In Honor of LGBT Month - It's Only Natural
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The issuance of Barack Obama’s Presidential Proclamation declaring June to be the - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, 2013 - has caused quite a stir where I work. I suppose it should not surprise me all that much, since I work for the Department of Defense with a lot of retired military types. Their time in the Navy spanned the years that preceded the “don’t ask, don’t tell” era that has only recently been forced upon the military leadership. It also came as no surprise when all of my “Christian” co-workers got up in arms and were ranting and raving about “the special treatment and recognition that those fags are receiving!” “Why don’t we protest and make them proclaim a Heterosexual Pride Month!?” was heard rising from some cubicles. Many expressed their feelings of outrage and how America is going down a slippery slope that leads straight to Hell! The overriding sentiment came across loud and clear - our morality is being attacked and destroyed by those who insist on performing “UNNATURAL ACTS AGAINST GOD AND NATURE!”
Ignorance is Bliss
I found myself in a very strange position. I heard homophobic language and derisive remarks that echoed straight from my own holier-than-thou past. I had used the very same (and worse) kinds of digs and jabs; even outright judgmental proclamations which I vehemently extolled upon those who practiced such acts that the Bible declared to be, “abominable, lascivious, and UNNATURAL SINFUL BEHAVIOR before the Lord!” I had no lack of Biblical support for these feelings. The Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is pretty clear on the subject; The OT demands DEATH for the unfortunate same-sex couple found in the act of copulation, and the New Testament declares such actions to be “Unnatural” while agreeing that the OT punishments were more than justified. Whatever you may feel towards the Westboro Baptist Church leaders, you must agree with their sentiment, the God of the Bible does indeed HATE FAGS!
As many of you know, I am a former born again Christian of over 40 years. I spent many years in ministry, with my last 5 years as pastor of a moderately sized Charismatic (nice word for Pentecostal) church in Salem, Oregon. I was raised in strict Fundamentalism by a fanatical mother and an old-fashioned Scottish Pastor; both with a strong penchant for Legalism. Sex sins were looked upon as some of the worst and carried the strongest admonitions to “abstain from even the appearance of evil.” Homosexuality was not even spoken of while I was growing up. When my dad called one of my cousins “queer”, I thought he meant that Jay was weird. It was years later, after my cousin had died from AIDS that I finally put two and two together and understood the full meaning of the word GAY. I carried these bigoted notions around with me until well into my de-conversion which took approximately 17 years. In fact, it wasn’t until I began studying for my Science degree (Environmental Science) that things really began to change.
Education – My Salvation
I have a fairly high IQ and I am highly “schooled”. I have a BA in Music & Church Ministry, a Masters in Theology, and an MBA in Business Administration. Yet, it wasn’t until the last 3 years of intense science-based, deductive reasoning that I truly received an EDUCATION. While earning my Bachelor of Science Degree (the degree I am most proud of) I learned how to research, follow the scientific method, and think for myself. I learned how to analyze problems and come up with answers based upon factual data. This has been the greatest gift of my life. Even though I realize how much I don’t know, I feel such joy in the knowledge that now I have a method (the tools if you will) that I can use to unravel the confusing issues and to search for the “real & factual” answers to life’s perplexing questions!
Since I had applied this “search for real truth” to other long-held misconceptions that my Christianized brain had clung to, I decided to use my newfound reasoning and research skills to find out what was really going on with “the Gays”. Were their actions really unnatural? Is being Gay a condition that people are born with? Can a person “learn” how to be Gay? Does the Gay condition result from the environment you are raised in? Can an early childhood “Gay-Event” turn you Gay? Is being Gay another byproduct of being born into Sin? Is being Gay a Choice? Is being Gay part of mankind’s total depravity without God? What about Gays who chose to go to church and believe in God? What about Gays who claim to be Christians and want to (and do) go into ministry? Can Gays make good parents or will Gays be the end of the human race?
I guess it all came down to one basic question for me: ARE HUMANS BORN GAY OR IS BEING GAY A LEARNED EXPERIENCE? Of course I knew what I believed as a Christian, and I knew what my Christian co-workers believed – Humans are NOT born Gay. It is a learned behavior that comes about because of SIN! Clear and Simple, human beings are created in God’s image. They are NOT and CANNOT be born Gay! OK, I get it. It is very clear, that is the Biblical point of view.
But, since I had thrown out all the other bullshit that the Bible, Brother Mac and Seminary had taught me, I decided that maybe it was high time I found out the TRUTH about this Gay thing.
