Okay Curmudgeon this is old news what is the big deal? The big deal is that in Utah, and nationally where there is a conservative religious base we continue to ignore what science has provided in the form of evidence. Study after study has shown that there is a genetic component to homosexuality yet we keep hearing statements like 'I don't believe that.' Dammit! it is not like the mythological god you cling to..... there is evidence that shows there is a genetic component. 'Science changes it's mind all the time.' Yes it does and that is the beauty of science. When the facts and figures do not bear out science re-examines it positions and based upon the truth born out by the evidence the position may change. However religion is generally not guilty of the same introspection.
So as the result of religious dogma that has in most cases been disproved we make judgments regarding someones worth. This today is tantamount to throwing women into a lake to see if they float to determine if they are witches.
“The attractions don’t change,” said Lisa Diamond, a psychology professor and sexuality researcher at the University of Utah. “It is disheartening to me that there is such a discrepancy between what is not even an issue anymore in the scientific community and this obvious ambiguity in public opinion.”
Last year, the American Psychological Association passed a resolution warning mental health professionals not to tell clients they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments. No solid evidence exists that such efforts work, the APA said after an extensive research review. And some studies suggest a potential for harm, including depression and suicidal tendencies.Yet we continue to insist that through prayer, electroshock therapy, reparitive therapy, medication, and self deprivation that they can overcome same sex attraction. The reality is they cannot nor can they live a full and satisfying life. I thought this quote from the article was revealing:
But therapy can help people change their attitudes about their same-sex attractions or their behaviors, Diamond said.I also think the person who can benefit from a little therapy is the pious. It is not the GLBT person who really needs to change their attitudes it is the 61% of conservatives who believe it is a choice that need to get some treatment and 55% of self identified Mormons who are backward on this belief.
“When people don’t accept the science, then there’s a perpetuation of a mythology that is unfortunate because it leads to discriminatory personal attitudes and it leads to justification for social inequality,” said Bill Bradshaw, a molecular biologist and professor emeritus at Brigham Young University.
A vast number of scientific studies in biology, biochemistry and neuroscience, he said, indicate that sexual orientation is biologically “programmed” in human beings.
“I’m convinced by these data that homosexuality is inborn. It is innate,” said Bradshaw, a former LDS mission president and co-chairman of Family Fellowship, a support group for LDS parents of gay children. “It’s true that there are those who dispute that conclusion. I think it’s fair to say that, in the LDS community, the sentiment for a long time has been that gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender persons should make an effort to change.”The reason this is and continues to be an issue for me is because of attitudes that are exposed in the following YouTube video. While I generally agree with the way the poster exposes quotes from the LDS General Authorities I also feel that he was too abrasive at the end of the video and as a result may turn people off.
As long as we use a spiritual hammer and tell our children that they are immoral and better off dead the number of teen suicides in Utah will continue to be disproportionately high. The problem lies in the dogma of piety not the truth that same gender attraction is normal and no less beautiful than heterosexual attraction.
No comments:
Post a Comment