Learn new, compassionate truths

Recently I heard an excellent presentation by the CEO of Volunteers of America in Spokane. She gave the heartbreaking statistic that about 40% of homeless people are teenagers and young adults evicted by their parents because of their sexual orientation.

This is a difficult issue for many Christian believers. I come from China missionary grandparents on both sides (Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth, for one). For most of my 80 years I have thought we are all clear-cut boys or girls. It was hard to understand why some people dressed differently and wanted to “look weird.” My mind was blown open by the January 2017 “GENDER” issue of National Geographic. I encourage everyone to read the article in the local library.

With all that’s been discovered in the genetics field, I realize we are all on a continuum of masculine and feminine, a spectrum over which we have no control. It makes so much sense! God created every one of these DNA combinations. The ones I saw as dressing strangely, I now see as trying to be comfortable with their identity and fashion.

The Dalai Lama says that when faith and science collide, we must choose science and adapt our faith. I urge fellow Christians and parents to learn new truths that can lead to compassion, and decrease the suicide and homeless rates of our young people.

Rosalind Goforth Luther

Spokane