
CV NEWS FEED // In a recent op-ed published by Crisis Magazine, two leading figures at the Sophia Institute made the case for why Catholics should not use “preferred pronouns.”
“The truth can be defined as when what we believe corresponds to reality,” Chief Operating Officer at Sophia Institute and Executive Director of Sophia Institute for Teachers, Veronica Burchard, and Director of Curriculum Development Mike Gutzwiller argue in the July 9 opinion piece.
“Ideologies, on the other hand, are not true, and therefore need constant affirming and propping-up,” they added.
When activists promoting “transgenderism” demand the use of preferred pronouns that do not match up with an individual’s biological sex, Burchard and Gutzwiller state, they “demand that we set aside the truth.”
Moreover, they note, compliance with this demand entails harmful consequences:
Using preferred pronouns is not a harmless concession, but the first step in a cascade of interventions that make someone a patient for life.
Being “affirmed” by everyone around them as a member of the opposite sex makes it more likely they will persist in their trans-identification.
According to the authors, 80% of individuals who undergo psycho-social transition, which includes the use of pronouns and cross-dressing, will go on to seek sex-change surgeries and cross-sex hormone treatment.
“Insidiously,” they pointed out, “transgender ideology encourages that this process of transitioning begin at very young ages, before puberty.”
As Catholics, Burchar and Gutzwiller wrote, “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.”
At the same time, they explained, Catholics are called to express the truth with compassion: “We should affirm the person, but not the perceived trans-identity.”
“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,” they concluded.
