Desecrating Body and Soul

Whenever I read about the mutilation of the human body by transgenders, or the contempt for the integrity of the body by others, as @Rodin described in his latest post, I agonize over the disrespect we are witnessing for the sacredness of the human body. People think that they own their bodies, and like the remodel of a home, can change it in any way they wish. This perception completely contradicts my understanding of the human body, of my own body. As I said in my comment on rodin’s post, the kinds of destruction that people are committing to their own bodies can only be called a desecration: defilement and sacrilege against the body.

As people pursue these alterations, they must have no concept of the nature and qualities of the human body. But one Jewish writer explained:

A classic rabbinic explanation: Your property belongs to you, so you’re free to do with it as you please. If you want to give your money by admitting to your litigant in court, go right ahead.

But your body doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to G‑d. It’s not your property to do with as you please. It is a treasured loan that G-d gives you for however long you’re on this earth. It’s absolutely not yours to do with as you please, and so a persons’ own admission in court will be rejected if the outcome is death.

Which leads us to a fascinating conclusion: According to Jewish tradition, you own your property more than your very body!

Further explanation can be found here:

But Judaism looks at your body in a completely different way. As the Torah tells us in the very beginning of the Creation story, the human body was fashioned in the ‘image of G‑d,’ and it is really only given to you on loan.

Just as you wouldn’t borrow your neighbor’s car and ram it into a tree, you ought not to harm, mutilate, or otherwise disrespect your body.

I believe that Christians share a similar belief. We are given our bodies with the understanding that we will tend to them, manage them, nurture them and respect them. When people make the choice to remove their breasts or amputate perfectly health legs, it is an offense to God.

It is a desecration.

Not only is amputation a desecration of the body, it is an insult to the soul. Most people, even some who are not religious, believe we are ensouled beings. Every religion has a different definition of the soul, when it enters the body and when it is active in our lives. Some people believe the soul enters upon conception, while others believe that the soul enters the fetus within 90 days. The key point is that the soul is divine and is present long before the baby is born, and we are called to honor its presence.

But what about the increasing number of people who think that their bodies are aberrations or need to be medically altered? We are doing them no favors by obliging their mental disturbance. These types of surgeries damage the body that was given to us. It assumes that we know better than G-d how many arms, legs or breasts we should have, or if we should have any at all. This narcissism that elevates our role in the world can only be self-destructive. It denies our relationship and obligation to G-d to treasure these bodies and souls that we have been blessed with. It assumes that we know better than G-d what is good for us, and what is right. Watching the arrogance that arises with the demands for deforming the body is a human tragedy.

So what is to be done?

Strangely enough, we need to be supportive of these people, but not in the way they might expect. We need to tell them that there are able, caring people who can help them work through these perceptions of their bodies, and bring their hearts and minds into alignment so that they can be their best selves. We can reassure them that the solution to the “problem” they experience is not pain, suffering, and destruction, but a healthy self-acceptance of who they are. We want them to know that they are already whole and complete, but they’ve been propagandized into believing that they are not. We need to remind them that they were created in the image of G-d, which is perfect and holy.

The self-perceptions that they have developed are like a disease, that starts out as a desire to be a better, total person, unique in their qualities, but like cancer, becomes unhealthy and diseased.

* * * *

One of the tenets I learned from Buddhism, which I found very helpful, is that we are all whole and complete, just as we are. That does not mean that there is not room for growth and improvement (and that could mean a lot of change for some of us!), that we don’t have to improve our relationships with others. In my understanding of this tenet, I believe that I have everything I need to be my best self: mentally, physically and spiritually. Some people think they can improve themselves, and in one sense they can: we can always get stronger, more fit, more educated, more compassionate. The key to success, though, is to ask ourselves about our motivation.

Are we changing to impress others, massage our own egos, or banish a debilitating anxiety; or are we making those changes to better serve others, and if we are believers, to serve G-d?