Dr. John Edell, in an article entitled “Homosexuality: A Conversion Experience?” makes the following statement:

 “The American Psychiatric Association board voted unanimously to reject therapy aimed at converting gays to heterosexuals, saying it can cause anxiety depression and self-destructive behavior, according to a report published today by the Associated Press. “All the evidence would indicate that this is the way people are born. We treat disease, not the way people are,” said Dr. con Nada Stotland, head of the association’s committee on public affairs, according to AP.”^[1]

 Edell goes on to say that he feels not all gays are born gay, 50% of sexuality is genetic and the other 50% is a combination of complex factors.

 Maybe Edell takes a step in the right direction, relating to “complex factors”. Maybe he is choosing to sit on the fence for other reasons. However, the facts are clear: there is no proof whatsoever that homosexuality is genetic!

1.       A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

 The Bible is clearly opposed to homosexuality:

 1.1   The first reference to homosexual behavior is in Genesis 19. In this passage Lot, who resides in Sodom, entertains two angels. Some of the men of the town are struck with blindness by the angels as they attempt to break down Lot’s door in order to “know them (the angels) carnally.”^[2]

 1.2   The Law given to God’s through Moses has several references to homosexuality:

 1.2.1     Leviticus 18:22 says that it is an abomination for a man to “lie with a male as with a woman”.

 1.2.2     Leviticus 20:13 takes the thought one step further saying that the people guilty of the offence shall be put to death.

 1.3   The New Testament is in unity with the Old. Paul is in harmony with Moses as he boldly proclaims, in his epistle to the Romans, that women having sex with women “is against nature”. His words to describe men having sex with men include shameful, burning with lust. He adds that they receive the penalty of their error.^[3]

 1.4   Paul gives more insight in 1 Corinthians 6:9 when he, like Moses describes the judgement for homosexuality: “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, . . .”.

 1.5   Paul’s last word on the subject is in his letter to Timothy, a young pastor whom Paul was mentoring. His description of sodomy in this passage is that it is “contrary to sound doctrine”.

 Having taken note of the above, if homosexuality was genetic, why would God say that there was a penalty. And a severe one at that, as the homosexual was put to death in the Old Testament and in the New, even though he escapes death will not inherit the kingdom of God.

If God makes people gay and then sends them to hell for this lifestyle, then He is a cruel and unjust God. However, the Bible clearly indicates the contrary. He is described as just, holy, fair, righteous.

In fact, the Bible clearly says that man has a free choice: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;”.[4] God gives man the option to exercise his will, to choose sin and reap its consequences or holiness and reap its rewards. Homosexuality is equated to other sins where man has a choice (fornication, adultery etc.) and also where there are similar consequences.

2.     A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE

 2.1       Dr Jean Hamer’s Chromosome Research

 Research published in a 1993 Science article suggested that male homosexuality might be linked to a set of five DNA sequences located on the Xq28 region of the X chromosome, which is passed down by mothers to their offspring. The study found that gay brothers tended to share these Xq28 sequences, suggesting a genetic origin for homosexuality passed through the female line.

Investigators led by Dr. George Rice of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada contradicted the above research. They examined the incidence of shared Xq28 genes in a group of 52 gay brothers drawn from 48 families. They reported (April 22, 1999) finding “no excess sharing for any of the four markers tested” above which would normally be expected of any two brothers, regardless of sexual orientation.

 According to Doctors for life^[5] there are certain weaknesses in the research of Dr Jean Hamer, mentioned above:

1.  Hamer did not double check the same genetic markers in the non-homosexual brothers of his subjects.
2. Similar gene markings for manic depression have been dismissed in the past after failed attempts to replicate findings.
3. The 40 pairs of brothers tested by Hamer were volunteers  - how representative was this of the general population?
4. A correlation for the specific genetic markers does not imply that a gene or genes caused the brothers’ homosexuality. (The results could be pointing to another trait shared by these subjects and which is disproportionately common in gays).
5. Examination of the marker data for each pair indicates that there is some uncertainty in even the 33 concordant pairs.
6. Specifically, computation of the statistical probability of the result depended on the assumption that the mother was heterozygous for these markers. Because the mother’s X-chromosomes were not examined in 22 of the 33 concordant pairs, it is not known whether her sons (the homosexual brother pairs) had to receive identical markers (i.e. because she was homozygous) or not. Clearly it means much less to say that a homosexual pair is genetically concordant if in fact all male children in that family would be genetically identical for such markers regardless of orientation. In each of the eleven cases where the mother’s X-chromosome was mapped, the mother was indeed homozygous at 1, 2, or 3 of the key markers.

 2.2       Marc Breedlove’s “Finger length” Research

 One of the basic premises for a survey is that the sample group is truly representative of the population. If this is not the case, any predetermined results can be “proved” by selectively choosing a group. This seems to be the case with a study conducted at the University of California at Berkeley where researchers led by psychologist Marc Breedlove, came to a rather interesting conclusion.

