Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: JMS111@psuvm.psu.edu (Jenni Sheehey) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Homosexuality Message-ID: Date: 8 Jul 90 04:23:16 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Penn State University Lines: 58 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , hagerp@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Paul Hager) says: > >Given that there is growing evidence that homosexuality >has a biological basis similar to imprinting, isn't all There is indeed *growing* evidence that a *tendency* toward attraction for people of the same sex might have a *partially* biological basis. There is still very little evidence either way, as far as I can tell. It is a very difficult subject to study, as research on animals is difficult (there really are very few instances of homosexuality in the non-human part of the animal kingdom - if you define homosexuality as a lack of desire for heterosexual relations which is accompanied by a desire for homosexual relations). Research on humans is also difficult, as it is very difficult to separate the effects of biology and environment. The only really feasible way it to study this is to use twins - and that's not particularly easy or accurate, either. Even if there is a biological basis for the *attraction* to members of the same sex, we still control our own *actions*. I don't believe that it is written anywhere in the Bible that the attraction to members of the same sex is a sin. It does, however, state (at least in the versions that I've read) that acting on that attraction *is* a sin. On a similar note, however, it seems that the biblical prohibition against homosexuality is not the sole cause for the sometimes fanatical reaction that some Christians have toward homosexuals. I think that this is partially due to the possibility that we tend to see homosexuals as "homosexuals" rather than "people with homosexual tendencies". We all have weaknesses toward certain types of sins, and it seems to me that this is not particulary different from weeknesses toward sinful heterosexual relations (adultery is a good example). I have never really heard someone say "Remarriage! Ugh! How *unnatural*!" although *that* is prohibited by Jesus himself... "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." (Mk. 10:11-12) This difference in treatment could be the result of the fact that it's easier to dislike someone if you refer to them as a member of a group that you do not belong to (anybody remember the nasty connotations that "divorcee" used to have? I don't, (I'm only 21) but my mother, whose mother *was* divorced, remembers this well). It could also be the result of the fact that for most of us, no matter how difficult it is to imagine committing adultery, it is even *more* difficult to imagine being a "practicing" homosexual. It is a sin that we know we are safe from, so we can feel safe in condemning people who commit it. Perhaps it's the "I commit that sin, so it's not *really* sinful" mentality. I guess the point that I'm trying to make is: homosexuality is a sin, but so is persecuting homosexuals. Perhaps the people who are so *violently* against homosexuality need to be ministered to as much as the homosexuals do? --Jenni -----------------------***************************************************** JMS111@PSUVM - Bitnet ** The fool takes no delight in understanding, but * JMS111@PSUVM.psu.edu - Internet *** rather in displaying what he thinks. * These opinions are not the property or ********************** Prov. 18:2 * responsibility of Penn State or the Center for Academic Computing *********