It’s a privilege to read an essay as thoughtful, biblical and wise as Mr. Fast has given us. The church has much thinking to do on sexuality, and this kind of careful, clear and patient exploration of the scriptures—with all the questions—will finally resolve this and move us forward. And resolve it we will, eventually.

I learned a lot reading his essay. I have some thoughts on the question that I would like to add; I suggest this should come before we embark on the patient exegetical work he does. I want to add a question to the discernment that seems to bring a different landing in the end. But I submit this for discernment.

I recognize that the topic of sex and gender can be a very tough issue which can raise a lot of strong opinions. I ask that we remember, as we read, that there are people, probably not too far from our own circle, who are navigating this with a loved one, whether it be a child, a relative or a friend. There can often be a lot of struggle, confusion, hurt and possibly mental and emotional distress so please, let’s keep this in mind as we look at this. It is a people issue, and we want to be sensitive to the hearts and minds of those whom we may engage with.

Forward from the author:

A few years ago I began to hear about students in our community struggling with gender and sexuality. I knew that this had been a concern in other places, but our small community had largely been quiet on this front. I found a desire to think well about sex and gender in order to walk well with students and families who might be navigating the challenges of gender dysphoria. Since I was concurrently studying at seminary, I took the opportunity to begin researching and writing papers in this topic area for class. This paper was initially written for a Christian Ethics course, then edited and expanded to become the paper I wanted it to be (and what you have in front of you).

This week I read an article on gender medicine in Christianity Today, a magazine I appreciate and nearly always agree with. It happens I fully agree with the writer that adolescents should not be receiving gender-altering treatment, but it was disappointing that their argument seemed to have so little sense of the issue either for parents trying to understand or communicate with their “trans” kids or people of any age who experience gender dysphoria/incongruence. Worse, the writer’s use of the biblical text was scant and superficial yet their conclusion allowed no room for discussion.

Award-winning Canadian author Miriam Toews based her 2018 book Women Talking on these events, and in December 2022 a movie from Sarah Polley based on the book was released in theatres to generally positive reviews but also some frustration from those with first-hand knowledge or experience on the colonies. This story, as foreign as it may seem to most of us, is very connected to EMC.

At first, they were told it was ghosts. Or demons. Or the product of an ‘overactive female imagination.’ And while the women knew this was wrong, they lacked the evidence to prove it.

I watched the movie Women Talking four times in two days.

Sometimes a new film comes out and its title alone grabs your interest. In a subtle way the recent film Women Talking does just that. The title doesn’t reveal anything about the setting or the subject matter, and this is key, as we are drawn into the story with no preconceived ideas or opinions.