Example Case
“Parental rights: A federal appeals court last week ruled against parents who sued a Florida school district for allegedly deceiving them about their teenage daughter’s preferred name and pronoun usage at school. A panel of U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled 2-1 against Jeffrey and January Littlejohn, who said in their lawsuit that the school board and administrators violated their due process and privacy rights. The parents said the school intentionally concealed from them the fact that their daughter used they/them pronouns and went by a male name at school. They also said school officials excluded them from a meeting where they developed a plan for their daughter to “socially transition.” In the ruling, one of the judges characterized the school’s behavior as shameful, but said it fell short of being unconstitutional.” (WORLD’s Travis K. Kircher column, article by Juliana Chan Erikson March 17, 2025).
Overreach of the State
To the average citizen, such acts by the state (and the school officials were acting as the state in such cases) are shameful. However, that is the emotional response to something far worse. It is arrogant, immoral, and ultimately criminal because it usurps the authority assigned by God to parents without cause. Now, most likely, one of the arguments was the claim that the parents were guilty of child abuse because they did not side with their child’s claims. However, such arguments are being refuted even by non-Christian authorities in other countries and by a growing number of experts in America.
A Victim’s Story
Forrest Smith, speaking at the National Detransitioner Awareness Day in Washington, described how his transitioning was all paid for by public health funds. Still, when he wanted to go to detranistion, he testified that public health would not cover any of it. Perhaps this is another squandering of public taxpayer funds that needs to be investigated. Medicaid here is the public fund (https://www.instagram.com/genspectinternational/reel/DHPiJgdsOAh/).
Erikson cites the pro-transitioning position advocated by the two major US medical associations. “Meanwhile, most U.S. professional medical societies recommend the opposite. The American Medical Association, which represents 132,000 members, states that forgoing gender treatments could increase the risk of anxiety, stress, substance use disorder, and suicide in youth. In 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed its commitment to transgender treatments in children, though it also agreed to conduct a systematic review of existing research.”
Situation Ethics Come of Age
When I read the foregoing paragraph, my syndical side has this gnawing question of avarice. The Scriptures advocate for the vulnerable and justice for the oppressed using its standards (Ps 82:3). We are to do justice and love mercy (Micah 6:8). We are admonished to take up the cause of the oppressed and defend the weak (Ps 82:3). “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Is 5:20).
The original oath was written in Ionic Greek between the fifth and third centuries BC and attributed to Greek physician Hippocrates in some manner. There are eight commitments to the oath (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-myth-of-the-hippocratic-oath-201511258447). The best-known one is to “avoid harming patients, including providing no ‘deadly medicine’even if requested to do so.” In recent years, the meaning and use of the oath has been questioned. Perhaps this is some measure of avoiding hypocrisy. While the oath was not of biblical theological origins, in practical, secular terms derived through natural revelation, it mirrors biblical thinking.
According to the article cited in the previous paragraph, the oath is inadequate for the practice of medicine today. Hence, while the oath continues to be a ceremonial component of many medical school graduation exercises, it is perfunctory. The reality is that the ethics of medicine modulate with the relativity of the times. When it comes to the world of transgenderism, Joseph F. Fletcher’s Situation Ethics has come of age. The new mantra that replaces the Hypocritic Oath, “Do no Harm,” can be characterized as “Do what culture values.”
Conclusion
As a nation, we have been descending into sophisticated paganism. Our idols are not carved images but our corrupted desires, which drive us to legitimize the works of the flesh detailed in Galatians 5. Our only hope as a nation is a revival. A nation will never rise higher than the majority of the population. Unless there is a set of common values derived from the Scriptures, as there once was in this nation, we like Germany and Britian will self-destruct.
I, for one, cry out as did the Apostle John, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.” In the meantime, I joined the Psalmist in chapter four, where his prayer begins with listening, considering, and heeding my cry. He addresses the Lord as “my King and my God.” He then expresses confidence because of God’s character, and assurance because of God’s lovingkindness that God will hear and deal with those who mislead the people. He closes His prayer with the assurance that God is his refuge, blesses the righteous person, and favors them by being their shield. Yes, come quickly, Lord Jesus, but in the meantime revive your people to live with the faith modeled by Moses, Joshua, David, Jeremiah, and a host of others in cultures that cycled downward into paganism again and again with the confidence that You are our shield and victorious King.