 “The researchers at the University of California at Berkeley built their study on an already known quirk of human anatomy: Men tend to have shorter index fingers than ring fingers. In women, these two fingers tend to be about the same length.

 “Scientists believe that men’s higher levels of androgens - the male sex hormones such as testosterone that are found in both sexes - produce this and many other sex differences.

 “In the study published Thursday in the journal Nature, the Berkeley researchers interviewed 720 adults at three festivals in San Francisco, asked them their sexual orientation and measured their fingers.

 “The fingers of lesbians were closer to the typical male configuration – with the shorter index finger - than the fingers of other women. The finding points to higher levels of male sex hormones in early life for lesbians, the researchers said.

 “The researchers also found indirect evidence of a similar trait in gay men.”^[6]

 What seems to be lacking in the above research (which is similar to that of Drs. Dennis McFadden and Edward Pasanen of the department of psychology and the Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin, who link “click-evoked otoacoustic emissions” which are stronger in women, to sexual orientation[7]) is the following:

·         Certain people definitely have opposite sex tendencies. This does not mean that they are homosexual.

 ·         Athletic ability, natural muscular physique, or even a desire to work on a car or enjoy ball sports, as some would believe, even though these traits are definitely genetic does not determine being a heterosexual male. A male who arranges flowers is just as heterosexually male as one who drives trucks.

 However what society has done is paint stereotypes of males and females through the media. This has made many believe that they are not truly male and therefore must be homosexual resulting in a choice to this sexual orientation.

 3.       A HEALTH PERSPECTIVE

 3.1        The following table shows average ages of men both homosexual and heterosexual at death:

 The above research was from 6 714 obituaries in 16 US homosexual journals over the past 12 years compared to a large sample of obituaries from regular newspapers.[8]

 In the above research, if AIDS was the cause of death the average age at death was 39.

 3.2               Doctors for Life quote the following relating to STD’s based on a survey of 4 340 adults:

 ·         Homosexuals were about twice as apt to report having an STD.  And over twice as apt to have had at least 2 STD’s.

·         Homosexuals were about 5 times more apt to have tried to deliberately infect another with an STD.

·         Homosexuals were about 4 times more likely to report having been raped.

Is the reason for the above given in Paul’s comment on homosexuality in Romans when he says that it “is against nature”?

 3.3               The October 1999 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry reports that homosexual and bisexuals are at greater risk of suicidal ideation and overall mental health problems than their heterosexual partners[9]. Dr. Ming T. Tsuang, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, examined 103 middle-aged male-male twin pairs enrolled in the Vietnam Era Twin Registry in Hines, Illinois. In each of the cases one twin reported having had male sex partners, while the other did not. Tsaung came to the following conclusion:

 ·         The twin with the homosexual relationships was 4.4 times more likely to have wanted to die at some time in his life.

·         He was also more likely to have fantasised about suicide – 4.1 times.

·         There was also a 6.5 times more likelihood of attempting suicide.

 These statistics seem to contradict the view of the American Psychiatric Association (quoted earlier) in their unanimous decision to reject therapy aimed at “converting gays to heterosexuals”. The question we need to ask is whether or not gays are fulfilled in their lifestyles or is the guilt attached to it the cause of the tendency towards suicide?

 But is there guilt attached to homosexuality? From a Biblical stand, there would be. The reason is as follows: sin produces guilt, which in turn disturbs the equilibrium of man’s soul. We know that there are two kinds of guilt, neurotic guilt (or false guilt caused by a “wrong conditioning of the mind”) and true guilt where a person genuinely does something that he is not meant to do.

 Maybe the denial of sin attached to homosexuality has caused psychologists to try and deal with true guilt as if it were neurotic guilt?

4.     CONCLUSION

1.  Homosexuality is not a normal, healthy variant of human sexuality.
2. There is no proof that homosexuality is genetically inherited.
3. There is a tendency for people to be stereotyped according to pictures painted by the media. This leads people to make a choice to become homosexual.
4. A homosexual lifestyle is not a healthy one, with homosexuals dying at an earlier age as well as having a greater potential for sickness.
5. The Bible clearly shows that is choice as the penalties involved are likened to those of other areas of sin which is man’s choice.
6. Since homosexuality leads to a reduced life span as well as few children, no known genetic mechanism could propagate it. It therefore must be learned.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Jack Rozell Agape and Human Relations ICI University Press, Irving Texas
2. Dean Sherman Logical Loving Limits YWAM
3. Fingers of gays, lesbians said to reveal one cause of homosexuality. March 29, 2000 HealthCentral.com
4. Doctors for Life Special Report: Is Homosexuality Genetic?
5. Dr. Dean Edell - Homosexuality: A Conversion Experience? December 14,1998 HealthCentral.com
6. Inner Ear Link to Sexual Orientation March 02 1998 HealthCentral.com
7. Homosexuals, bisexuals at risk of suicidal behavior October 18, 1999 Central.com

References

^[1]Dr. Dean Edell - Homosexuality: A Conversion Experience? December 14,1998 HealthCentral.com

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