Dear Matthew-Anthony G. Hysell
Your position on transgender issues in “A More Catholic Understanding of Transgender Issues: Opinion,” published in the Edmonton Journal on October 6, 2015, is contemptible.
You maintain, “the Church believes each human person is of infinite worth, from conception to natural death.” Tell that to the children abused in Catholic run residential schools and to the countless children abused by Catholic priests. Furthermore, there is little I can say to your contention, “‘Disorder, in both moral theology and in psychology, is intended to be descriptive, not evaluative. It does not conceptually translate into ‘moral evil,’” except to ask is there a difference between moral theology and theology, or are they both studies of the imaginary?
You go on to claim, “By self-identification as transgender, or even having gender reassignment surgery, one already admits of this “mental disorder” by implication because she or he wishes to “reorder” her or his biological sex to her or his gender identity, arguably a mental state.” How do you know this? Are you a medical doctor, a psychiatrist or a psychologist?
Your use of the phrase “Catholic moral theology” is oxymoronic, and your statement “sentimentalism and emotivism in the conversation about transgenderism only serves to muddy the waters of discourse . . .” is appalling. It is you and your Church that have muddied the waters by using the emotive word disorder.
Finally, the people on the other side of the debate are not your “brothers and sisters” and they certainly don’t accept your “gesture of peace and goodwill.”
I note that Father Matthew-Anthony Hysell is a deaf priest of the Catholic church.
2. Accordingly, Catholic schools foster an environment reflecting the truth of the human person. For this reason, extracurricular groups for the deaf and hard of hearing in Catholic schools would be redundant.
4. By self-identification as deaf, or even having ear surgery or learning and using signing to compensate for hearing loss, one already admits of this “mental disorder” by implication because she or he wishes to “reorder” her or his biological capabilities to her or his human identity, arguably a mental state.
7. The Church recognizes and sympathizes with those who have strong feelings on this matter — especially parents of children struggling with their hearing disabilities and being on the receiving end of bullying, At the same time, sentimentalism and emotivism in the conversation about hearing loss only serves to muddy the waters of discourse, precisely feelings do not have the quality of determining the truth-values of statements.
lol
But deaf isn’t a physical condition… it’s a culture. And any science like cochlear implants… is oppression. Surgery is mutilation!!!
Deaf is a culture and deafness is a physical handicap. Deaf culture has problems because of the abuse, lack of education and opportunities . You are handicapped with deafness in a hearing world.