In this article, we are going to explore certain aspects of history from the Creation of this world until the return of Christ. Jesus came to this world to bring eternal life to all who believe in Him. Satan's goal is to bring destruction to all who follow him. His greatest upcoming plan is to personate Christ just before the second coming for the purpose of deception. Everything significant that God does, the devil endeavors to counterfeit.
While there are many fronts on which the devil works to deceive, there is one of which God's remnant church has, for the most part, been unaware. Could it be that Satan has gained an advantage over us, and that we truly are ignorant of his devices? The Laodicean message of Revelation 3 seems to indicate a spiritual blindness, i.e. a deluded ignorance, that is characteristic of the professing, lukewarm church. We “know not” our condition. We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes.
Let's go back to the Creation of this world:
Man was the crowning act of the creation of God, made in the image of God, and designed to be a counterpart of God. R. & H., June 18, 1895
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27.
God's crowning act of creation resulted in two distinct sexes of the human family. In this article, you will see how part of the devil's plan is to obliterate the distinctive male and female roles. We will see how he works to accomplish his purpose by gender impersonation.
Just as God had a crowning act of creation, Satan will have a crowning act too, but it will not be one of creation, but for the purpose of the destruction of humanity. Satan's crowning act of deception will be the personation of Christ.
"As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour's advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. [Revelation 1:13-15.] The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld." GC 624
Satan wants the glory and worship that belongs to Jesus, so he is going to “dress up” to look just like Him! Right now Satan is doing all he can to prepare the minds of men and women to accept this final deception.
What is the meaning of the word personation? Personate - to fraudulently portray another person; to impersonate; to portray a character (as in a play); to act; to attribute personal characteristics to something; to personify. pose: pretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions;
Imagine the audacity of Satan to try to masquerade as Jesus! He will dress up in royal garments, pretending to be Jesus.
“Satan sees that he is about to lose his case. He cannot sweep in the whole world. He makes one last desperate effort to overcome the faithful by deception. He does this in personating Christ. He clothes himself with the garments of royalty which have been accurately described in the vision of John. He has power to do this.” TA 273
“If men are so easily misled now, how will they stand when Satan shall personate Christ, and work miracles? Who will be unmoved by his misrepresentations then--professing to be Christ when it is only Satan assuming the person of Christ, and apparently working the works of Christ?--2SM 394
“But while he will bear the appearance of Christ in every particular, so far as mere appearance goes, it will deceive none but those who, like Pharaoh, are seeking to resist the truth.”--5T 698
Notice that Satan has the ability to appear like Christ in every particular! In this masquerade, those who have not the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit will mistake Satan as being Christ. Their spiritual eyesight has become dull by looking at and loving the things of the world.
We will be unwrapping a mysterious plan that Satan has in which he is trying to get people to cross dress in order to cause great confusion among us. This Babylonian confusion will set us up to be tricked by his final deception. He has figured out a way to get us to misunderstand our distinctive role as females, and men's distinctive role as males. That spills over into the marriage relationship, which spills over into our spiritual relationship with Jesus.
Satan is diligently working to separate God's people from Christ's body, the Church which is described in His Word as His Bride. Holy matrimony provides a fitting symbol of Christ's relationship with His Bride, His church. The symbolic roles of husband and wife teach us our proper relationship to Jesus; that He is our loving authority, our protector, our spiritual husband, and we are the loved, protected and cherished recipients of His headship. We are to be the Bride of Christ.
As we study the Word, specifically Ephesians chapter 5, we see clearly that it is within the context of this mysterious spiritual relationship that we receive the preparation needed to receive immortality. Christ is longing to perfectly reproduced His character in us, so He can receive us unto Himself.
It's obvious that Satan is attacking marriage. Whenever Satan succeeds in weakening our view of the sacred marriage relationship, he also succeeds in distorting our understanding of our intimate relationship to Jesus. He wants to break up the heavenly marriage! He's trying to steal Christ's Bride, so he can abuse and destroy her.
Satan wants to keep us from looking at the big picture, the great controversy. He makes us comfortable by bringing in his ideas slowly, until we are conditioned to them. He mixes good with bad, so we are confused. He is a master deceiver, and if we're not on the alert, we are going to be blind to his devices.
What is Satan using to blind-side us? In the Spirit of Prophecy we find this surprising statement:
“Obedience to fashion is pervading our Seventh-day Adventist churches and is doing more than any other power to separate our people from God.” 4T 647
Satan is using fashion, more than anything else, to separate us from God! How could that be possible? We rarely hear this addressed in any sermon. Could it really be true?
One thing we must realize: A Seventh-day Adventist cannot obey fashion's dictates, and the Lord's standards simultaneously. If fashion is followed, it will lead us to depths of degradation of which we have never dreamed.
