Matt Fradd and His Terrible Trans Video

There is a compulsion, which may be common to all, but certainly within the Christian church, to have views on every major social issue today despite one’s involvement or lack thereof with the issue. It can be seen most prevalently regarding opinions of the LGBTQ+ movement and individuals. If you know a Christian, chances are they have some wildly strong views about the people who are a part of this social group. It may not surprise you to find that many Christians, especially those of the ever-vocal white evangelical sect, are unlikely to have any interactions with people in these communities outside of what they see on the late-night news. 

If they do engage with members of this community, it is likely because one of their children has come out publicly into one of these groups. Often in a timid and frightened manner, the likes of which is incredibly unlikely to put a sour taste in anyone’s mouth. Though the stories told by the parents of such children are often misleading, describing their child in the most unfavorable terms. Hearing them talk, you might have just as well assumed their kid wanted to poison them and mount their corpse on a tree in front of their home.

In reality, the recently outed child wants to hear that their mom and dad still love them and care for them. They do not want their parents to hear all the intimate details of their sex life, despite the assumptions of some vocal Christians. The newly out child only wants to know that who they feel to be in their innermost being is not something that makes them unworthy of being in their parent’s presence. The constant rejection of individuals who have come out is the primary catalyst for the formation of the LGBTQ community.

You may have some apprehensions about the group or some niche arguments against what you think the group stands for but by and large, members of the LGBTQ community are simply looking for a place to belong. It is to the Christian church’s shame that they are not a safe haven for the marginalized in society. It is an even greater shame that many Christians rejected people of this community and actively disparaged its members.

I recently watched a popular Catholic Youtuber who runs a show called Pints with Aquinas. In one of his more “spicy” videos advertising for his alternative social media platform accounts, he rants about the physique of a trans man. You might think that someone who invokes the name of the hollowed philosopher, theologian, and saint would be brighter enough to engage with the trans experience or at least do some reading before speaking to his audience, but you would be wrong. Matt, the host of the show, spends 10 minutes talking about how he finds synthetic genitalia weird. As if that were at all a critical or prudent topic of conversation. He then speaks to his growing fear that he might be censored for “speaking the truth” about these issues. A phrase, that when uttered by him in this video, made me audibly laugh.

Like most deeply conservative Christians who behave as conservatives as a rule before they act like Christians, Matt has worked out an increasingly dramatic narrative regarding his views. Many earnestly think they would be taken to jail for walking into a lecture hall and calmly proclaiming that the sky is blue. A more accurate depiction of their behavior in actuality can be seen in the actions of the apocalyptic pagan street preachers who shout and warn others that the sky now is, in fact, falling. When these speakers are asked to provide evidence of their prophecy, unlike the man speaking about the blue sky who merely walks outside to put up towards the heavens, they produce a scrap of paper from their pocket. A close look at the scrap would show that it has the word sky scrawled all about it in increasingly unstable penmanship. The paper is then lifted above their head and released, allowing it to gently float to the ground and upon the scrap making contact with the earth. The preacher then yelps, becoming animated, flailing his arms about and screaming, “there, there, the sky has fallen. You have witnessed by divine proclamation.”

Conservatives, like Matt, having no understanding of the scientific, theological, or philosophical implications of their words, run around screeching incoherently about their fears of the LGBTQ community. In his video, he offers prayers for the individual but only after releasing an uncomfortable amount of disgust and incredulity towards the trans person. It would be as if someone came to you, and after saying I hate you and everything you have chosen to become but ill be praying for you, it might come across as a little insincere, to say the least. To behave in such a way is not of Christ.

Unfortunately, are innumerable other public Christian who would have a similar response to the LGBTQ community but, Matt, in this one instance, became the archetype of all that evil. I have watched his stuff for a while despite my not being catholic. He brought on and continues to bring on interesting people, all of whom I have profound disagreements with, but none of which stuck such a thorn in my side as much as this particular commentary. I look unfavorably upon manufactured victims. It is a lot like stabbing an innocent person and complaining that you got blood on your hands and then going on public television to advocate for the ability to stab others without the threat of becoming bloody. It is ridiculous and obviously unethical to anyone with a moral bone in their body. Though when we manufacture a complex political narrative in which one propagates the idea that people being persecuted for “speaking the Truth” despite every word leaving these individuals mouths are blatantly false. It becomes less obvious to see the evil despite its prevalence. 

Undoubtedly, If Matt or any other conservative Christen were to read this post, they may handwave it away as some liberal drivel. I cannot guard against such criticism, though I earnestly think my views are more consistent, ethically tenable, and in line with what the faith teaches than what my conservative counterparts believe. I am of the opinion that such handwaving of my position staked out here serves as an indication of the reader’s nature rather than as an accurate criticism of my work.

Leaving behind your potentially negative views of all I have written here, I hope, at the very least, that you can see the importance of creating Christian communities that are the archetypal home for the hurting. As I simply advocate that we model our behavior and communities after the way they were intended to be, allowing us to lift up and help the marginalized and forgotten in members of our world. If you are a Christian, it should be your goal to embody the good and be a light to those in times of pain and trouble regardless of our views towards them, striving to outwork the evil in the world to bring heaven to earth. Resist your urges to log onto social media and slam another person for their inalienable characteristics. Such behavior can never be in the spirit of love and is therefore not of God.