In a debate on Jewish Atheist's blog i has mentioned a paper i had written on for one of my classes. This is the outline to that paper.
What is Homosexuality?
• Not an issue of black and white. There are many shades of grey.
• When is someone considered homosexual?
– Any homosexual experience or interest at all
– Many to a majority of relationships are homosexual in nature
– Almost all or all relationships are homosexual
• Homosexuality vs. Homosexual Experiences
“Just because someone has a homosexual experience does not mean that they are homosexual.”
How Many People are Homosexual?
• Many different studies have shown different statistics
• NHSLS (National Health and Social Life Survey)
• These stats are adjusted to allow for concealment by some respondents
• 92% Men 95% Women – Exclusively heterosexual
• 7-8% Men 4-5% Women – Have had at least one homosexual experience
• 2% Men 1% Women – Exclusively homosexual
Views of Homosexuality
• Sin
– This is a lifestyle choice that a person makes. They are this way because they choose to be this way.
• Mental Illness or Defect
– Homosexuals are this way because there is something wrong with them and they need to be fixed. They have had bad experiences or they are sick.
• Nature
– These people are born this way. It is in their nature, and as such they should be accepted as they are without judgment or condemnation.
What is the Source of Homosexuality?
• Genetic Factors
– Prenatal Factors – Hormonal problems during development
– Differences in Brain Structure - one study showed this, but the study had a number of different flaws
– Endocrine Imbalance – Testosterone treatment not shown to be effective (horny not hetero). Other hormones being studied, but still inconclusive.
• Environmental Factors
– Homoseductive mother
– Learning theory
– Others
– In reality no one can tell you how to make your child homosexual
• A Combination of Both
Can Sexual Orientation be Changed?
• APA View
• “That conclusion (that homosexuality can not be changed) found support in the APA’s December, 1998 criticism of efforts to change sexual orientation. Its president, Rodrigo Munoz, summed up the association’s position: ‘There is no scientific evidence that reparative or conversion therapy is effective in changing a person’s sexual orientation. There is however evidence that this type of therapy can be destructive’” (Myers, 1999)
• Conversion Therapy – Limited success
– Exodus International
Common Problems
• Self-esteem and acceptance
• Relationship problems
– Family and friends
– Community
• STD’s & AIDS
• Career Problems
– Difficulty at jobs due to bias
Biblical Perspective
• The homosexual act is a sin
• Sin separates man from God
• We are to show Christ’s love to the sinner
• We are to help the sinner
• It is the job of the Holy Spirit to change the sinner
• I Corinthians 5:1-8
Counselors Perspective
• What do you do when a homosexual individual comes to you seeking help for personal problems? Why/Why not?
• What do you do when a homosexual couple comes to you seeking help in their gay or lesbian relationship? Why/Why not?
• What are the consequences of your decision?
Posts
12 comments:
Common Problems
• Self-esteem and acceptance
• Relationship problems
– Family and friends
– Community
• STD’s & AIDS
• Career Problems
– Difficulty at jobs due to bias
Maybe it's just because this is an outline, but you make it sound like these are common problems caused by homosexuality itself, rather than problems caused by society's reaction to homosexuals. (STDs and AIDS are not directly caused by society, of course, although homosexuals may be more likely to engage in risky behavior due to the other problems mentioned.)
My biggest question, then, is this: would you agree that the only reasonable objections to homosexuality or homosexual behavior for a society to hold are from the Bible? In other words, if you were an atheist like me, and didn't believe in the Bible as the word of God, would you support gay marriage?
I'd be interested in reading your paper. I don't want to make a comment on your views until I've actually read them. I can't really discern (beyond what you've said in other posts) anything from the outline.
Actually, these are common problems that people who are homosexual tend to have, thus some of the things that may be a focus of treatment for therapists when working with a homosexual client.
I would have to make some changes to the paper before i could give anyone a text of the paper.
And what about my question for you, JC? I'm really curious.
Sorry, JA, somehow i missed that.
Ulitmately all reasearch / theories into homosexuality and the results from them show that homosexuality is in essence a corruption of the natural.
Depression and a feeling that it is not appropriate / natural is a common problem for almost all homosexuals at numerous points in their lives. It has been said that this is due to society's lack of acceptance of them and not the act or lifestyle itself, but it has also been shown that even in countries that have accepted homosexuality for decades there is still a major problem of depression in the homosexual population. Thus the depression is much more likely to be internal than external.
In looking at the list of common problems almost every one of them, while they most definitely have some external aspects affecting them, are problems coming from the lifestyle itself. Even in looking at the issue of career problems. You would think that it is an issue of how others see them and the bias of others in the workforce. However, studies show that as a whole, homosexual men put in less effort and do less work in their jobs than heterosexual men. They tend to make less in part because of external bias, but even more so due to a lack of work ethics. Obviously this is a generalization and not every homosexual man puts in less effort.
There are so many problems arising from homosexuality and in so many ways it shows itself to be unhealthy and unnatural that i would say that it is reasonable to state that outside of religious texts there is reasonable objections to this.
However, something to keep in mind is that while we are talking about issues here, this is not a topic just about issues. It is a topic about people. Thus so much must be adjusted when working with a person rather than with an issue.
As for gay marriage, seperating that from the religious issue is impossible. Marriage is a concept of a covenant between two people before God. If the Bible and other religious texts did not exist, neither would marriage have.
We're just going to have to disagree, JC.
Wow. So, according to you:
- people married in civil weddings aren't actually married
- gay men are lazy and depressed
You are fond of citing research and studies and then taking their results as gospel. You do this without actually showing any of these sources. You make broad generalizations based on these studies. For someone who hates science, you seem to enjoy using it to bolster your bias.
I'd love to read any of your sources.
Actually, civil marriage is a modern alternative to a Christian/religious act. If the Bible and other religious texts did not exist, as JA put forth, than it would not have existed as well.
Depression is such a common issue in looking at homosexualtiy and my paper goes into this so i will not do that here.
Also, the article that stated that homosexual men tend to put in fewer hours and less effort into their work also showed that lesbian women tend to work harder and put in more of an effort than heterosexual women. Thus they tend to succeed more and have higher paying jobs than their heterosexual counterparts.
True, i am very critical of "research" and "statistics" and the many major flaws in it. However when i was in school i was required to use them to do research and write my research papers. It especially amuses me when a "researcher"/"statistcian" writes a paper showing an obvious bias and it becomes very evident that the stats show the opposite of what they claim they do. This is something that was evident in a number of the research papers i looked at for this paper.
How do you want a copy of this paper dback. I have finished pulling out the identifying data so it can be sent. However it is 23 pages long, so it won't exactly fit on a post.
If you have it in PDF format, that would be great. But I'll be able to read it in just about any format.
Thanks
Kim posted
I would also like to read your paper JC. It is an issue that I come face to face with alot. If you can email it, you can send it to
*******@****.***
Thanks
I deleted/edited it for her security.
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