As we explore this topic, we will see how Satan is using fashion to undermine the sanctity of marriage in our society. He is doing so by attacking the feminine and masculine roles.
Before you read further, please be aware that we will be discussing some topics that are extremely disgusting, and which plummet the depths of degradation. If you already understand why Christian women should not wear pants, you probably don't need to read further. If, however, you feel that pants are acceptable attire for women, you should know the past, present and future trends for this practice. You will see an amazing prophecy unfolding before your eyes.
Let's take a brief look back, to a time before any of us were alive, to see what Satan has been up to. Since we didn't see it happening before our eyes, and since it has taken over a hundred years to develop, our perception must be enlightened with historical information.
There are several movements that Satan has used to carry out his agenda. Spiritualism was directly tied with the early women's rights movement in the mid 1800's. Feminism's roots in Marxist communism are undeniable. And the homosexual movement gains its momentum from the ground work of the foregoing movements. They are all linked together.
Spiritualism attracted many nineteenth-century radicals and reformers. Its ranks were chock-full of abolitionists, women's rights activists, and those who believed in temperance, dress reform and the rights of workers and children. Source (Warning: Use extreme caution when clicking on these source links as some will take you to sites containing extremely offensive content.) ...Disabled...
The beliefs of spiritualism , which teaches that the dead communicate with the living, were embedded in the hearts of those women who were militant about achieving equal rights as men.
From the handful of women who began to stand up for themselves grew a cohesive network of individuals who were committed to changing society in the United States by demanding rights that were equal to those of their male counterparts in all areas. A group of strong and outspoken women who were regular attendees at séances given by the many mediums in the area, were pivotal to the beginnings of a movement that ultimately led to a woman's right to vote in this country. Source
We find this information in the book, “Radical Spirits: Spiritualism And Women's Rights In Nineteenth-Century America” written by Ann Brauden, which reveals that:
“Women Spiritualists became the only religious sect to embrace women's rights as a first priority,” advocating, among other things, the female vote, dress reform, marriage reform, “free love,” socialism, the abolition of slavery, vegetarianism and anti-Sabbatarianism.
“Spiritualists believed individuals could serve as vehicles of truth because each embodied the laws of nature in his or her being. Such individualism laid the foundation for Spiritualism's rejection of male headship over women — or indeed of any individual over any other — whether in religion, politics or society.
“To dismiss Spiritualists as a ‘lunatic fringe' is to ignore the significant ways in which their faith reflected the values of Victorian America….Spiritualism helped a crucial generation of American women find their voice….More women stepped beyond conventional female roles because of Spiritualism than they would have without it. In mediumship and in its inherent individualism, Spiritualism held up a model of women's unlimited capacity for autonomous action to the men and women of 19th century America.” Source
This movement of Spiritualism helped foment these causes, which included truth mixed with error. The devil was using these women as mediums for his agenda.
Amelia Bloomer gets the spotlight for blazing the trail for women to wear pants. Was God leading her in this undertaking? Her rebellious, God-defying attitude is apparent in this statement: “We shall no longer be answerable to the laws of God or man, no longer be subject to punishment for breaking them.”
"A pair of baggy trousers gathered at the ankles and worn with a short belted tunic was sported by Amelia Jenks Bloomer of Homer, New York, in 1851. She had copied the pants costume from a friend, Elizabeth Smith Miller. But it was Mrs. Bloomer, an early FEMINIST and staunch supporter of reformer Susan B. Anthony, who became so strongly associated with the MASCULINE-TYPE outfit that it acquired her name. Pants, then MEN'S wear, appealed to Amelia Bloomer...Amelia Bloomer REFUSED to wear the popular fashion. Starting in 1851, she began to appear in public in baggy pants and a short tunic. And as more women joined the campaign for the right to vote, Mrs. Bloomer turned the trousers into a UNIFORM OF REBELLION... CHALLENGING the long TRADITION of who in the family wore the PANTS." --article on the origin of bloomers/women wearing pants, taken from "Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things" by Charles Panati
Spiritualism, which includes rebellion against God's order, lies at the root of the plan for women to impersonate the male sex, to cross dress. And Communism built upon these diabolical principles.
