What makes me a person? Or you?

Could the timing for becoming a person be different for each individual? According to Personhood Theory, it is. Especially if you believe in the prevailing view perpetuated by our culture–a worldview that separates the mind and the body. This thinking has infiltrated schools, politics, Hollywood, and even some churches. And, it’s scary. You need to know why because if we don’t expose the truth about this lie, it could be the death of you.

A Person’s Identity

In her book, Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality, Nancy Pearcey describes this mindset about the personhood of human beings as separated into an “upper story” and a “lower story.”

Secular thought today assumes a body/person split, with the body defined in the “fact” realm by empirical science (lower story) and the person defined in the “values” realm as the basis for rights (upper story). This dualism has created a fractured, fragmented view of the human being, in which the body is treated as separate from the authentic self.

Many people think the body just is. It’s only matter with “no basis for rights.” That’s why babies can be aborted. In fact, if California governor Gavin Newsom has his way with Prop 1, that will happen without restriction clear up until birth. Maybe even afterward. For years prominent voices, like Peter Singer, the W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University, have been making the case for infanticide until it is determined that the child can function within the values realm. Singer’s position was well-known before his appointment at Princeton. In an issue of The Christian Research Journal, Scott Klusendorf wrote that:

In 1993, ethicist Peter Singer shocked many Americans by suggesting that no newborn should be considered a person until 30 days after birth and that the attending physician should kill some disabled babies on the spot. Five years later, his appointment as Decamp Professor of Bio-Ethics at Princeton University ignited a firestorm of controversy, though his ideas about abortion and infanticide were hardly new. In 1979 he wrote, “Human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons”; therefore, “the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.”1 (Volume 23, Issue Number 3).

Did you see it? A leading ethicist believes a human baby has less value than a pig. Some go so far as to say the baby’s parent can determine personhood. And, they may decide that’s not until a child is 12 years old. So if a three year old is particularly annoying, that little boy or girl can be eliminated. After all, that little one is not a person. That’s barbaric.

When fallible human beings determine personhood, some can be relegated to nonperson status. Could it be you or me as we get older? What about different ethnicities? Isn’t that how some racial groups are turned into slaves? Isn’t that how genocide results? Or maybe a government authority such as China with their one child policy determines which babies live and which children die. Worldwide there is outrage at the very idea of a woman not being allowed to make the choice to get rid of her baby.

This fragmented view of the body also impacts sexuality and our society.

Broken in Two

Determining that the body is irrelevant makes sex without relationship desirable. Many young adults today buy into that mentality, just like I did several decades ago. That culturally accepted norm almost destroyed me, just like it’s destroying many young adults today. The agony of trying to adjust to that worldview literally made me want to die. But because everyone else seemed to be doing it (casual sex with no strings attached), I thought the problem must be me. And, trying to adjust to that lifestyle broke me in a way that took many years to understand and heal.

Yet, that destructive view is being promoted throughout American culture reaching younger and younger children. Music videos and electronic music festivals elevate sex to godlike status suggesting sexual encounters with strangers to fulfill purely physical needs. Just like eating a piece of cake. Without the calories. Without trust or intimacy. Without any regard for relationship or emotional involvement.

That perspective destroys the innate sense of integrity (wholeness) and dignity that result from being created in the image of God. Not only that but according to Mark Regnerus in his book Cheap Sex: The Transformation of Men, Marriage, and Monogamy; this worldview also:

does little to stimulate the ‘laggards” of our modern economy toward those historic institutions–education, a settled job, and marriage–that created opportunity for them and their families (p. 154).

Regnerus goes on to quote Margaret Archer, a British social theorist, who addresses the idea of personal identity as connected to matters of sexuality.

“Homo inconstantus” (or serially reinvented man), a widely held (but seldom recognized) perspective on personhood and identity that has replaced the “burden of conformity” to, say, traditionally masculine roles of worker, husband and father, and replaced it with the imperative of “do-it-yourself biographies . . . in short, inventing and reinventing their personal identities” (p. 154).

In other words, culture advocates our becoming self-absorbed followers who determine our identity based upon the whims of an ever-changing standard that lacks any coherence, stability, or credibility. Regnerus quotes New York magazine’s Elizabeth Wurtzel as she reflects on her failed relationships.

Convention serves a purpose: It gives life meaning, and without it, one is in a constant existential crisis. If you don’t have the imposition of family to remind you of what is at stake, something else will (p. 155).

But I wonder what that might be as today’s influencers continue down a road leading to personal and social chaos. Perhaps the death of loved ones will shake us out of complacency to this unsustainable and destructive worldview.

Death to Non-Persons

With prestigious ethicists, like Singer, determining which babies should die, I wonder who will determine which disabled people are non-persons. Already nursing homes can withhold sustenance to those the administrators decide no longer have viable lives if they don’t have a family able to make that decision. With medical costs rising, there are increasing stories of those being urged to forego costly treatment or maybe to avoid suffering by taking that lethal injection.

So where do we draw the line? Many women who have abortions have felt like they have no other choice. Is there really a choice when so many loud voices shout that abortion is the solution to an unwanted problem? Why do government authorities, Hollywood stars, and school authorities not offer the choice to live? Although they fail to offer that choice, many pro-life clinics provide the necessary help with all kinds of resources including medical treatment, baby supplies, and/or adoption options. And yet they are condemned while Planned Parenthood is financed for giving women a single choice–death for a human baby. And, therein lies another personhood nightmare–that of selling (trafficking) baby body parts.

After we get used to the idea of killing of living babies, then the disabled may be deemed no longer a person. Or an ethnicity that someone in authority determines isn’t a person can be eliminated. Isn’t that what happens in genocide? Then perhaps the elderly, maybe us.

Being Made Whole

There’s still hope. We can take seriously the dangers of Personhood Theory and make explaining the superiority of the biblical worldview a priority. To do that, we have to care more about promoting “wholeness” and healing for those who disagree with us than we do about political agendas or our busy schedules. We need to take the time to grasp the issues involved and ask the Holy Spirit for His words and wisdom instead of relying on our own defensive techniques. Otherwise, we’ll continue to see the progression of Romans 1:18-23.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Life. Human life. Made in the image of God. With marvelous unity between the body and mind. With intelligence. For wholeness to replace brokenness, Jesus is our only Hope. His cousin, John, knew Him while still in the womb. The Lord knew us and valued us as His creation from the moment of conception.

A Secure Identity

With its lack of regard for the value of each individual made in the image of God, personhood theory destroys our authentic self. The remedy is a biblical worldview. Many scriptures describe our Creator’s involvement. My favorite is Psalm 139:13-16.

For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written, the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Jesus gave us an identity that remains stable regardless of what culture tries to dictate. He created us and loves us–before we’re born and when we’re old. Regardless of skin color. Despite sin. He came to save us, sometimes from ourselves and the cultural lies we believe. Our identity in Christ is God-given. It never changes. No matter our development, our age, or our location. And, He can make us whole, body and soul connected and unified. We don’t have to be broken and that’s good news. Shouldn’t we be letting everyone know? One way you can do that is simply by sharing this post. It’s important and when enough people stand for Truth, it can make a difference. For now, the lies speak loudest.