The Disordered Desire to Eliminate ‘Disorder’

The latest 2024 Olympic controversy is emblematic of a much deeper problem in our society. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is reportedly a chromosomal man who was raised female due to an underdeveloped reproductive system. After beating up an Italian woman in the boxing ring with two punches, his name went viral. Perhaps there is a sane minority who wonders whether women should be boxing at all and why men get pleasure out of seeing women beat each other up. And one may wonder why the IOC allowed Khelif to box with biological chromosomal women. But those are issues for another day. What I would like to focus on here is how we approach the deeper issue that led to this Olympic debate and other similar problems.

As is always the case, if you want to understand the prevailing ideology of the day, watch what happens to the language. In the past, people with ambiguous sexual biology were said to have Hermaphroditism. Then the term eventually changed to Intersex Disorder. More recently it has morphed into Disorders of Sex Development; and with the current Olympic controversy, we have now learned the newest iteration of the term is Differences of Sex Development (DSD). A similar language alteration occurred with descriptions of other disorders: Gender dysphoria used to be called Sexual Identity Disorder, and homosexuality was understood to be same-sex attraction disorder, before being normalized by political pressure from leftist elites.

See a pattern here? There is a concerted effort to avoid the word 'disorder'. Beneath the surface, this is a fundamental problem that marks our times.

This penchant to rid the language of 'disorder', perhaps partly out of misplaced compassion, points to a deeper problem. Eradicating from our minds the notion of personal disorder molds us to believe there is no natural order to human life, i.e., no common human nature shared by all, with objective ends and goods. It introduces the notion that it’s everyone’s job to define themselves, to declare one’s own truth as we wish – and everyone else is obligated to accept their claims. How you ‘identify’ has become sacrosanct, not the truth of our being. The result of this is utter confusion and moral chaos.

Our personal disorders, however, whatever they may be, are not “natural to us”. They are depravations, hurdles, that need to be overcome, and many people do a masterful job at this. Yet, without recognizing our common human nature, which enables us to see what is good and natural, the default position is to render disordered desires, especially those related to sex, as acceptable to act upon.

There is only one remedy against the movement to normalize disorder (what in any other time would have been considered cultural insanity): Regain the Judeo-Christian understanding that the human race is fallen and that every individual is disordered in one way or another. This is a simple truth. We all have imperfections, defects, and disordered propensities stemming from original sin. To run from this reality by eradicating ‘disorder’ from our minds only compounds the problem.

No question, some disordered propensities can be heavy crosses to bear. But our choice is trifold: We can deny them, give in to them, or accept their limitations and overcome them with God's grace. It is only in facing and living the truth that are we made free.