As the German Synod rolls on, a controversial document has been rejected by German Bishops.
Despite their desperation to change church teaching in order to increase their revenue base through more potential customers, eh, converts, even the German hierarchy found the document unacceptable.
Entitled ‘Life in succeeding relationships – The principles of renewed sexual ethics’, the document opens by mentioning abuse in the church, making confused statements about homosexuality and abuse risk.
In the next section explicit support is made for artificial contraception and for masturbation.
The next section then conflates Genesis with Gender Dysphoria, baselessly implying that that those of that regard are taught they are not capable of salvation, providing no evidence for their claim.
As it continues, it then states that each person is dignified in the eyes of God, which the church already teaches, before appearing to imply that also every act is therefore dignified in the eyes of God if willed by a person.
There are criticisms of child abuse and defences of the dignity of those who choose celibacy.
The following section though is the most controversial.
“Along with sexual orientation, sexuality also includes gender identity. This too develops
as part of a complicated biopsychosocial process. Even what is usually referred to as biological
gender identity, which is customarily determined ‘at first sight’ by the external gender characteristics of a person as ‘female’ or ‘male’, is owed to a complex process in which genetic as well as epigenetic factors already interact, and at the same time produce variants of biological gender identity. They thus lay the foundation for a multifaceted biopsychosocial gender identity the potential spectrum of which goes beyond the interpretative variants “male” and “female”. Biological gender cannot be clearly determined in binary terms in some cases: Sometimes the external gender characteristics do not ‘fit’ the internal ones; at other times all the sexual organs are ambiguous with regard to the usual binary classification. A gender variant that defies a binary gender classification is intersex, also known as inter* (‘in between’). The possible variants of such ‘in-between’ (‘intersex’) gendering are manifold from a sexual medicine perspective. Besides chromosomal mosaicism – the chromosomal gender XX (female) or XY (male) is not identical in all the cells in this case - this ambiguity may be caused by idiosyncrasies of the gonads (testes, ovaries), or by hormonal imbalances – when measured in terms of the binary code of female/male. The situation differs in turn for transsexual persons, as well as transidentity, or trans*: As a rule, they have unambiguous external as well as internal sexual organs. Their biopsychosocial development has however led to a profound gender perception that does not correspond to the gender that was assigned at birth. The physical gender characteristics may therefore be adapted in the biography of trans people. Self assurance about one’s sexual identity is an indispensable prerequisite for anyone”.
This bizarre passage is simply unacceptable.
While the initial parts of the document speak of ordinary people in tough situations and struggling with guilt and so on, this particular one is pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo.
Participants voted for the document in a majority but Bishops tonight failed to vote in the two thirds majority.
In videos posted online, angry Synodalists can be seen venting their fury and rage at not getting their own way, which surely seems the opposite of the Synodal spirit.
There are more votes coming in the next few weeks, as the tedious circus of the German Synodal Way continues.
It has not been an example to follow, but it can remain a stern warning to others.