aware of the truth and want others to know the truth as well, we must acknowledge the real struggles, suffering, and confusion the person may be experiencing, without condoning or universalizing their experience.

All are welcomed into the community of the Church. A community is healthy and strong, filled with peace and joy if it maintains the message of the Gospel. While the Church is welcoming to all, Jesus also loves us too much to leave us in our sin and suffering. He invites us to so much more. If a person rejects His invitation because of a perceived identity, it is painful because they live in the misunderstanding that their identity is rooted in how they have chosen to live, not that they bear the image of God. Our welcome must be offered while asking for God’s grace so that they can accept the truth of who God calls them to be.

[Editor’s Note: A version of this article was originally published at CatholicLink.]

Cosmic Charlie · Jul 10, 2024

Chrystal-J said:
Science plainly shows that there are only 2 sexes. The confusion is the "feeling" people have for their own agenda.

Ok, then:

Why are you conflating sex and gender? They are two separate concepts. Sex is biological. Gender is a social contract

Should Catholics Use Someone’s “Preferred Pronouns”?

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