Being Gay – It’s only Natural
Let me just get my findings out there first thing – Gay people are BORN Gay. There it is, I’ve said it, and I have proof to back it up. People are born with real, testable, physical conditions that cause them to be “other than heterosexual.” As I was “naturally” born with blue eyes, blonde hair, my dad’s nose and my grandma’s poor eyesight, LGBT humans naturally are the way they are FROM BIRTH!
I started thinking about this a couple of years ago. The question that really got my attention was this, “What about Hermaphrodites?” If a human is born with both sets of genitalia (both male and female), where do they fit in? Since God doesn’t make mistakes (LOL!), is this the one case where it would not be considered SIN to be Bisexual? What if the parents guessed wrong in telling the doctors which way to go and which sex organs to remove and which ones to leave intact (this has actually happened numerous times and is well documented)? I have asked Christians this very question and have never received an intelligent answer. Most of the time they look at me like I have 3 heads, in total puzzlement, or they say something totally Christian-Stupid like, “Oh, that doesn’t really happen.” Or, “that only happens in foreign countries where people worship false gods!” or, “what’s a hermafro…whatever you said?” No shit! I have heard that kind of stupidity more than once.
So I researched it. Although full Hermaphroditism occurs only about once in every 20,000 births, when you start looking at the data that references any degree of Ambiguous Genitalia at birth, the numbers dramatically fall to an estimated 1 in 1,500 births. Some doctors put that number even lower at 1 in every 500 births. And these numbers reference only those conditions that are apparent at birth (either visually or through verification testing). Of course there are many conditions that are not readily apparent at birth. Certain genetic “abnormalities” don’t show up right away and many sex-identity issue hold off until puberty. One thing that is certain, there are lots and lots of humans born each day that don’t fit the typical, textbook (and dare I say, Biblical) definition of “NORMAL” when it comes to sexual identity.
I discovered that there are an incredible number of conditions that can cause sexual identity confusion. Here are just some of the more well-publicized and severe:
- Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome – is caused by genetic defects on the X chromosome. These defects make the body unable to respond to the hormones that produce a male appearance.
- Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia – is an inherited disorder of the adrenal gland causing a vast array of sexual ambiguity in both boys and girls.
- Genetic/Chromosomal Conditions – Klinefelter Syndrome, Turner Syndrome, 5-Alpha Reductase Deficiency, just to name a few of the better known ones.
My point here is this; there are numerous conditions that can cause Ambiguous Sexual Identity. They are real, they are physical, and they are plentiful. Do your own research and be ready to be amazed! Many of these conditions have been known about since the late 19th Century, yet it was as late as the 1960s that physicians were still under the misconception that sexual identity could be molded through counseling and application of hormonal therapy. See this link for the John/Joan story (appalling but true):
http://www.healthyplace.com/gender/inside-intersexuality/the-true-story-of-john-joan/story-about-intersexuality/
More recent statistics put the “at birth” numbers of humans born with some degree of physically caused Ambiguous Sexual Identity at 1 in every 100 live births around the world. If you add the number of self-aborted fetuses, still births, and infant deaths (due to the most severe forms of the conditions listed above) the number drops even lower.
Other studies done in the past decade have concentrated on brain differences between homosexual and heterosexual test subjects. The size of the hypothalamus is just one area that suggests congenital conditions with a link to sexual identity. Perhaps some of the Medical Doctors who frequent this site can enlighten us to a much greater degree than my limited research and space constraints in this post will allow. The bottom line is this, as I stated from the beginning, YOU ARE BORN WITH YOUR SEXUAL IDENTITY…PERIOD!
If it isn’t Natural, why do the Animals do it?
