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Gender is a choice – and, indeed, a complicated one as there are many genders. If a 12-year-old girl believes that she is a boy or "nonbinary" and wants to undergo life-altering surgery, she is vulnerable to harm – by adults suggesting that she not make irreparable changes, at least until she is old enough to get a tattoo. Climate change is "the No. 1 existential threat to the world," and a good reason for young people to live in debilitating fear and decide not to have children. Yearning for a colorblind society is racist. The key to making the Army "more lethal" and the Secret Service better at addressing "evolving threats facing our nation’s leaders" is more women on the frontlines. New York became "stronger" by awarding preferences in city contracts to firms owned by men who enjoy having sex with men and women instead of just with women.
These ideas, and many others like them, are ridiculous. Yet, they are so mainstream that they have each become or informed policy in many important institutions and even governments. How did this happen?
Conservatives are often quick to blame universities and the media. Yes – universities are the incubators of ideas generally, and ideas like these usually have an origin story in the academy. Some media outlets promote these ideas, but others still point out how ridiculous they are.
HARVARD DIVINITY GRAD SHABBOS KESTENBAUM, AMID ANTISEMITISM, STANDS STRONG IN HIS FAITH: 'PROUD TO BE JEWISH'
So: It’s too easy to blame the mainstreaming of ridiculous ideas on the academy and the media. We Americans are not victims – not of the academy, not of the media, not of anything. We, as non-victims, can set the terms for our culture, politics and society.
Joseph prospered in Egypt under the pharaoh because he was truthful about his faith. FILE: The Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. (iStock)
How, then, have so many ridiculous ideas like those listed above escaped the fringe and become normative opinion and mainstream public policy? How, to pick a ripe one from my state, is New York on the verge of passing a Constitutional Amendment that seems to guarantee children the right to change their gender?
The answer, like truths generally, can be found in the Torah.
It is Genesis 39, and Joseph – having been sold into slavery by his brothers – is the only Jew in Egypt. Potifar’s wife tries to seduce him.........