Is gender identity (if we use this term at all) a matter of biology that is already fixed in the person by birth or is it a matter of decision or choice that can be affected by environment, upbringing, or individual decision? Lady Gaga says she was made that way and this point of view has challenged the assumptions of many who would suggest that the myriad of identities could be assigned a hierarchy or value (good or not good). Born must mean God had something to do with it, right? I am not one who believes that this has much impact upon whether GLBTQ is morally the equivalent of the male/female marriage. But. But there are those whose whole perspective changes if they believe GLBTQ folk are born that way. So when a study challenges the idea that GLBTQ folks are born that way, it does affect how many judge the moral value assigned to these relationships.
Some prominent scholars at Johns Hopkins University released a new in depth study that argues that there is not sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that lesbian, gay, or transgender people are born with this sexual orientation or gender identity.
Lawrence Mayer, a co-author of the report, told The Christian Post, "There are probably some people that identify as heterosexual that then later on identified as homosexual, so it goes both ways. The importance there is the fluidity and flexibility that these things change in time." In other words, it is a disposition that is affected by external factors and individual choice and not simply the natural and inborn desire or identity that cannot be influenced or changed. This has profound significance for both those who believe that natural is normal and for those who believe that desire cannot be changed.
Of course, the authors of this study are taking a position of grave risk to their credibility and stature in the academic community -- a community which is decidedly not neutral or easily influenced by fact in this subject. Yet it is a sign of hope that we can and ought to reconsider what has become, in short time, an incontrovertible yet unsubstantiated fact for many. For too long Christians who do not accept GLBTQ behavior as normal or moral have been accused of not being open to reality. Now we might see whether the other side is open to a dose of reality.
Over 50 years ago, I lived in a NY neighborhood in which a family down the street had two sons, both twins. They looked so alike that most people could not tell the difference. When the boys were about 10 years old, differences in behavior became evident. One of the twins was normal, played sports, behaved as most boys. The other twin spoke in a feminine manner, actually wore an apron inside the home while helping his mother with housecleaning, and appeared to identify with the mother more than with his father. As a teenager, I could not understand how any male could act that way. I still do not. As a Christian, I believe homosexuality is primarily either a choice or a compulsion, not genetic or even environmental. It may qualify as a psychological disorder in many respects as well. In either case, it is still sin, and immoral, and we cannot deny what the Bible says about it. It could be also identified as a besetting sin as those psychologically recidivists who seem to have uncontrollable compulsions to shoplift or steal. I think only God knows the answer. We cannot excuse sexual sin, and we can never affirm or celebrate it because of political correctness or social acceptance in some quarters, but we must still hold to what God says about it. It is still sin and it is still wrong.
ReplyDeleteHomosexuals are morally depraved. The goal of homosexual activists is to destroy Christian sexual morality:
ReplyDeleteThe danger of the “gayrights”movement is not in the details of any political agenda item, but in the fact that the underlying goal of the movement is the elimination of the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic as the guiding moral principle of Western culture. Unrepentant “gays” stand condemned before the Biblical standard for human sexuality --life-long monogamous heterosexual marriage--and must therefore destroy this standard if they are to achieve the “acceptance” (and power) they so desperately crave.
We do have one modern culture that was ruled by homosexuals: Nazi Germany. Scott Lively, excerpts large portions of Samuel Igra's now lost book "Germany's National Vice " in The Poisoned Stream:
http://www.defendthefamily.com/pfrc/
The thesis is that the Nazi party was comprised chiefly of homosexuals. There is strong evidence that Ernst Roehm, Hermann Goering, Hess, Julius Streicher, Baldur von Schirach and many others were homosexuals. Hitler, commenting on the public outrage at the sodomite activities of the Sturmabteilung (SA) leadership, had this to say: "[sic] that homosexuals, who have the complete disregard for conventional morality, are the most effective soldies to brutally crush the opposition to the [nazi] party".
Another observer commented that "...amongst the Nazi leadership, only 1 man out of 10 had a normal sexual desire.."
I have news, Adolf Hitler did not support himself by painting penny post cards. He was a male prostitute. Durring WW II, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) prepared a psychological profile of the fuhrer:
"[t]he belief that Hitler is homosexual has probably developed (a) from the fact that he does show so many feminine characteristics, and (b) from the fact that there were so many homosexuals in the Party during the early days and many continue to occupy important positions. It is probably true that Hitler calls Foerster 'Bubi', which is a common nickname employed by homosexuals in addressing their partners."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mind_of_Adolf_Hitler
Also see "The Hidden Hitler" by Lothar Machtan