The comment “just as God made her” can be taken in a declaration of faith way, or as a kind of short hand for “by nature” as opposed to by artifice. It reminds me of the way insurance companies used to have the term “Act of God” to mean non man-made contingencies outside of reasonable control. Eg lightning strikes! It’s a kind of short hand for something beyond human control. What sex you are, like what race you are, or who your parents are, is not within your control. I like Pamela’s idea that the reader might say to the child, oh what do you think about that?
Another thought. In Greek tragedy, hubris - arrogance / transgressing on the gods’ authority / going beyond reasonable limits - always leads to disaster. “Just as God made her” implies a natural limit, beyond which one cannot go without damage, and that this is a necessary part of being human, to accept limitation - and to realise being within one’s proper sphere is good and healthy!
Exactly. This is why I don't call myself an atheist, but instead use the word agnostic, because, if we're being honest, we have no idea what made us, what our purpose is, whether there is a being of some kind (which could just be the totality of all consciousness, rather than a "man on the mountain") that watches over us or planned our existence to any extent, or whether we are exist through a random set of circumstances. We are arrogant if we think we know.
Either way, "God" could just mean the unknown whatever that caused us to exist, and to exist in our current form - as males and females with bodies that live and die and, in most cases, have the ability to reproduce through sex between a male and a female.
Whether that means of our existence comes from a benevolent awareness or a random series of events, we do have to accept some things as reality. To me, one of the most important ones is that we have bodies that need to be taken care of and appreciated if we are to live our best lives.
Sure, there is a balance between having fun and doing absolutely what we believe are the healthiest things (eating "clean" and sleeping 8 hours a night and exercising regularly on a daily basis and getting lots of fresh air, etc.). But injecting toxic chemicals with many known toxic effects (and likely many more unknown effects) and having risky surgeries to remove and/or alter healthy body parts in order to alter our appearance to that of the opposite sex so we can live a lie seems like an extreme that goes way beyond the balance of fun and health-consciousness. Instead, it moves into the realm of abusing our bodies for no real gain, or the smallest gain for those few who actually might find living as if they are the opposite sex in some way beneficial.
Rather, for the most part, living a lie and harming our bodies in order to do so is sheer folly. Any frog or turtle could tell us that if they could communicate with us! Your book hits the nail on the head.
The comment “just as God made her” can be taken in a declaration of faith way, or as a kind of short hand for “by nature” as opposed to by artifice. It reminds me of the way insurance companies used to have the term “Act of God” to mean non man-made contingencies outside of reasonable control. Eg lightning strikes! It’s a kind of short hand for something beyond human control. What sex you are, like what race you are, or who your parents are, is not within your control. I like Pamela’s idea that the reader might say to the child, oh what do you think about that?
Another thought. In Greek tragedy, hubris - arrogance / transgressing on the gods’ authority / going beyond reasonable limits - always leads to disaster. “Just as God made her” implies a natural limit, beyond which one cannot go without damage, and that this is a necessary part of being human, to accept limitation - and to realise being within one’s proper sphere is good and healthy!
Exactly. This is why I don't call myself an atheist, but instead use the word agnostic, because, if we're being honest, we have no idea what made us, what our purpose is, whether there is a being of some kind (which could just be the totality of all consciousness, rather than a "man on the mountain") that watches over us or planned our existence to any extent, or whether we are exist through a random set of circumstances. We are arrogant if we think we know.
Either way, "God" could just mean the unknown whatever that caused us to exist, and to exist in our current form - as males and females with bodies that live and die and, in most cases, have the ability to reproduce through sex between a male and a female.
Whether that means of our existence comes from a benevolent awareness or a random series of events, we do have to accept some things as reality. To me, one of the most important ones is that we have bodies that need to be taken care of and appreciated if we are to live our best lives.
Sure, there is a balance between having fun and doing absolutely what we believe are the healthiest things (eating "clean" and sleeping 8 hours a night and exercising regularly on a daily basis and getting lots of fresh air, etc.). But injecting toxic chemicals with many known toxic effects (and likely many more unknown effects) and having risky surgeries to remove and/or alter healthy body parts in order to alter our appearance to that of the opposite sex so we can live a lie seems like an extreme that goes way beyond the balance of fun and health-consciousness. Instead, it moves into the realm of abusing our bodies for no real gain, or the smallest gain for those few who actually might find living as if they are the opposite sex in some way beneficial.
Rather, for the most part, living a lie and harming our bodies in order to do so is sheer folly. Any frog or turtle could tell us that if they could communicate with us! Your book hits the nail on the head.
Well said, friend!
That is kind of how I intended it, open ended like that. Thank you!