“Post-Christian man views his body as a tabula rasa-a canvas on which to
express his identity and exert his will. In fact, the more contrary to
nature one’s new self is, the more “authentic” it can claim to be. The
recent mania for tattoos and piercings is a case in point. The desire to be
free of the human condition and its limitations has ancient roots. It has
taken Gnostic form in both the ancient and modern worlds. The Gnostic
impulse rejects physical reality as evil. It seeks a higher, hidden
knowledge-available only to an elite-in its quest for personal salvation.
Animated by this knowledge, the Gnostic approach creates a kind of magical
reality that refuses to admit conditions that resist the human will.
“Today’s transgender crusade can be seen as the latest manifestation of this
denial. It is inherently authoritarian, as other latter-day Gnostic projects
have been, because it has to be. Nature and common sense oppose it. In the
“Gnostic dream world,” as Eric Voegelin once put it, “non-recognition of
reality is the first principle.” Critics who persist in drawing attention to
reality must be discredited or silenced. Otherwise, the Gnostic fantasy
world crumbles.”
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