Jackson CitPat Breaks My Father's Story

Today my Dad made the newspaper. The Jackson Citizen Patriot put the story of my transgendered father on the front page, and did a follow up 2-page story in the features section. Right now, only the front page article is available at the CitPat site, so I've provided a link to the document given to my Dad by the CitPat. The purpose of this blog is to tell the story about my Dad from my own perspective. Local newspapers will tell a story, national news will present an issue, and I hope to help you understand the characters in the "story."

To me, this isn't a national issue, or a local interest story, it is a personal one. I realize that people may take this issue and use it to advance some greater cause, and that any court decisions will set precedent, but I think we have to be careful about extrapolating on a single instance to create policy. Anyway, we'll save that rant for another time.

Let's take a look at how the CitPat did with the story. Generally, I think they did a pretty good job with a difficult story. At times however, they seemed to have strayed towards some unhelpful stereotypes that I don't find helpful. Spring Arbor seems to be cast as hypocritical "puritans" (or Free Methodists) with a "squeaky-clean reputation." I don't think Spring Arbor is being disingenuous. I also don't think Spring Arbor has ever had a squeaky-clean reputation with those who are close to it. That isn't to say that they are highly immoral, but what do you expect from an organization of admitted sinners? I'd hope for a little more grace, but I digress. I'm giving Spring Arbor the benefit of the doubt that they have some real convictions here, but I wish they'd share them, because I'm confused about what they really believe. They declined to comment on this article, and that bothers me. If they believe their position is Gospel, they should not be ashamed of it, and should use opportunities like this one to say what they really believe. It might help them establish a BFOQ.

Also this statement seems a bit too broad: "Evangelical Christians consider homosexual behavior an abomination, a sin against God. Those under the broad transgender umbrella are guilty by association." The Church is actually quite diverse, and the characterization of "Evangelical Christians" all believing anything (outside of The Creed) is probably an overstatement. It is a disservice to The Church to have an image of being so narrow-minded. I believe in a God that is bigger than any single viewpoint can capture. There are many disagreements in The Church, but I don't think it necessarily means one is right and the other is wrong. If you consider yourself an Evangelical Christian, and disagree with the quoted statement above, you can let the CitPat know by e-mailing a letter to the editor to Ken Wyatt at kwyatt@citpat.com.

If you'd like to play a part in bringing this situation to a resolution, you can contact the President of Spring Arbor University, Gayle Beebe at gbeebe@arbor.edu and Chief of Staff Damon Seacott at dseacott@arbor.edu. Please, don't send hate mail.