In 1991 there was much excitement over the possibility that homosexuality was an inborn and unchangeable trait. That year Salk Institute researcher Dr. Simon Le Vay, himself a homosexual, published a study in the journal Science showing slight brain structure differences in a small sample of brains from gay and straight men.
Dr. Le Vay cautioned however, "It's important to stress what I didn't find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn't show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain . . . Since I looked at adult brains, we don't know if the differences were there at birth or if they appeared later." (Sex and the Brain Discover, Vol. 5, No. 3 (3/94):64-71)
Robert Knight, director of the Washington DC based Culture and Family Institute wrote an article titled Born or Bred? Science Does Not Support the Claim That Homosexuality Is Genetic. In it he states: "Beginning in the early 1990s, activists began arguing that scientific research has proven that homosexuality has a genetic or hormonal cause. A handful of studies, none of them replicated and all exposed as methodologically unsound or misrepresented, have linked sexual orientation to everything from differences in portions of the brain, to genes, finger length, inner ear differences, eye blinking, and neuro-hormonal differentiation."
The article goes on to discuss the work of Columbia professors of psychiatry Drs. William Byne and Bruce Parsons. These researchers pointed out the methodological flaws in all of the most prominent gay gene studies on brain structure and identical twins.
The Knight article goes on to say "In May 2000, the American Psychiatric Association issued a Fact Sheet, Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues, which includes this statement: 'Currently there is renewed interest in searching for biological etiologies [causes] for homosexuality. However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality.'"
It is clear that the basic scientific research, even research done by homosexual researchers, does not prove the existence of a gay gene or any other inborn physical cause of gayness. In spite of this, activists persist in making claims that there is a biological cause of gayness. There are strong reasons to believe that activists promote 'gay gene' theory in order to depict homosexuals as being born gay and unable to change. On this basis they seek special class status and special legal protection for homosexuals.
At best the gay gene studies show genetic correlation but not genetic causality. To illustrate consider that genes for tallness correlate with basketball playing. Tallness doesn't cause basketball playing but just influences that choice. Many tall men don't play basketball. Many short men do choose to play basketball and some do it well.
What emerges from the studies is really just more confirmation that homosexuality is a chosen behavior. A child neglected by the same sex parent can eroticize the desire for same sex affection. The fact that fathers abandon (or neglect) their families more than do mothers accounts for the fact that gay men outnumber gay women by about two to one.
Homosexual behavior is dangerous behavior. Those who practice it are a danger to themselves and others. The homosexual lifestyle can be called a deathstyle because of the much shorter lifespans of gay people. There are physical consequences including diseases such as AIDS that disproportionately affect homosexuals.
Homosexual behavior is changeable behavior. People can repent of it and be forgiven by God and restored to sexual health. The Bible, in order to protect us, explicitly condemns homosexual behavior. "Their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire towards one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error" (Romans 1:26-27 NAS).
The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
- Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
- Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
- Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
- Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
- Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."
If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!
Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA
(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given
Read Bill Nugent's award winning Christian book, Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws. For more information and to order click here.
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DEFENDING THE FAITH
APOLOGETIC ARTICLES
Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world.
The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel.
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