The mention of the term homosexuality raises the hairs on some people’s backs. The attraction between two people of the same sex is against the law of nature. How does that happen? Where is the attraction in the first place, they argue. The religious and conservative folks think the idea itself is sinful let alone the act. According to them it is depraved. Referencing from the book of truth, the bible, Paul warns the Christians to not be deceived, neither the adulterers, homosexuals, prostitutes, idolatrous shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (Corinthians 6:9) The bible also cautions against such evils in other sections, say Leviticus 18:22, 20:13 among other books. In Romans the bible says;
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for 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 toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (Romans 1:26) The conservatives strongly condemn this lifestyle and will hear none of it. Nonetheless, this issue is as real as rising of the sun, evidently also in the church.
The Anglican Church named a gay Bishop (John Robinson) to lead the church. Surely this appointment did not suddenly appear from nowhere, it took time before coming out of the closet. Most people do not understand where the bone of contention arises. This is because every person has a right to do with their bodies whatever they please, as long as it is voluntary. But according to religion, our bodies are not ours. A greater divine power dictates how people should live, what is acceptable and what is not among the abominations committed by man is homosexuality.
(Religious tolerance. org) Perhaps their argument is founded, perhaps not. Nonetheless, many people hold that homosexuality should not be a moral issue rather should be a social issue. This is because if issues of attraction were all to be gauged according to moral standards, then all relationships regarding older men and younger women or vice versa should be immoral. Other displays of affection between heterosexuals should also be regarded immoral and highly condemned. Yet, society tolerates some acts and frowns upon others as offensive and improper.
Conservative believes that homosexuality is an acquired habit/ chosen lifestyle that is neither inborn nor natural. They also hold that homosexuality is indeed changeable. On the other hand, the liberals prefer in the same way as sickle cell anemia it is inborn and nothing can be done about it. The Catholic Church as well as most churches’ stance is firm on the issue on homosexuality. It is an abominable act and just as drunkards are not born as such, so are the homosexuals. (Russ & Russell, 2001). The liberals think that the conservatives become hostile to homosexuals merely because they are afraid.
They term them as homophobic. The question that begs is why the conservatives will not let the homosexuals be, after all is it not written in the same bible that the youths should enjoy their lives while they are still young and that everyone should carry their own cross? (Ecclesiastes 11:9) Thus, why do they meddle in other peoples’ affairs rather than minding their own? Researchers believe that some people are born homosexual and no matter how hard they try to have a “normal” relationship, they fail, because the characteristics is ingrained in their genetic make-up.
Thus, it becomes unfair for conservatives to expect a person who is genetically predisposed to homosexuality to suddenly change to a heterosexual. This evolution is tantamount to expecting a mentally retarded child with Down syndrome to suddenly be part of a genius class just because the child passed through school or a sickle cell patient to live a life like any other. It is impossible. In the same way, placing heterosexual demands on homosexuals is equally unfair. Whatever happened to ideals of letting people be and embracing diversity in whichever form it presents itself.
It is time that the homosexual community got their freedom of expression. If indeed democracy still prevails in American Society. In states like San Francisco, homosexuals have been liberated from sigma and hostility that was directed to gays and lesbians. As a matter of fact, acceptance of homosexuality has been linked to reduction in hate crimes. This is because acceptance means that everyone has to tolerate others even when their actions do not tally with one’s beliefs.
When this aspect of acceptance and mutual respect for each others boundaries is reinforced, then there is no reason to fight each other or fuel hate crimes. In line with that, homosexuality also is present in animal kingdom. Did you know that animals too have homosexual tendencies, for instance primates like the marques are bisexual and homosexual species. In the United States, politics and day to day events are marred with incidents of protest from lobby groups chanting slogans of popular protests.
Nowadays, the gay and lesbian community has come out strongly to fight against marginalization and subjection to discrimination in areas of work, church, social gatherings and even the law. Notably the law fails to recognize homosexual marriages and prefers to term them as partnership or union, while that of heterosexual relationship is given prominence. These homosexual couples are not allowed to adopt children. This depicts the naturalness of homosexuality and human beings should not feel guilty about it.
Other animals like the spotted hyenas, giraffes, elephants, lions American Bison among others also show homosexual behaviour. The lions are known to pair and interact homosexually, caress and groom each other intimately before ultimately mounting and thrusting fiercely. Arguments have been raised that homosexuality occurs due to psychological disorder or identity crisis. However researchers are quick to dispel this claims justifying the fact that other human beings regardless of sexual orientation also experience psychological disorder, turmoil and do not end up homosexual.
On a different note, homosexuals are perfectly aware of their identity as gender identity if formed at the early age of 2-3 years ( Yule 2000) Homosexuality is thus not an immoral act or deviation against nature as most people are quick to write it off as, but it is merely an orientation, preference, an identity it is not a problem or confusion and neither is it a disorder nor evil. In the united states, the society prefers to pin a person’s status in society on an individual’s orientation and background whether it is in the school, social places, work place or otherwise.
Questions asked always revolve around one’s religion, gender, background, marital status, nationality, sexual orientation, wealth. It seems that this system is just another way of promoting discrimination and homosexuals score high points for all the wrong reasons. Most times they get sidelined in job opportunities, adoption and leadership among other opportunities in life just because of their sexual preference. (Owen, 2004) On the other hand, homosexual tend to be generally unhappy people. They are more vulnerable to depression, distress, anxiety, suicidal tendency and anger control problems.
It seems that going against nature causes these problems and unhappiness. Apparently the force of law of nature makes them bow down to pressure and soon, alcoholism or psychiatric disorder set in. (Corvino, 2002) More of that homosexuality causes wastage of body organs. The law natural selection dictates that males are created for the females’ pleasure and the opposite is true. What then happens to the homosexuals who fiercely fight to rewrite their own rules against the intended purpose well, they get erased out of the race by the natural law selection.
Homosexuals are compared to a person who wears his teeth around the neck instead of using them to chew. (http://www. avert. org/hsexu3. htm) Conclusion. The debate about homosexuals is one that interests curious minds into researching about. Other indulges into the practice of same sex unions purely as an experiment. Since homosexual practices remain closeted by a large part of its population, it may not be possible to give a clear account on to the extent of its negative or positive impacts.
However, one thing that particularly stands out is that it is against nature, whether one chooses to look at it from a moral, social, religious or spiritual perspective. Nonetheless, the prevalence of homosexuality is high and it is needless to burry ones head in the sand on the issue of homosexuality. The trend will continue in the comings years as people become more liberal and as more homosexuals come out of their cocoons to declare their stance on the whole issue. As it stands, homosexuals’ movements are reaching to recruit more people to this lifestyle.
The GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight education Network) is one organization that is especially targeted on recruiting new homosexuals into their movements in schools. These movements need to be stopped as they pollute children’s minds by feeding them with lies.
REFERENCES
Corvino, J. (2002) Homosexuality and Morality, Part 1: The Essential Question. Viewed at http://www. indegayforum. org/news/show/26719. html . Accessed on October 4, 2007 Holy Bible. New King James Version. (1982). Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville Owen, J.(2004) Homosexual Activity among Animals Stirs Debate National Geographic News http://news. nationalgeographic. com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal. html accessed on October 5, 2007 Religious tolerance. org. Beliefs about homosexuality. Available at http://www. religioustolerance. org/homosexu. htm accessed on October 4, 2007 Russ, K & Russell, K. (2001). You Are Being Lied to: The Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion historical whitewashes and cultural myths. The Disinformation Company http://www. avert. org/hsexu3. htm accessed on October 4, 2007