{"id":12883,"date":"2026-07-13T12:40:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tiu.edu\/law\/?post_type=articles&p=12883"},"modified":"2026-08-05T12:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T19:41:09","slug":"should-the-law-gag-grace","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.tiu.edu\/law\/articles\/should-the-law-gag-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the Law Gag Grace?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c[D]o not nullify the grace of God\u201d1<\/sup><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c[W]here sin increased, grace abounded all the more\u201d2<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c[S]uch were some of you.\u201d3<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c[Do not] trample underfoot the Son of God . . . and outrage the Spirit of Grace.\u201d4<\/sup><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Decisions, decisions!\u00a0 Coke or Pepsi? Diet or sugared soda? Caffeine or caffeine-free? Fries or fruit? Cream and\/or sugar? Bacon or sausage? Boxers or briefs? Nike or Adidas? Gas or hybrid?\u00a0 iPhone or Android?\u00a0 Laptop or Mac? And on it goes. Nearly endless choices [literally] litter our culture5<\/sup>\u2014we are at times drowning in options and not just about consumer goods. As President Obama\u2014remember him?\u2014once [falsely] promised, \u201cIf you like your health plan, you can keep it.\u201d6<\/sup> It\u2019s hard to imagine in this option-rich era that celebrates choices, that some seek to quell choice, especially when it comes to deeply personal choices like mental health care solutions aimed at addressing disorders affecting \u201cpersonal identity\u201d. How so? Let\u2019s get to the gist.<\/p>\n

In this world of sexual anarchy and chaos,7<\/sup> one mantra seems to dominate:\u00a0 \u201clove is love\u201d and therefore, every person must be free to choose their \u201cgender\u201d and thereby compel everyone else to celebrate and enforce that choice:\u00a0 from pronouns and puberty blockers to pubic piracy and pseudonyms. Yet, if you believe the Left, this liberty to self-define and choose should only exist to support and sustain certain ideological viewpoints.\u00a0 Some choices, they contend, MUST cease; they are verboten and must be canceled.\u00a0 To those struggling with gender dysphoria who desire real relief instead of costumes, cosmetics, chemicals and carvings, grace is told to \u201cstay away!!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

Paul tells us that when the truth is exchanged for the lie, idolatry results:\u00a0 creation instead of the Creator is worshipped.8<\/sup> This produces unrighteous practices.\u00a0 Theology\u2014disordered worship\u2014correlates with ethics\u2014disordered life.\u00a0 But sin\u2019s impulse does not end with \u201cdoing what\u2019s right in his own eyes\u201d.9<\/sup> Rather, those practicing unrighteousness seek to have those practices approved<\/em>.10<\/sup> Their choices must be favored<\/em> in culture and law.\u00a0 This means correlatively that those seeking such approval and dominance, also seek to limit, mute, silence, or eliminate\u2014\u201ccancel\u201d\u2014any view that opposes their \u201capproved\u201d unrighteous practices. This is not \u201cmere theory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider this fictional scenario: Mark, a 10-year-old boy, struggles with his self-image.\u00a0 He\u2019s had a challenging, but not abusive upbringing. His parents love him dearly. One day Mark emotionally senses that praise extends to his sister more than to him. He begins to \u201cact out\u201d a more feminine persona. Yet, he recognizes that he\u2019s not a girl, but emotionally he remains confused and troubled. He experiences deep hurt. Mark confides in his parents. Mark acknowledges he\u2019s a boy and deeply wants to remain male, yet he struggles in handling these confusing emotions. And social media algorithms provide him a steady flow of \u201cadvice\u201d confusing him further by driving him to \u201ctransition.\u201d He wants help.<\/p>\n

After doing some research and seeking referrals, his parents locate a faith-based licensed \u201ctalk counselor\u201d who specializes in working with minors who experience \u201cgender dysphoria.\u201d\u00a0 Through talk counseling this counselor\u2014who enjoys a track record of success\u2014works with similarly troubled and hurting minors in a way so that their emotions will match their bodies.<\/p>\n

This is really no different from treating young adolescent girls experiencing eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Talk counselors help these patients align their view of their bodies with their minds. A good counselor would not \u201caffirm\u201d that a anorectic girl is \u201ctoo fat\u201d and encourage her to purge and otherwise starve herself. That would not only be absurd, but it would also be dangerously harmful. In the same way treating gender dysphoria by affirming the patient\u2019s confused delusion would likewise spawn further disorder and irreversible harm if the patent \u201ctransitions.\u201d11<\/sup><\/p>\n

In this case, Mark, the patient, his parents, and the counselor all agree that Mark\u2019s mind needs to be aligned with his body.\u00a0 The \u201cwar\u201d between mind and body must be healed by alignment, not by fostering greater enmity between them and then irreversibly marring the physical to appear\u2014and only appear\u2014to be a different sex.\u00a0 Harming and neutralizing heathy tissue and biological systems\u2014\u201ctransitioning\u201d\u2014is no real answer. This makes perfect sense and should be unremarkable\u2014except in a world dominated by Gender Ideology. Gender Ideology seeks to cancel Mark\u2019s choice and make it extinct. It seeks to withhold grace from him. Again, why the hostility?<\/p>\n

