Here’s a sentence I never thought I would write – Pete Hegseth is right. Recently, the Secretary of Defense has ordered mandatory testosterone testing for men in the armed forces over 30. If you are younger, you can do the testing voluntarily. Yesterday, a judge asked how this was different from gender-affirming care for transgender service people who are being banned from serving, which I think is a great question. There are also some questions about the safety and necessity of giving hormone therapy to healthy young men who exhibit no need for increased testosterone. So, another can of worms opened, more science to be studied, and lots of questions to be asked and, maybe, answered. But – as I began this thought, I will repeat – Pete is right. Nobody is exactly what they might be.
It is a theological question that has, for a very long time, troubled people of faith. This has to do with evolution and the nature of God’s creation of humanity. Were humans, a la Genesis 1 & 2, made exactly the way they are today, or have we evolved over time? Fundamentalists choose to believe that species have not evolved over the eons, and that Darwin made a deal with the devil when he made such claims. This forced them to then support the idea that the earth is around 10,000 years old – something that a Gallup poll in 2014 showed 40% of Americans believing (37% in 2024). This would also mean that dinosaurs and humans roamed the earth at the same time, and that all the other signs that evolution is true are lies. There is an idea, based on the letters of the New Testament, that men are created in God’s image, and women in men’s image, so how could men, at least, not be the best they can possibly be?
But Pete Hegseth is right: human beings are imperfect, and sometimes we need something more than we are born with. For some, it’s as simple as a tummy tuck. For others, it’s your outside not matching who you are on the inside. I know that this seems glib, but I’m not trying to tease anyone – every person is, in some way, not who they believe they really are. We might yearn for a thinner waist or thicker hair or straighter teeth. We have no idea why some people seem to hit what we have been taught is the genetic lottery while others feel that they either aren’t enough or have a need to be different. We are constantly evolving, and part of that evolution is wanting to be who we truly believe we are. I think that God wants us to love ourselves for who we are, but God also wants us to be happy. If coloring your hair does that, be my guest. If living as your true self does that, please find your bliss. As long as nobody gets hurt, we should strive to be our best selves. That is, I think, God’s plan. Find joy.
Prayer – Holy God, thank You for making us all so uniquely beautiful – may we find happiness in who we are. Amen.
Today’s art is “Evolution”, street art in Rome, Italy by Blu.