So what can we gather from all this? That a feminist miscreant desired to wear the other sex's clothes to express a demand for "women's rights" and to spark a rebellion against the traditional mores in decency. Feminists challenged the tradition of the man being the head of the family by wearing his clothes. Later on in the 1930's, the Communists would finalize this revolution in women's clothing. Using gnostic "theology", the communists deemed women nothing more than imperfect men, who in order to be as perfect as men, had to express masculinity and repress their feminine attributes. They made it the ideal fashion, in their propaganda, that women, in order to express true equality with men in all things, would also have to wear the masculine clothing for men only, called Pants. So we can see that this custom of women wearing pants is nothing more than a feminist tradition. It certainly does not come from the long held decency code passed down from [Christianity]. Source
The feminist agenda includes the “sameness” of the sexes, equating woman with men in every way. Putting pants on women was part of the plan, because it gave women an edge in their quest for men's roles. They were a symbol of female liberation. Pants gave women authority and rights, while feminine clothing was seen to be symbolic of oppression and the degradation of women.
The essence of the feminist revolution was a rejection of the role God ordained for women. It is Satan that wants to do away with God's design, and blur the distinction between the sexes. Satan wants women to become like men, and men like women. Where is this heading? We have seen already the great increase of crime and confusion.
Feminism which espoused "women's rights" actually has driven femininity underground, torn the sexes asunder, and stripped woman of recognition for being wives and mothers, roles essential to their own fulfillment, to men, and to children and society.
Young women were told they were rebelling against oppressive patriarchy and inequality and all things bad. They never imagined they were betrayed by feminist teachers and politicians, intent on breaking up the family and abandoning us to State and corporate control. Source
Much has been written on the history of the development of fashion. There are many excellent studies on this web site, so we will not repeat them here. But the facts are that Satan has been successful in undermining the distinctive roles of men and women through the fashion industry.
When did women start wearing pants? As the proverbial question of who "wears the pants" in a relationship suggests, the history of women's pants says as much about the evolution of twentieth century gender roles as it does about the capricious swings of the fashion pendulum. Pants for women emerged from the burgeoning nineteenth century feminist movement, which demanded a change from Victorian dresses to a more practical costume that would permit women to engage in activities beyond those traditionally assigned to the female domestic sphere. Ironically, however, women's pants would achieve widespread social acceptance only when the fashion industry convinced women that pants were a necessary part of a well-dressed woman's wardrobe. Source
Satan's influence over the feminists empowered fashion to deteriorate rather quickly. Here a blogger writes about the feminist movement's influence on fashion:
How did the feminist movement affect the style of women's dress? Was the feminist movement responsible for the switch from women wearing dresses only, to women freely wearing pants? The answer is yes. In fact, today it is much more common for women to wear pants or shorts, than it is for them to wear dresses or skirts. How did the feminist movement accomplish this great shift in less than two hundred years?
The 1950s saw pants as acceptable clothing for women, and the 1960s brought unisex trends in attire. Today, pants have become so common that a long dress on a woman is becoming almost a rare sight. Tight, form-fitting jeans, with fly fronts like men's jeans, are especially fashionable. The hemlines of pants have risen higher and higher, until now shorts that cover only a very small portion of the upper thigh are acceptable wear. Source
Feminists have a very clear picture in their minds about the significance of women in pants. They know that it is not just a neutral fashion that developed. There is a specific purpose behind it.
“Wearing pants to work is a feminist act. Pressuring working women to wear skirts and dresses is a way to remind us we are different from men. It reminds everybody else too, because when women are wearing dresses and skirts it visually sets us apart from men far more dramatically than would be the case if women wore clothes that were similar or even identical to those worn by men." Source
“But pants-wearing has always been a feminist issue: At a time when studios were looking for skirt-wearing blonde bombshells, Kathereine Hepburn rocked trousers with flair. And against the backdrop of the "Women's Lib" movement of the 1970s, Virginia Slims marketed its cigarettes as for the pants-wearing women who had "come a long way." The point is this: We, as women, have the right to wear pants. Source
In the 70's, it was very popular at many Seventh-day Adventist boarding schools for boyfriends and girlfriends to wear identical men's clothing.
Let me ask you, Why was it so acceptable for girls to wear men's clothing, but not for guys to wear women's clothing?
100 years ago, if would have been just as horrifying for a girl to wear pants as it would be for a guy to wear a dress today.
“Trousers for women were considered "indecent" or "shocking" during the early 1900's and were considered men's attire.” Source
Do you see how Satan has moved pants on women from being “shocking” to becoming totally acceptable? Because “everybody's doing it” we assume it's “right.” Since when does society define God's standard of righteousness?
Most Seventh-day Adventists have little understanding of the mind set of homosexuals, which is as it should be. As Paul declared, And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them . For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. Ephesians 5:11, 12. God does not want us to pollute our minds in even thinking about such reprobate activities.
