“The original question was:
You seem to take a very strong position against homosexuality being something we are born with – have you got any evidence that this is not so?
Answer by John Mackay
This is a very controversial issue. Let’s start by considering what can we learn about this subject from observing how human inheritance works.
Human Genetics
All humans born from the beginning to now have had a female mother and male father. No-one has been born from a homosexual union, therefore no-one inherited homosexuality from their mother and father. Anyone who chooses to be homosexual, will not have children by homosexual means. Therefore their homosexuality is not passed on by sexual means. Furthermore, any mutated genes that are claimed to result in homosexuality will be removed by natural selection when a homosexual dies, since natural selection on humans is dominated by the results of heterosexual unions. In other words, if you believe in evolution then you must believe evolution eliminates homosexuality” During my three years of genetics at University of Queensland I checked out many weird sexual defects which are genetic, but there was no genetic evidence anyone is born homosexual, and that is still the case today 2011.
A Counsellor’s Observations
John Bean, a professional Counsellor, shares the following observation on the issue of sexual lifestyle and choice.
“A common attitude amongst many professionals in the social sciences is: ‘choice about everything else but not in this!’ In Australia, Homosexuality was once defined as a mental health problem under the DSM (the diagnostic manual used by Australian psychiatrists, doctors, and mental health workers.). However this entry has been removed several editions ago. Homosexuality is no longer seen as a mental health problem. Now many doctors and health services staff, in public health, view homosexuality as simply another form of sexual preference, something which some individuals are born with and don’t have a choice over. They therefore hold the firm position that homosexual individuals should not be prejudiced against because it is simply a natural tendency, not unlike some individuals being right handed and others being left handed. And like the latter, government policy is that such individuals should not be discriminated against. Staff can be charged if they are found to be discriminating against homosexuals – and such staff would be labelled ‘homophobic’. “
“Interestingly, psychology promotes social learning theory and behavioural theory, both of which emphasis the capacity of individuals to re-invent themselves, or with the help of an expert. A recent TV documentary (now on DVD) The Brain Which Changes Itself, takes this even further and emphasises the capacity of the individual to retrain the mind. Even those who agree we can become whoever we want, through retraining and reconditioning, tend to exempt sexual orientation with a dismissive; ‘but why should they want to change?’ An interesting question to ask mental health workers is: where do you draw the line on sexual preference? Should the taking of Child Brides be defined as paedophilia, or will we one day be obliged to accept it as another variation of sexual orientation especially if this emerged as a subculture in our society as multiculturalism increases?”
Is there a Biblical Answer? T
he Biblical position on homosexuality has long been known and is easy to understand. It currently considered by the gay lobby as totally anathema, and the grounds for a lawsuit if it is quoted, as applicable in today’s cultural climate. We quote below from the New King James as its careful and explicit wording makes the Biblical position even more obvious.
In Leviticus 20:13 Moses recorded Gods instruction that “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”
No hint of ‘excuse me, God, it’s not my fault. I was born this way!’ In The New Testament the apostle Paul writes to the converted Greeks, where homosexuality had been an accepted way of life. Paul is very upfront to the Corinthians, telling them that homosexuals and lesbians have no place in Kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 reads: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
Such teaching is a myth buster to the liberal claim that only the God of the Old Testament is harsh and unforgiving while the New Testament God is one of compassionate love. If you ask which penalty is more serious? – Old Testament execution with time to repent, or New Testament eternal condemnation in the fires of Hell, it should be obvious.
Note also, in case you are feeling discriminated against: God’s New Testament penalty for Homosexuals is exactly the same as his penalty for the greedy, for thieves and extortioners, etc. Furthermore, Paul reminds them that some of them had turned away from the sins in his list when they became Christians. This means that just as someone, in the power of Christ, can turn away from being a drunkard or a thief, so they can be empowered to turn away from being homosexual.
Jesus Christ in his teaching on marriage and divorce (Matthew 19:3-7) gave as his basis for lifetime marriage between one man and one woman, the fact of God’s original creation of one male and one female, by quoting and merging two verses from Genesis 1: 27 and Genesis 2:24. This leaves no room for any other form of marriage, and any Christian church that wants to accept homosexual unions and call them “gay marriages” is defying Christ.
Now ask one last question to make three crucial points: Was Adam a Homosexual? If he was, we wouldn’t be here to have this conversation! So it is obvious no one inherited any homosexual gene from the first created man, who was made in the image of the Creator God – the Creator God who pronounces homosexual/lesbian behaviour wrong and worthy of judgement, with the proviso that any who have sinned in the sight of a holy God can desire to repent and the creator God will forgive and rebuild their lives to once again to be remade in the Image of Christ the Creator. This issue is one you can only resolve by returning to mankind’s maker, the Creator God, who alone has the right to tell us what is right and wrong.
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