Posted on 03/11/2015 8:23:51 AM PDT by Kaslin
Last week, Dr. Ben Carson stepped onto a political mine -- really, jumped onto it with both feet -- when he answered a question from CNN's Chris Cuomo about the nature of homosexuality. "You think being gay is a choice?" Cuomo asked Carson, after Carson rightly stated that being black and being gay are two very different phenomena. "Absolutely," replied Carson. He then went on to explain, "A lot of people who go into prison straight go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay."
Carson's unstated line of reasoning is perfectly logical. When Cuomo asked Carson whether he thinks "being gay is a choice," Carson interpreted that question to mean: "Is homosexual behavior a choice." To that, the answer is obviously yes, since all non-reflexive behavior is essentially a choice. Cuomo, however, took his question to mean: "Is homosexual inclination a choice." To that, the answer is obviously no -- it is either a byproduct of biology or environment. Feelings, in other words, are not choices; it is possible that some feelings can be shaped by behavior, but as a general rule, feelings are not chosen. Behaviors, however, are chosen. Thus, being black -- a non-behavioral characteristic -- is not like being gay or being straight, in the sense that one cannot choose not to be black, while one chooses one's own sexual behavior.
The divide between Carson's understanding of "being gay" and Cuomo's understanding of the same term demonstrates the rhetorical slight-of-hand that has marked the gay rights movement. By conflating behavior with feeling, and calling it all "orientation," homosexual advocates have conflated biology with choice, and called it all biology.
And even they know that such conflation is a lie.
Take, for example, supposed gay spokesperson Dan Savage. He understands that homosexual behavior is a choice. He compared being gay to being religious: "Faith -- religious belief -- is not an immutable characteristic." He also compared being gay to "military service and marital status." This is logically correct. But Savage refused to acknowledge the implications of this line of thought, because doing so would force him to recognize that society often discriminates between those behaviors it finds productive and those it finds unproductive in terms of the law (military service, for example, is a protected class because we all benefit from the military service of others; being a member of Code Pink is not protected, because we do not all benefit from someone's membership in Code Pink). Instead, Savage fell back on his trademark vulgarity, telling Dr. Carson to "suck my d---." "If being gay is a choice, prove it," wrote Savage. "Choose it. Choose to be gay yourself."
That is an insipid argument; were the shoe on the other foot, Savage would have to demonstrate that being gay is involuntary by engaging in sexual behavior with every male he meets. Given his prior solicitation of Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, and Herman Cain, that may well be his desire, but it's a rotten argument overall.
But arguments no longer matter. Logic no longer matters. Feelings matter. We intuitively understand that behavior defines us rather than feeling; no one would label a vegetarian a person who deplores meat-eating but chows down on steak every night. But when it comes to sexual behavior, we look to get ourselves off the hook: All sexual behavior is involuntary, so how can we be expected to make decisions about it? Hence the left's absurd lie during the Clinton era that everyone lies about sex; hence the asinine notion that chastity until marriage is an impossibility; hence the morally blind belief that societal pressure for sexual morality is discriminatory in the same sense that racism is discriminatory.
The result: No honest discussion can be had about the extent of human choice, the limits of human choice, and our own preferences among the choices human beings make. We are mere animals, forced by our firing neurons to act on each and every impulse. We have no choice. And those who say we do ought to perform oral sex on us.
I agree. Seems almost obvious to me that some are born with very strong tendencies to same-sex attraction and others develop them over time. For some it’s a choice and others an obsession.
While we can control, to some extent, our actions, we cannot consciously control our obsessions.
two words...Anne Heche
If all our predisposition were not only legalized but celebrated we’d have bank robbers pride parades, liars pride parades, rapists pride parades, slackers pride parades... we wouldn’t have enough days in the calendar to accommodate them all.
Floor = Flood.
You remember the Floor of Noah, don’t you?
Acting out on the impulse is definitely a choice.
“While we can control, to some extent, our actions, we cannot consciously control our obsessions.”
The pedophile’s excuse, too.
Thass a BIG floor!
Redheads are abnormal.
I noticed this attraction to females at an early age before I even learned about the facts of life. Why would I then choose a male?
I've heard some men say for the right amount of money they'd do it. But these same men admitted without the monetary inducement (or threat of violence), they wouldn't do it. For obvious reasons...they were not sexually attracted to other males. Homosexuality is not chosen...it's from birth.
Not an excuse, a fact. Obsessions, by definition, are not controllable by choice.
If you can decide to think about something else at will, it’s just not an obsession.
Now most people can control whether they choose to act on an obsession or not.
But they can be very, very strong. It’s generally conceded that child molesters have a recidivism rate of over 90%.
Some states and countries allow for surgical or chemical castration, usually voluntary. Studies I’ve seen for participants have recidivism under 10%, mostly.
Over 90% to under 10%. Admittedly these were volunteers and therefore didn’t want the obsessions. But I think it shows how powerful sexual obsession driven by hormones can be. Take away the hormonal component and the recidivism rate drops like a rock.
Pedophilia refers to the desire, not the action. Not all pedophiles are evil people, notably those who choose to castrate themselves rather than harm more children.
From reading articles on the matter, I think it’s a hormonal thing at birth. Which would explain why so many female homosexuals are aggressive and into sports and so many male homos are effeminate and into decorating and fashion.
If a married man gets caught having multiple affairs and says to his wife, “Honey, I was born that way. That’s just the way I am wired,” does the wife say he cannot help it?
When straight men marry, they’re still ATTRACTED to other women. It’s just that they don’t act upon it if they use good judgment and have morals. They have to say no to their ATTRACTIONS.
I believe much of homosexuality is related to ATTRACTION (perverted). We all have to at times overcome attraction.
A Christian is born again of the spirit. And the spirit needs to rule over the flesh. Christians need to try to overcome their desires of the flesh (including inappropriate attractions).
Because they have not read their bible? Only those that have accepted the word of God understand the "moral implications of sexuality?"
Has the gay gene been found yet?
behavior is always a choice
Has the gay gene been found yet?
No. They’ll sometimes try to blur this question with ambiguity but it has never been found.
Special
Mental illness
I like your thinking - my first reaction was that abortion is still murder and is evil, no matter what. But then I got thinking about it a bit more.
Let’s assume that being gay is not a choice - that it is a genetic condition (not saying this is true, but just assuming that it is). I think everyone would agree that sexual reproduction is a feature of all human beings. However, there are a tiny percentage where differences in genetics makes the offspring gay, and therefore not a creature that practices sexual reproduction. So that would mean that this mutant was not really a proper human being, right? So if being gay is a genetic mutation, doesn’t that mean that gays are not really humans - at least in the same sense as normal humans? So I am not sure if I feel that the abortion of a gay mutant is really murder or not.
Just food for thought.
Is Murdering people a choice?
Is Stealing from people a choice?
Is raping women and children a choice?
or are all these “behaviors” genetic??
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