On the other hand, we cannot afford to ignore the hidden agenda that is unfolding before our eyes. It is closer to home than we realize. We cannot afford to be ignorant of the devil's devices. Here's the agenda:
"In order for there to be true gender equality, it is necessary to eliminate gender as the way in which people are grouped. Gender must be removed from legal documents, from language, and from the way in which children are indoctrinated into society. . . . It is important that this be stopped at the source. The movement must then make sure that gender is not used as a basis for any sort of discrimination at any point in the individual's life. . . . It is only through the elimination of the appearance of gender difference, which is created solely through a belief in gender difference, that gender discrimination can end." Source
So, how has the idea of "gender elimination" progressed this far in our society? It started with women wearing men's clothing, pants in particular. The first women who put on clothing resembling men's clothing were intentionally "cross-dressing."
Cross-dressing is the first step toward impersonation of the opposite gender. Since most women already wear pants, the term has come to focus on men. That is because society has become accustomed to the practice of women wearing men's clothing so that it is no longer “shocking.”
Cross dressing refers to the practice of dressing in clothing typically associated with the opposite gender -- generally men dressing in women's clothing, since in our culture women often dress in clothing practically indistinguishable from men's wear. Source
This cross-dressing is a form of rebellion against God's plan. The following statement is from a web site promoting homosexuality:
“Many lesbians also adopted the clothing of the opposite gender. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the adoption of male dress was a means for many women, including many lesbians, to protest the status of women and the roles assigned to women in patriarchal societies. Source
This disgusting subject is covered in a book entitled Cross Dressing, Sex, and Gender. The description of the book talks about how society doesn't determine your sex by your physical characteristics, but by the mental perception. In other words, if you feel like a man, you are truly a man, even if you were born female!
In any society, the perception of femininity and masculinity is not necessarily dependent on female or male genitalia.
Cross dressing, gender impersonation, and long-term masquerades of the opposite sex are commonplace throughout history. In contemporary American culture, the behavior occurs most often among male heterosexuals and homosexuals, sometimes for erotic pleasure, sometimes not. In the past, however, cross dressing was for the most part practiced more often by women than men. Source
It is an accepted fact that the women who first donned pants were cross-dressing in a deliberate gender impersonation. The many years that have passed since then cannot change that fact. Time cannot validate their rebellion. Are not women today who follow the example of these rebellious women in putting on pants also cross-dressing?
Here's a new twist of the cross-dressing aspect. The following excerpt is from a recent article written by the director of Traditional Values Coalition:
Will Cross-Dressing Activists Come To Your School? As our children have returned to public schools this fall, they face a new threat to their sense of morality and sexuality: Transgender activists are targeting children for seduction into gender confusion.
Not only will children be facing pro-homosexual recruitment efforts in their elementary, junior high and high schools, but now they are likely to face cross-dressers and transsexual propagandists who will teach them that “gender” is a myth and that they can seriously consider having “sex change” operations to correct nature's alleged mistake. Source
Gay activists are against home schooling because they want to exert their influence on the very young children. They have an aggressive program to do just that:
Homosexual activists have a vision for tomorrow, for an America in which their lifestyle is not simply tolerated but celebrated. And to achieve that vision activists have begun enlisting their footsoldiers for tomorrow's army: children.
The youngest Americans have been targeted for a change of heart. Where, then, can these activists obtain access to children in large numbers, away from the watchful eyes of their parents? The public school system has become the answer.
This use of the public school system as a propaganda tool for the homosexual movement is merely the fulfillment of a decades-old goal. Radical activists foresee a time when homosexuals literally rub elbows with children in an effort to alter their views.
Homosexuals are not fighting this “bloody war” in a haphazard manner. Instead, homosexual groups like the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), are organizing and developing a national strategy to get into public schools. Based in New York City, GLSEN has been enormously effective since it was formed in 1990. Some 7,500 GLSEN members now promote their agenda in more than 80 chapters throughout the U.S., and the number of Gay-Straight Alliances in public schools registered with GLSEN now stands at 400.
GLSEN activist and New York kindergarten teacher Jaki Williams said starting in kindergarten is a must, since children at that age are still developing their ideas about the world around them. Even at that age, she said, “the saturation process needs to begin.”
Williams, in fact, is a model teacher when it comes to this “saturation” process. She regularly initiates conversations with her children by reading to them such controversial books as Heather Has Two Mommies, Daddy's Roommate, and One Dad, Two Dads, Browns Dads, Blue Dads. She also hosts a viewing of the video Both of My Moms' Names Are Judy: Children of Lesbians and Gays Speak Out, produced by a San Francisco pro-homosexual advocacy group. Source
Is this not horrifying to you? Are we becoming numb to where society is heading? A deadly moral cancer is spreading at a phenomenal rate. This should give us great cause for concern for the future of our children, and for society at large. How would you like to have the following taught to your child?
