Christian author and self-described “unlikely convert” Rosaria Butterfield publicly denounced her past use of preferred pronouns and called on other Christian thought leaders to do the same.
Butterfield, who was a “tenured radical” professor at Syracuse University and a lesbian when she became a Christian in 1999, denounced her lifestyle amid her conversion but had continued to use the preferred pronouns of her friends who identified as transgender rather than the pronouns which conformed to their true sex. “You have to meet and respect people where they are,” she said in one interview with Family Life eight years ago.
Butterfield nevertheless denounced her past use of “transgendered pronouns” in an article published on Monday, characterizing her previous endorsement of such terminology as “public sin” which requires “public repentance.”
“I have publicly sinned on the issue of transgender pronouns, which I have carelessly used in books and articles. I have publicly sinned by advocating for the use of transgender pronouns in interviews,” she wrote. “Why did I do this? I have a bunch of lame and backside-covering excuses. Here are a few. It was a carry-over from my gay activist days. I wanted to meet everyone where they were and do nothing to provoke insult.”
Butterfield, who is now a homeschool mother and is married to a Reformed Presbyterian minister, noted that the Supreme Court decision to affirm same-sex marriage prompted her to realize that there is an unavoidable “collision course between LGBTQ+ and the Christian faith.” She described her previous use of preferred pronouns as a “sin against the ninth commandment” that “encourages people to sin against the tenth commandment,” as well as a denial of the “creation ordinance” and a hindrance to “a believer’s progressive sanctification” away from sin and toward righteousness.
“Using transgendered pronouns isn’t a sin because the times have changed, and therefore, using transgendered pronouns isn’t sinful today but a morally acceptable option in 2012. Sin is sin. The Bible defines this as sin. Sin does not lose its evil because of our good intentions or the personal sensibilities of others,” she continued. “But a renewed focus is no excuse for sin and no dodge for repentance, not for a real Christian. I repent.”
Butterfield, who wrote “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert” as a memoir about her conversion, shifted her attention later in the article toward self-professed Christian commentators, such as New York Times opinion columnist David French and Wheaton College clinical psychologist Mark Yarkhouse, who continue to use transgendered pronouns in the name of “being winsome” yet thereby promote falsehood harmful to believers and unbelievers alike.
“They nod in the direction of traditional values but then swap biblical clarity for postmodern pluralism, thus burning to the ground any legitimate theological bridge to gospel grace,” she wrote. “Transgenderism is satanic. We who once promoted ‘pronoun hospitality’ lent false credibility to a wolfish theology that fails to protect the sheep. Instead, it eats them alive.”
Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham and other prominent Christians have likewise noted how professed theological conservatives such as French tend to deny historic doctrines on matters such as sexuality in order to avoid offense at all costs. French and other influencers meanwhile encouraged evangelicals to embrace the Biden administration’s closure of churches and upheld former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins as a model for Christian faithfulness in the public square, even though Collins declared himself an “ally” of the LGBTQ movement and supported human fetal tissue research during his tenure.