Christingle becomes transphobic. Apparently.

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Christingle, which I'd never heard of, meant a lot to this family until...

",,,as the queer and transgender father of a two-year-old, I visited the church’s website. I was hoping to find a message of inclusivity, something to reassure me that the welcome I had taken for granted my whole life still applied to the person I am and the family I have today. The “What we believe” sections were vague. So I tried a reverse approach, since it has the kind of graphic design and web presence that suggest affiliation to bigger, well-endowed networks. Google pointed me to a UK organisation called the Evangelical Alliance. I typed my postcode into its “Find a church” tool and the first result was our Christingle church.

In the EA’s news archive, I found a press release about the importance of rejecting Gender Recognition Act reform, a process that was aimed at making the lives of trans adults less bureaucratic. There were pieces about why “gay cakes” are a threat to free speech and then there was a video.

It started off very gently and compassionately, talking about “inclusion” and “understanding”. Just as I started to feel reassured, the presenter began describing “transgender” as “confused” and an “ideological movement”. He talked ominously about genitalia and so-called spectrums, and questioned whether, if a trans person were to call a church to ask about gender-neutral toilet provision, it might well be “a coordinated effort to catch the church out”. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/16/i-used-to-love-christingle-until-i-discovered-what-my-church-thought-of-trans-people

I mean sticking cloves in an orange and thinking it's something to do with the birth of god is a particularly odd belief for starters.

That's my mulled wine recipe out the window

He talked ominously about genitalia

Bollocks

Admittedly I was struggling to discover what was transphobic about an orange with a red ribbon stuck through with marshmallow-filled cocktail sticks.

Then I saw who authored the article ....

I think there is some confusion here between christingle and pomanders.

I’m surprised nobody has suggested that the million quid Christingle raises for vulnerable children be donated to Mermaids as an apology.

... And I think we all know why he didn't walk into a mosque and have a go at them about not accepting LGBT people...

Also Fred lives in Deal.

When I was young, we all moved to London from our tiny provincial towns because there were no gay clubs and we knew people would stare. I'm not saying that was okay but it's a bit naive to expect a small middle class conservative town like Deal to be the hub of wokedom.

I wonder how the family feels about Fred criticising everything they hold dear. I'd suggest Brighton would be a better fit. But no childcare. Dilemma.

I can reassure the alarmed parent that nobody - nobody! - is going to be talking about, let alone enquiring about or checking - anybody's genitalia at a Christingle service.

Pur-leeze!

We once had to leave a Christingle service because of my children turned his orange and cocktail stick into a sort of mace and stuck it into my other child’s neck.

Those are the memories that Christmas is made of.

I'm shocked at the Guardian publishing these unresearched complaining articles. A personal whinge rather than a properly investigated article.

Really? Are you confusing the Guardian with a more serious newspaper? The daily star perhaps?

He talked ominously about genitalia

I'm picturing Carmina Burana in the background, guttering braziers and a black, hooded robe as someone points out the the location of the vas deferens on a power point slide.

It's an evangelical church. What the fuck did he expect?

If he thinks they are insufficiently friendly about trans people he really should check out their views on other groups. He could start with the section of the website headed 'cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics'

I think there is some confusion here between christingle and pomanders

It's a long time since my GCSE Religious Studies and I wasn't going to google

We had no truck with Cristingles in the Baptist church anyway. C of E nonsense. We had our own nonsense thank-you very much.

There is a weird tension and inconsistency (i know, I know) between:
A) we've all been moving among you for years and you've never known
B) how dare you ask about our status if we don't pass
C) as a trans person, I demand you respect X, Y and Z

I mean really, how do you square that circle? Fred - if you're reading, can you help with that? Because if I'm not supposed to notice you're trans, how can I respect it in such a way that you are aware? And if I do notice it, am I not supposed to acknowledge it?

It's all terribly confusing

Interesting that a lot of transideology is about erasing the word woman/mother, but here we have Freddie emphasising he is a transgender father when he (or they?) could have written transgender parent.

cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics

At university I remember reading newsletters on how yoga was the work of the devil, and people being quite happy to tell their friends they would burn in hell for not being Christian.

I also went to what I was told was a nice friendly church and was treated to 30min on why gays were an abomination before the first hymn. At another church we had a sermon on why Princess Diana was going to burn in hell, the Sunday after she died.

I'm an atheist now. I think these things are connected.

He could start with the section of the website headed 'cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics'

That seems to be required reading just before they then decide that their PFB can only thrive in a heavily oversubscribed single sex Catholic school because no teenaged penises and good exam results . Going by the responses when they don't get a place, at any rate.

"It started off very gently and compassionately, talking about “inclusion” and “understanding”. Just as I started to feel reassured, the presenter began describing “transgender” as “confused” and an “ideological movement”."

So, if:
-No-one's born in the wrong body
-Being trans is not a mental health issue
-It's not an ideological movement

What is it then? And as for being "confused", this is the same Freddy McConnell who acquired a GRC committing him to 'live as a man' before promptly conceiving a child, carrying it to term and gaving birth to it, which seems pretty confused to me.

"if a trans person were to call a church to ask about gender-neutral toilet provision, it might well be “a coordinated effort to catch the church out""

I think the church person might have a point there.

Start their own church then. They can have a nativity scene with all the wise people and sheep bickering over what sex to assign baby Jesus, while Mary gets ignored.

I knew I would only ever be truly welcome if I accepted this insidious talk of “forgiveness” and “redemption”

Does Freddie not know anything about the Christian faith?

I also note that Freddie had not experienced any negative reactions, had only heard rumours of a parishioner objecting to a "love the sinner, hate the sin" sermon. Does Freddie not know that in Christianity we are all sinners? I'm an atheist who has probably only been in a church less than a dozen times and I know this.

No, Freddie had to go digging in the pr archives of the parent organisation to discover that they are not "truly welcome"

One wonders if Freddie had a deadline to meet...

I wonder if Freddie's family can continue to enjoy this ceremony that means so much to them.

I love Christingles. I might make some and have my own private Christingle service at home

I'm literally shaking my head at this article.

When I was a GP trainee our practice nurse got denounced from the pulpit for telling a patient about the healing power of crystals. She was spouting nonsense but condemning her to hell seemed a bit extreme

@MondayYogurt

Start their own church then. They can have a nativity scene with all the wise people and sheep bickering over what sex to assign baby Jesus, while Mary gets ignored.

This comment is fucking amazing 👏👏👏👏👏

Bravo 😁

I grew up RC and only found out about this christingle/ orange stuff a couple of years ago. A bit odd but then lots of religious stuff is.

Wtf did this person expect from evangelical church fgs

I admit I'd never heard of it until I read the article.

My C of E junior school herded us all to the church next door each year for the christingle service. It was one of the few whole school church services. I loved Christingles but remember my mother getting stressed sending my father out to get the bits she'd forgotten.

@MarieIVanArkleStinks I thought the same - how on earth is an orange with marshmallows and dolly mix offensive? Now there is part of the ideology that could be construed as less than inclusive, but an orange is not one!