The following open letter appeared on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on December 15, 2017. It contains two prominent Orthodox signatures: that of Archbishop Melchisedek (Pleska) of the Orthodox Church in America and of then Archimandrite, now Metropolitan Nathanael (Symeonides) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The letter came to Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s attention only this morning.

As was the case with the infamous Manhattan Declaration of November 2009, once again Orthodox spokesmen have made common cause with Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Muslims, Presbyterians, Southern Baptists, the Church of God in Christ, the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and the Bruderhof to produce a purely ideological statement lacking any of the theological nuance and pastoral spirit of Orthodox Christianity, any engagement with the evolving science of gender identity formation, any consultation with actual transgender or intersex people, or even any familiarity with the proper vocabulary used in the discussion of these questions.

Orthodoxy in Dialogue has an extensive Sexuality and Gender section in our Archives by Author. In particular we draw your attention to “Transgenderism” Isn’t a Thing, Intersex vs. Transgender, Why Sex Is Not Binary, and our own open letter of September 24, 2018, Sexuality & Gender: Open Letter to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. While our open letter elicited the predictable condemnations and guffaws of derision from the predictable blogs and websites, we beg our hierarchs, priests, deacons, monastics, theologians, and laity to read it carefully: human lives are at stake.

Archbishop Melchisedek and Metropolitan Nathanael

✠

Created Male and Female: An Open Letter from Religious Leaders

December 15, 2017

Dear Friends: 

As leaders of various communities of faith throughout the United States, many of us came together in the past to affirm our commitment to marriage as the union of one man and one woman and as the foundation of society. We reiterate that natural marriage continues to be invaluable to American society. 

We come together to join our voices on a more fundamental precept of our shared existence, namely, that human beings are male or female and that the socio-cultural reality of gender cannot be separated from one’s sex as male or female. 

We acknowledge and affirm that all human beings are created by God and thereby have an inherent dignity. We also believe that God created each person male or female; therefore, sexual difference is not an accident or a flaw—it is a gift from God that helps draw us closer to each other and to God. What God has created is good. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). 

A person’s discomfort with his or her sex, or the desire to be identified as the other sex, is a complicated reality that needs to be addressed with sensitivity and truth. Each person deserves to be heard and treated with respect; it is our responsibility to respond to their concerns with compassion, mercy and honesty. As religious leaders, we express our commitment to urge the members of our communities to also respond to those wrestling with this challenge with patience and love. 

Children especially are harmed when they are told that they can “change” their sex or, further, given hormones that will affect their development and possibly render them infertile as adults. Parents deserve better guidance on these important decisions, and we urge our medical institutions to honor the basic medical principle of “first, do no harm.” Gender ideology harms individuals and societies by sowing confusion and self-doubt. The state itself has a compelling interest, therefore, in maintaining policies that uphold the scientific fact of human biology and supporting the social institutions and norms that surround it. 

The movement today to enforce the false idea—that a man can be or become a woman or vice versa—is deeply troubling. It compels people to either go against reason—that is, to agree with something that is not true—or face ridicule, marginalization, and other forms of retaliation. 

We desire the health and happiness of all men, women, and children. Therefore, we call for policies that uphold the truth of a person’s sexual identity as male or female, and the privacy and safety of all. We hope for renewed appreciation of the beauty of sexual difference in our culture and for authentic support of those who experience conflict with their God-given sexual identity. 

Sincerely Yours: 

Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera 
Bishop of Scranton
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs 

The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach 
Archbishop and Primate
Anglican Church in North America 

The Rev. John F. Bradosky
Bishop
North American Lutheran Church 

Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia 
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth 

Most Rev. James D. Conley
Bishop of Lincoln
Chairman USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage 

The Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey
Bishop, Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic 
Anglican Church in North America 

Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison
President
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod 

Imam Faizal Khan
Founder and Leader
Islamic Society of the Washington Area 

Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz
Archbishop of Louisville 
Chairman USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty 

Melchisedek 
Archbishop of Pittsburgh 
Orthodox Church in America 

The Rt. Rev. Eric V. Menees
Bishop, San Joaquin 
Anglican Church in North America 

Rev. Eugene F. Rivers, III 
Founder and Director 
Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies 
Church of God in Christ 

Rev. Dr. Gregory P. Seltz, PhD 
Executive Director 
The Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty 

The Rev. Paull Spring 
Bishop Emeritus 
The North American Lutheran Church 

Rev. Tony Suarez 
Executive Vice President 
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference 

Very Rev. Nathanael Symeonides 
Ecumenical Officer 
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 

The Rev. Dr. L. Roy Taylor 
Stated Clerk, General Assembly 
Presbyterian Church in America 

Andrew Walker 
Director of Policy Studies 
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission 

The Rev. Dr. David Wendel 
Assistant to the Bishop for Ministry and Ecumenism 
The North American Lutheran Church  

Paul Winter 
Elder 
Bruderhof 

Source: USCCB.

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