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network is selling and distributing a curriculum guide titled Preventing Prejudice: Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Lesson Plan Guide for Elementary Schools. It includes a lesson, geared to children in kindergarten through third grade, using a children's book titled Jesse's Dream Skirt, by Bruce Mack. The story is about a young boy named Jesse who likes trying on his mother's dresses and dreams of a skirt “that whirled, twirled, flowed and glowed, and felt soft inside.”
Jesse's mom helps him make a skirt, and he wears it to day care, where his classmates make fun of him. The day care teacher, Bruce, gathers the children together and says, “Jesse loves his skirt. Why are some of you making fun of him?” A girl says, “Well, I wear pants. Why can't Jesse wear a skirt?”…At the end of the story, most of the children end up liking Jesse's skirt, and some start making dresses themselves. Source
This is how the homosexuals are trying to indoctrinate the next generation. Let me ask a serious question to the pants-wearing Seventh-day Adventist mother or grandmother. How could you, in good conscience, stand up against this agenda with strong conviction and determination? What will you say when your son or grandson asks why he can't wear a skirt? After all, if enough of them do it, for a long enough period of time, it would be accepted by society, would it not? Wouldn't it be OK then? This is the same reasoning that "allows" women to wear pants.
Where is our indignation? Are we becoming conditioned to these developments? How will you react when you see little boys twirling around town in skirts? Or men in skirts?
Most Americans would be outraged at how rapidly revolutionary ideas about gender are invading our classrooms. But discussions about cross-dressing, sex change surgery and even abolishing gender altogether are now part of the trendy "gay" agenda and as such are gaining widespread acceptance by teachers, the NEA, and school boards. Source
The ground work has already been laid. This cross-dressing agenda for both sexes will succeed if God does not directly intervene. Society is ripe for gender annihilation.
"Men's Paris Fashions Blur Gender Boundaries
By JOELLE DIDERICH, Associated Press Writer
PARIS - The French menswear collections ended on Sunday in a sea of sequins, silk and all things pink, challenging the adage that boys will be boys.
Fine fabrics like silk, gazar and crepe de Chine crept into the male wardrobe for spring-summer 2009 as Paris designers increasingly blurred gender boundaries.
“The most striking thing is the amount of crossover from women's collections that seems to be happening,” Michael Roberts, fashion director of Vanity Fair magazine, told The Associated Press." Source
Please note what country these fashions are originating from. France is the very country that represented Egypt and Sodom in fulfillment of prophecy.
This is atheism; and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God, and would manifest a like spirit of unbelief and defiance. The “great city” is also compared, “spiritually,” to Sodom. The corruption of Sodom in breaking the law of God was especially manifested in licentiousness. And this sin was also to be a pre-eminent characteristic of the nation that should fulfill the specifications of this scripture. {GC88 269.2}
The confusion and chaos will increase. Are we standing against this diabolic program, or are we assisting its progress?
How does fashion tie in to all of this? The homosexual influence in fashion must be reckoned with:
Few industries are seen as gayer than fashion. Stereotypes aside, the world of couture has indeed been molded by the vast numbers of gay men and lesbians working in the industry. Fred Goss in the 1997 issue (June 10, volume 735) of the Advocate Source
American designer Calvin Klein has created an extraordinarily successful fashion empire through the simple and elegant design of his clothes and through his skilful employment of provocative advertising campaigns that are saturated with homoeroticism [homosexual love and desire; same-sex erotic expression.] More than efficient, the advertising campaigns for Klein's products have made homoeroticism a staple of consumer culture in North America and Western Europe. Source
The gay community is proud of the way they have used fashion to promote their interests. When society at large accepts homoerotic, gay-influenced fashion, we also reap the consequences. We haven't seen the end of this yet.
Throughout the twentieth century there was an undeniable association between homosexuality and fashion. Even in the two centuries preceding the last one, an overt male interest in fashion had associations of effeminacy and, consequently, of sodomy.
The role of gay men in the fashion industry has also changed, from an unspoken assumption that gay men worked in fashion to an overt acknowledgement of the immense contribution they have made at all levels of the fashion industry.
Living in a society where the prevalent belief was that gay men were female souls trapped inside male bodies (and lesbians male souls trapped inside female bodies), some gay men made the obvious and daring choice of wearing items of dress designed for women.
Many lesbians also adopted the clothing of the opposite gender. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the adoption of male dress was a means for many women, including many lesbians, to protest the status of women and the roles assigned to women in patriarchal societies.
The rise of radical feminism entailed a rejection of fashion-forced femininity. A new stereotype was born--that of the dungaree wearing, crew-cut lesbian feminist.