Remember Romans 1:32\u2014idolatry presses unrighteous practices to be approved<\/em>. This approval can occur culturally, but also legally. That is exactly what we are seeing today.\u00a0 Colorado, as have some other \u201cblue\u201d states, has enacted laws designed to stifle, mute, and censor talk counseling that seeks to dissuade troubled and confused youth from \u201caffirming\u201d their gender dysphoria disorder, even if the minor desires\u2014and chooses\u2014to seek that solution. This statute punishes private confidential speech, speech to which both patient and counselor consent:\u00a0 The hurting boy wants this, his parents want this, and the counselor is willing to provide this. Colorado says that choice is off the table. Grace must be gagged. But this is no mere hypothetical \u201cwhat if\u201d scenario.<\/p>\n

Chiles v. Salazar<\/em>, litigating this scenario, reached the Supreme Court this term.12<\/sup> Alliance Defending Freedom, who represents a talk counselor, summarizes the situation this way:<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s law violates Chiles\u2019s freedom of speech by prohibiting licensed counselors from having any conversation with clients under age 18 that \u201cattempts or purports to change an individual\u2019s sexual orientation or gender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Significantly, the law only prohibits counseling conversations in one direction.<\/em><\/strong> For example, it allows counseling conversations that aim to steer young people\u00a0toward\u00a0a gender identity different than their sex but prohibits conversations that aim to help them return to comfort with their sex when they desire that<\/em><\/strong>. The law threatens severe penalties, including suspension and even revocation of the counselor\u2019s license. This one-sided censorship comes amidst a growing national mental-health crisis and prevents many Colorado children from obtaining the counseling that they desire\u2014and that science says is likely to help.13<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This law uses unconstitutional viewpoint<\/em> discrimination14<\/sup> <\/em>to censor private speech (as well as religious exercise). This is what occurs when pagan spirituality \u2013 whether acknowledged or not – is permitted to flourish. Did Colorado legislators \u201ccall upon\u201d pagan idols when fashioning this law?\u00a0 Doubtful. Yet, the pagan ethos runs strongly in such schemes. Intending to \u201cdo good\u201d they actually erect and enforce evil. They thereby nullify grace. Solomon summarizes it well:<\/p>\n

There is a way that seems right to a man,<\/em><\/p>\n

but its end is the way to death.15<\/sup><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thankfully, the Court, in a robust and strong 8-1 decision, ruled for the patient and against the Colorados\u2019 statute that sought to gag grace.16<\/sup><\/p>\n

Public legal theology grapples with the conditions fostering this litigation. Litigating the symptoms, while necessary, can never be sufficient. More is needed; what is needed is a robust public legal theology that promotes actual human flourishing within ordered liberty. Grace must not be gagged.<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Gal. 2:21<\/li>\n
  2. Romans 5:20<\/li>\n
  3. 1 Cor. 6:11<\/li>\n
  4. Heb. 10:29<\/li>\n
  5. Observers have begun to understand the dark side of possessing too many choices:\u00a0 Too Many Choices:\u00a0 A Problem that can Paralyze,<\/em> https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/27\/your-money\/27shortcuts.html<\/a> and also, Why do we have a harder time choosing when we have more options?<\/em> [addressing \u201cchoice overload\u201d \u2013 capitalization in original], https:\/\/thedecisionlab.com\/biases\/choice-overload-bias<\/a>, and Choice Overload \u2013 How Having Too Many Options Can Shut Down Your Brain<\/em>, https:\/\/insidebe.com\/articles\/choice-overload\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Obama\u2019s \u201cYou Can Keep It\u201d Promise Is \u201cLie of the Year.<\/em> https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2013\/12\/13\/250694372\/obamas-you-can-keep-it-promise-is-lie-of-the-year<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. See Dicta<\/em> editions, March 3, and March 10 \u2013 Jeffery J. Ventrella, Gender Ideology:\u00a0 The Neo-Pagan Blurring of Biology and Justice,<\/em> https:\/\/truthxchange.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Romans 1:25<\/li>\n
  9. Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, and 21:26<\/li>\n
  10. Romans 1:32<\/li>\n
  11. Both errors reflect Gnostic neo-pagan dualistic notions, claiming that the physical and the material are not \u201creal\u201d compared with the immaterial \u201cinner\u201d person.<\/li>\n
  12. https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/case-files\/cases\/chiles-v-salazar\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  13. https:\/\/adflegal.org\/press-release\/supreme-court-to-decide-can-colorado-silence-counselors-who-dont-push-gender-ideology\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  14. \u201cViewpoint\u201d discrimination occurs when the State permits speech on a topic but only allows one perspective (viewpoint).\u00a0 In other words, the State puts its coercive finger on the scale and favors one view and disfavors another view.\u00a0 To illustrate:\u00a0\u00a0 If the State permits discussion about pizza in general, it cannot exclude talk about pineapple and Canadian bacon pizza nor limit or confine the discussion to only pepperoni pizza.<\/li>\n
  15. Proverbs 14:12<\/li>\n
  16. https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-539_fd9g.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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