Author's note: These are not my beliefs. I'm hoping this would illustrate something to conservative Christians. All of this has been said by at least one of them about LGBTQ people, while still claiming (and very possibly genuinely believing) that they are being kind, respectful and loving. The primary source is another Wattpadder, but the same arguments tend to pop up everywhere in the Internet. I have chosen not to name that person, but you will certainly recognize who you are. If you want your name added, just let me know. (iOS app is still busted when it comes to private messages – I'll notice public conversations faster.)

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First, I want to say that I believe in free will to do whatever you want, so long as you aren't hurting someone else. I do still believe it is harmful to families, children and society as a whole when people pursue Christian lifestyle. However, if handled correctly, it will not amount to the kind of harm that constitutes impeding on their rights.

Christianity is not a mental illness, but rather an emotional and behavioral tendency that is learned through repetition and experience. According to studies, the main causes are trauma, usually in childhood, and dissociation from reality. I have very rarely met someone who is a Christian and has not been through some kind of life altering trauma or, at the very least, felt alienated. People want community and are highly motivated by that. So when they feel like an outcast, they search for what's wrong with them and seek to change it.

The actual solution is to identify the trauma or the cause of the feelings and then to work on that, not on the effects of it. These are the basic overalls to treat feeling like a Christian. Everyone is different, and so their healing will look different than mine. But I have never seen someone heal by delving deeper into the symptoms of trauma, by conforming to what the trauma says they should be.

If there is a young person who is struggling with it, how about we offer to help them overcome it so that they can live a normal life? If they don't want a normal life, then fine, that's their choice to make when they become adults.

Rather than telling them that there are treatments and cures to help these people, we are brainwashing them into living with a problem that they don't actually have to live with. And my fear in this, is not only that more people are suffering while a cure exists, but also that we have normalized it to children and are creating more people who struggle with an identity they have embraced due to misinformation and confusion.

I am not writing this to say that we should mistreat members of the Christian community or take away their ability to express themselves in whatever way they like. I am writing this to help us find the balance between their freedom and the protection of the children. For those who have yet to make their choice, help me ensure that they have an easier path to take a path where they can either live with their differences or seek help to live a normal life.

So, what are the potential harms of the entire Christian worldview? First, to one's self. I could give examples for this one, but I'm not going to, because ultimately people can make their own choices what they do with their bodies. However, we must not allow minors (those under 18) to make choices they may likely regret when they've matured.

Second, to others. While it is possible to minimize the dangers greatly, we must first recognize that there are some concerns. Also, we must have rules around how to handle Christianity, just as we have rules how to handle any worldview. This list is purely examining the social and interpersonal damages that could occur as a result of the popularization of Christianity. It does not include the spiritual and moral implications.

Pressure to join the group. As with any worldview, the first and foremost danger is that people will be pressured to join. The power of suggestion is very strong, which means it is possible to convince someone that they feel a certain way about something (and eventually they do genuinely feel that way, though not of their own free will). Also, I fear that some people who don't wish to be Christian may feel that they have no option, and that this will lead them to despair and suicide.

Development of children. Christian families are proven to be unstable for children and can lead to various mental illnesses and poor mental health. But this doesn't have to be the case. It is completely possible for a Christian couple to raise a child in a stable environment, however there are new challenges to this, given the fact that the majority of children around them will have more traditional homes. This is something to be sensitive of, and Christian parents will have a bit more of a challenge in allowing their child to develop as an atheist or whatever they may end up as.

Another concern is that children outside of the Christian home, who are perhaps friends of the couple's child, are likely to become unstable at the realization that Christian couples exist. This instability can cause something similar to a trauma children feel when they realize that sometimes families are mixed up (divorce, remarriage, etc.). This is dependent on the way this information is introduced. Christian couples must also be okay with their children's friends believing that their very identities as believers are wrong, and not try to convince them of otherwise, or else this is considered trying to parent someone else's child or trying to change said child's beliefs (which can also further destabilize them).

Children need to be raised as atheists. Then, if they have a crisis of faith and still feel that way when they are an adult, they can make the necessary changes. This is, of course, provided the child is stable. If the child is unstable, wants to harm themselves or run away (as is occasionally the case), then they should be allowed to read the Bible and attend church. But anything further than this is dangerous.

All of these dangers can be managed if they are recognized and handled with understanding and tolerance. Christianity doesn't have to be damaging in any substantial way, so let's work together to make this work for everyone.

Well, what do you say? Is this loving and respectful? Does it seek to reconcile both sides?

I don't think so either. But replace all references to Christianity with homosexuality or gender dysphoria, and you have what is supposed to be a loving and respectful approach to LGBTQ people. And I'm actually being generous by referring to the people as Christians instead of someone "struggling with their beliefs" (transgender people like me seem to be consistently defined by their feelings of gender dysphoria by conservatives - personally I haven't felt any since I was socially recognized as male several years ago).

Of course, the claimed science is completely bogus, both in this piece or in regard to LGBTQ people. Either the studies don't exist, or the supposed conclusions weren't in those studies. Well, I think I have seen one that was accurately quoted from 1976...But many later studies have proven the opposite.

As a "Christian with a biblical worldview", you may genuinely believe you are being loving – just not affirming a sinful lifestyle -, but please inspect your own words in great detail. It's a good exercise to try to replace all references to LGBTQ people with Christians like I have done and check if you would feel whatever emotion you want to convey. And for the love of all that is good, if you make scientific claims, fact-check! The academic world really does not like conservative Christians in general and evangelicals in particular, because they lie so much. It's not a bias – people just get pissed off when their research is repeatedly twisted into something they never said to further an agenda.

For what the Bible actually says about homosexuality and gender diversity, please check the corresponding chapters.