Throughout the twentieth century many of the top couture (high-fashion clothing created by designers) fashion designers were gay, even though social pressure called for them to keep their sexuality quiet if not secret. Indeed, many of the greatest names in twentieth-century fashion were gay or bisexual, including such figures as Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Norman Hartnell, Halston, Rudi Gernreich (who was one of the founding members of the first American homophile organization, the Mattachine society), Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, and Gianni Versace.
The early 1990s saw the advent of "lesbian chic" in the fashion world. This manifested itself most visibly in a series of photographs in Vanity Fair in 1993, including a cover that featured lesbian singer k.d. lang cavorting with supermodel Cindy Crawford. Source
Androgynous (being neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine, as in dress, appearance, or behavior) fashions are becoming increasingly popular. This is the "hip" look for today's fashions.
An androgyne in terms of gender identity , is a person who does not fit cleanly into the typical masculine and feminine gender roles of their society. They may also use the term ambigender to describe themselves. Many androgynes identify as being mentally "between" woman and man, or as entirely genderless. They may class themselves as non-gendered , genderneutral , agendered , between genders, intergendered , bigendered ,"pangender' or genderfluid. Source
"Androgynous trends are at an all-time high." Source
"Androgynous women are becoming more prevalent in today's society and are often considered more fashionable than even the most feminine woman. Androgyny has two definitions; the first referring to physical attributes of those who are intersex- meaning they have both male and female genitalia. The second has a psychological connotation and is a combination of both masculine and feminine traits; a kind of unified gender that defies social roles and psychological attributes.
When referring to the term “androgynous” in mainstream society, it is the psychological definition that is most often being used, usually pertaining to a person's style or appearance. Being androgynous has taken on a much trendier meaning for women in the 21 st century. It has become hip for women to experiment with the androgynous look. It allows women to incorporate the best of both worlds: the comfort of men's clothing, along with the style of women's clothing. Androgynous fashion is everywhere these days, so it is important to have a clear understanding of this current trend." Source
In the following excerpt, notice what hinders androgyny--Christianity! And what revives androgyny? Rebellion against God's order, and belief in evolution!
"What do international celebrities, Michael Jackson, David Beckham, and Angelina Jolie have in common? Besides being superstars and multi-millionaires, they are the icons of androgyny in our modern culture. As borders blur, markets merge, and cultures blend, androgyny seems to have found its way to global mainstream. . . . It seems as lifestyles continue to change, society has accepted human sexual diversity as manifestations of humanity.
"In reality, human sexual diversity had long existed in world civilizations. In fact, bisexuality was institutionalized in ancient Greece and Rome where men practiced homosexuality in the form of pederasty (a man who has sexual relations, especially anal intercourse, with a boy) while maintained heterosexual relations with their wives for procreation. Historically, pederastic relationships were found in writings and arts not only in western cultures but also in non-western cultures as in China, Japan, South Pacific, and Middle East. Even world religions have embraced numerous deities and demi-deities with androgynous qualities, such as Hapi (Egyptian), Dionysos (Greek), Shiva ( Hindu), and Obatala (Voudoun religion in Africa, South America and the Caribbean).
"What caused the obsolescence of androgyny was the prominent rise of Christianity which buried the culture of androgyny and drove same-sex relationships underground. In the traditional biblical point of view, God created human beings in His own image. They are not accidental, but essential part in the grand scheme of things. Homosexuality defies the purpose of God in humanity as male and female, and therefore is a perversion against God and Creation.
"The argument for the revival of androgyny offers a contrary perspective in two-fold — human is by nature androgynous; and humanity is an accident of evolutionary process. First, androgyny in humanity is ‘natural' since all humans are born with both sex hormones. Furthermore, men and women have the same emotions but their gender behaviors are conditioned by social norms varying from culture to culture. By discarding the imposed restrictions and inhibitions, one would discover the ‘natural' androgynous self. Second, humanity is an accidental creation of Nature. Evolution underlies the ‘natural' process of change in which accidents are created without any divine intervention. Thus, humanity is one of the accidents created in the evolutionary process of Nature.
"Apparently, the increasing global attraction to androgyny indicates that the modern theory of evolution holds greater sway than the traditional doctrines of Christianity. Some may believe that androgyny is just a passing trend, and others may think that it's part of the evolution of humanity. Whichever it is, one thing seems inevitable — as the world becomes more integrated and complex, society will adapt pervading changes as social norms to move humanity forward in its social evolution." Source
One cross dresser, bemoaning the new trend for androgynous styles, made this revealing statement, "How am I supposed to challenge socially constructed gender norms and defy Deuteronomy 22:5 under these conditions?" Source In other words, if everyone's defying God, it's more difficult to enjoy the headiness of rebellion. Fashion has entered into blatant rebellion against God in androgynous styles.