Over 1,500 different species engage in some sort of homosexual, bisexual or transgendered practices. Yes! Wow! I was shocked at that fact also. But, it is true. This is another fact that Christians will dispute and tell you that you are crazy. Christians love to tout that old chestnut, “It’s not NATURAL to engage in homosexual sex because it does not lead to procreation!” How many times have you heard that one? Homosexuals can’t be parents, therefore, to be homosexual is not natural; it goes against nature, or as one radio preacher put it (yeah, I still listen, from time to time, only for the comedic value), “You can’t put a square peg into a round hole (I don’t know about him, but mine isn’t square…but anyway), followed by “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” Yadda, yadda, yadda…sinners will burn in hell…yadda, yadda…
Of those 1,500 species who engage in some degree of non-heterosexual sex acts, the most prevalent “engagers” are the mammals. I find it very enlightening that mammals (other than humans) engage in homosexual and bisexual sex to almost identical percentages as their human counterparts. Most recent estimates put the number of humans identifying themselves as “other than purely heterosexual” at approximately 10% to 20% (in reality it may be quite a bit more, especially in America where we are not fully out of the closet yet). It is a well- documented fact that in domestic sheep populations, rams preferring strictly male on male sexual copulation occurs at the rate of 8% - 10%. Male Giraffes prefer homosexual copulation (much of the time all the way to climax and ejaculation) over 30% of the time. Amazon Dolphins get really kinky, engaging in group orgies that include every kind of coupling one could imagine, and even one that is not known of in any other living animal (including humans)…penis to blow- hole unions! That brings a whole new realism to the braggadocios exclamation, “I’m gonna fuck the snot out of you!” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)
Birds such as Ibises, Black swans, Mallard ducks, Penguins, Vultures and Pigeons practice varying degrees of homosexuality. Some will even rear young without the help of a female (take that you Gay Marriage bashers). The American Bison, Bottlenose dolphins, Elephants, Monkeys, Japanese macaques, Lions, Polecats, Sheep, Spotted Hyena and Dogs (yes, man’s best friend) are just a handful of the more recognizable animals who engage in these obviously “Natural” sexual acts.
Then there’s the Bonobo! Ahhh, the Bonobo, our closest relative in the great ape family. Bonobos are perhaps the only known species that is totally and completely Bisexual. They engage in male on male, female on female, male on female, and even female on male sex. They do it missionary style (the females prefer this position), doggie style (males preferring this one), standing up, setting down, and even upside down hanging from a tree branch. They have sex for FUN! They will greet each other with sexual gestures ranging from; a hand-job, to oral favors, to anal penetration, to vaginal penetration; scrotum to scrotum rubbing, penis rubbing, and what seems to be their most enjoyable sex act to participate in or watch from the sidelines – genital to genital (G to G) rubbing between two squealing females, locked in a front to front embrace, violently rubbing their clitorises until they reach a mutual, screaming orgasm! Did I say they are our closest genetic relatives on the evolutionary tree? Hmmmmm…..
What? Are they stupid? Don’t they realize that homosexual activity is unnatural and will not lead to pregnancy? No, of course they don’t! They are just doing what comes NATURALLY! Animals don’t understand that the act of sex causes reproduction to take place. They have no book of rules telling them that certain acts are off limits.
If God indeed created all living things and said of this creation, “it is good” and…
If God creates every living human and puts a soul into him/her at the time of conception, and…
If God doesn’t make mistakes…well………
- WHY ARE THERE HERMAPHRODITES?
- WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BORN EACH YEAR WITH AMBIGUOUS GENITALIA?
- WHY ARE SO MANY HUMANS HOMOSEXUAL AND/OR BISEXUAL?
- WHY ARE SO MANY ANIMALS HOMOSEXUAL AND/ OR BISEXUAL?
- WHY DOES GOD CREATE SOMETHING AND THEN DECLARE IT SINFUL?
Of course these are rhetorical questions. As most of us realize, God does not exist, except in the minds of way too many human beings; human beings who wrote down nonsense and called it God’s word. God’s words placed into a book that declares almost all things “natural” to be sinful. In fact, Christianity calls our “naturalness” sinful and declares that it has been that way since the day we were born. Christianity uses phrases like “Carnal Nature” and “Sinful Nature” and “Born into Sin” to connote a state of being that is Bad and in need of change…else we cannot commune with God.
What complete and total bullshit! Does anyone else see how totally batshit crazy this kind of thinking is? But, it continues up till the present day. It continues in mainstream America. It continues and flourishes in mainline Christian denominations. God Hates Fags! Amen, Hallelujah, the Lesbos are ruining our country! All of these derogatory and hateful slurs flying from the mouths of good-ol-boy (and gal), over-weight, loud mouthed bigots as they point to their red-letter edition of the Schofield Study Bible perched conspicuously in the middle of their desk! It really pisses me off, but I understand why they are the way they are. I too was the same way for most of my life. The only answer to this stupidity is knowledge; knowledge of the TRUTH. Of course Christians think that they have the truth, but as we all know, most Christians are ill equipped to handle the truth. They prefer to stick their figures into their ears and chant, “it’s not natural, it’s not natural.”
I beg to differ. It is in fact – ONLY NATURAL!
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