CNN reports: "An all-male college in Atlanta, Georgia, has banned the wearing of women's clothes, makeup, high heels and purses as part of a new crackdown on what the institution calls inappropriate attire. No dress-wearing is part of a larger dress code launched this week that Morehouse College is calling its 'Appropriate Attire Policy.' " Source
Men wanting to wear dresses! We have yet to see how low the morals of society can fall. What's the latest in the entertainment industry? Women performers impersonating men, not just by wearing men's clothing, but with other disgusting features not fit to mention.
Drag kings—women whose performance art centers on the impersonation of men—are a relatively new phenomenon. True, women have been adopting male clothing styles for centuries; in fact, women have cross-dressed for so long that there is arguably no such thing as female-to-male cross-dressing any longer. But women impersonating men, in full costume, is, as a phenomenon at least, just a few years old, and subversive. When women "become" men, a whole power system is challenged (especially since many drag king performers are lesbians). Director John Waters, says that drag kings' subversiveness is part of their allure. Source
Dear Seventh-day Adventist sister, this is quite enough sewer surfing! The degradation of society is unthinkable. It should be quite clear to us now why Ellen G. White prophesied:
They will imitate the opposite sex, as nearly as possible. … Confusion will be the result. In this style of dress God's order has been reversed, and his special directions disregarded. Deuteronomy 22:5. "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." ….God's prohibitions are lightly regarded by all who would advocate the doing away of the distinction of dress between males and females….God designed there should be a plain distinction between male and female dress, and has considered the matter of sufficient importance to give explicit directions in regard to it; for the same dress worn by both sexes would cause confusion, and great increase of crime. 2 SM 477
The Spirit of Prophecy clearly makes an application of the Old Testament commandment in Deuteronomy 22:5 so there is no question that this verse applies to us today. Are we not seeing the fulfillment of the above prophecy?
Could it be that as Seventh-day Adventist women, we have inadvertently promoted this diabolic homosexual agenda that has helped to undermine God's ideal for our marriages and confused our children? Do our children and youth understand these issues? How can they possibly understand them when the vast majority of their mothers, female Sabbath School leaders, youth leader's wives and pastor's wives are wearing pants? Instead, we need to set a pure and uplifting example for our children by turning away from this practice.
Children should be kept free as possible from the demoralizing influences of the fashions of this age. {PH096 15.1}
The wearing of men's clothing by women has brought in a demoralizing influence upon the church. We are in need of returning to that purity that will lead us to shun the customs of the world. Jesus's dress was in marked contrast to the spiritual leaders of His time. Our dress should be in marked contrast to any demoralizing influence that fashion introduces.
Divine truth has never been in harmony with the traditions and customs of the world; it has never conformed to their opinions. Christ himself received not honor from men. He was meek and lowly of heart, and made himself of no reputation. His simple dress and unpretending manners were in so marked contrast to the pomposity, self-conceit, and vain display of the Pharisees, that they would not accept him. {RH, November 7, 1882 par. 10}
Just like in Christ's time, so today, the vast majority will not accept Christ. Instead, the world is following the rebel of God, the devil. And Satan has been intent on destroying God's plan for the human race, which is formed of two distinct sexes. Sodom's sins are becoming widespread.
We are living in a time when the world is represented as Noah's time, and as in the time of Sodom. {SpTB15 13.2}
We are living in an age of moral debasement; the world is as a second Sodom. {SpTB16 15.1}
Satan wants to erradicate God's plan. He wants to pull us all into Babylonian confusion. And, indeed, he has made the whole world like Sodom.
"Is there not enough transpiring about us to show us the dangers that beset our path? Everywhere are seen wrecks of humanity, broken-down family altars, broken-up families. There is a strange abandonment of principle, the standard of morality is lowered, and the earth is fast becoming a Sodom. The Sodomitish practices which brought the judgment of God upon the world, and caused it to be deluged with water, and which caused Sodom to be destroyed by fire, are fast increasing. We are nearing the end." {RH, November 10, 1885}
If we lived in Sodom of old, we would be so used to the evils of society, that they would cease to shock us. And that is exactly what is happening to society today. We are hardly shocked at all by these degenerate practices, because they're becoming increasingly common. We need to wake up and give the trumpet a certain sound.
The sins of Sodom are repeated in our day, and the earth is destroyed and corrupted under the inhabitants thereof; but the worst feature of the iniquity of this day is a form of godliness without the power thereof. Those who profess to have great light are found among the careless and indifferent, and the cause of Christ is wounded in the house of its professed friends. Let those who would be saved, arouse from their lethargy, and give the trumpet a certain sound; for the end of all things is at hand. {ST, October 16, 1893 par. 9}
Are we being vigilant in resisting this sodomite influence around us? Are we pleading with God to preserve our hearts from the evil desires so prevalent in our society?
Watchfulness and vigilance are needed now as never before in the history of the race. The eye must be turned off from beholding vanity. Lawlessness, the prevailing spirit of the age, must be met with a decided rebuke. Let none feel that they are in no danger. As long as Satan lives, his efforts will be constant and untiring to make the world as wicked as before the flood, and as licentious as were the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prayer may well be offered daily by those who have the fear of God before them, that he will preserve their hearts from evil desires, and strengthen their souls to resist temptation. {RH, October 11, 1881 par. 4}
Here's the bottom line. Satan's plan of undermining of the distinction between the sexes by wearing the “uniform of rebellion,” promotes sexual deviance and gender disorientation. God calls this an abomination.
There is an increasing tendency to have women in their dress and appearance as near like the other sex as possible, and to fashion their dress very much like that of men, but God pronounces it abomination. {1T 421.3}
If it is an abomination for women to dress in a similar manner to the opposite sex, we need to pay attention! Someone needs to “Cry aloud , spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1. We need to sigh and cry about all the abominations, including the abomination of women dressing in clothing that pertains to or resembles men's clothing.
When you have a sense of your accountability to God, you will feel your need of faithfulness in prayer, and faithfulness in watching against the temptations of Satan. You will, if you are indeed Christians, feel more like mourning over the moral darkness in the world than indulging in levity and pride of dress. You will be among those who are sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. {PH013 15.2}
Has Satan tricked us into accepting and participating in the impersonating of the opposite sex? Is he not conditioning us, by getting us to following fashion, to accept the immoral attitudes of society. As a result, we have become immersed in worldly Babylon confusion. "...Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4.
Now it is clear what Ellen White meant when she made those radical statements that “Satan invented the fashions…” 4T 629 In light of the evidence presented in this article, the wearing of pants by women is one fashion that can be clearly seen to have come straight from the devil's hand.
Most of us Seventh-day Adventist women have worn pants (without a dress or tunic covering them) at some point in our lives. We've wore them for many decades without a thought of wrongdoing. But what about now, as the real source of this practice has been revealed--what should be our response?
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” Acts 17:30
Considering all of the counsel that God has given on dress, the wearing of pants by women is the pivotal point. If we resist and ignore God's counsel on this matter, the chances are that we will be indifferent toward the rest of God's counsel on dress. We have thrown away the standard. We have lost our bearings. We will be likely to accept most any fashion that comes along. "The standard of morality and holiness is trailing in the dust. . . . "{HP 196.4}
But if we are willing to receive the eye salve of spiritual discernment, then the light from God's counsel will shine into our hearts, so that we become willing to follow Him in other areas He reveals to us.
To wrap this up, we return to the "crowning acts" of God and Satan, and see how the great controversy has been playing out. Satan has worked hard to take the "crowning act" of God's creation, male and female, and so confuse God's divine order that the lines of distinction are blurred. He has done this to prepare the world for his final "crowning act" of deception, which is the personation of Christ.
If, in defiance of God's clear counsel, we see nothing wrong with Satan's idea to do away with distinction between the sexes, we will also become fuzzy on the roles God designed for men and women, and the marital relationship. That leads us to become confused about our relationship with Jesus. That's Satan's ultimate goal. He uses love of the world, with its fashions and customs, to destroy our love for God. It's an automatic result.
Thus we have lost our spiritual discernment. We are blind and don't even know it. And then when the master deception comes along, we will fall for it all the way. It's been a gradual process, but we're all set up to be deceived.
These are solemn times. The fabric of society is falling apart. Moral decay abounds. How we need a solid foundation so that we may be able to withstand the final deception. Our prayer for each Seventh-day Adventist sister is that God will give you the grace to respond in obedience to His call on your heart. May you grow closer and closer to Jesus every day so that you are settled into the truth so that you cannot possibly be shaken.
There are lessons for the children of God to learn. They are required to come up to their high and holy position as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. They are of heavenly extraction, and they must reveal this in all their works. Have you the light of truth? Then impart the same in purity, in a peaceable disposition, in quietness and heavenly-mindedness. We plead with you to put on your beautiful garments, even the robe of Christ's righteousness, woven in the loom of heaven. Submit yourselves wholly to God. Then you will be vessels unto honor, whom he can use to his own name's glory. {RH, January 19, 1897 par. 13}
Now, please read "10 Reasons Why Satan Wants Women to Wear Pants."
Also, you will find many other articles on this subject at the above link.
Source: http://movingtowardmodesty.com/subpages/CrossDress.htm
(Addendum) Or try the main site: http://www.movingtowardmodesty.com/
.
.