Jinn

I really do see the logic in the blog post. It's not illogical, it just isn't empathetic. True as he says, one can choose not to act on homosexual tendencies. They can choose not to have sex with men, give men blowjobs, or even hold hands with men. For these people, its a behavior in excess, just like alcoholism or addiction. To them, they believe these 'tendencies' can be (and should be) controlled in order to keep society from dissolving into a hedonistic mess. Just like we teach people to drink responsibly and counsel them away from alcoholism, it can be done with homosexuality.

There are plenty of alcoholics who have been counseled, received years of therapy, and yet still struggle with the urge to drink every single day. We say they're better off, avoiding that tendency that they have to do the "evil" things. Why can't we say this about homosexuality? Certainly it can be counseled away in the same way as any addiction.

Up to this point, I'm serious. I think it follows logically that ANY behavior, whether alcoholism or homosexuality, CAN be counseled away. Someone CAN learn to ignore their tendencies and their desires, can control themselves into being "normal" members of society.

But its at this point that I separate from their view; SHOULD we? There's a big difference between being able to and doing so. In cases of alcoholism and other addiction, we say YES, we should help these people because their addiction ultimately brings them suffering, and offers them only temporary glimpses of happiness. By counseling them from this bad behavior, they might be able to establish a mean level of happiness and go to enjoy the rest of their life.

But in the question of homosexuality, it is a much more ingrained behavior. It's sexuality, something that most people couldn't resist of the urge of, even with years and years of counseling. We should say "NO" with empathy, simply because training someone to struggle every day to go against who they feel they are or who they feel they love does NOT help them, and it doesn't help society. The benefits do not outweigh the costs, not by a long shot.

Many of the same people who believe we SHOULD counsel homosexuality way would live in absolute agony for the rest of their existence if someone told them they couldn't have sex with women, or that they should resist it with all their being. It brings very little positive result and a dramatic amount of negative result. It would result in a daily struggle which would ultimately cause more mental issues than it would stop.

I really don't see the logic in promoting mental illness in my fellow citizens, so I cannot follow the blog's argument all the way through. People already encounter a mind-numbing amount of mental stress without the pressure of pretending day in and day out to be something you aren't.

Ted Haggard is a perfect example; after being removed from his position at New Life Church for his admitted 'sins' of homosexuality with a male prostitute, he's emerged from therapy "as a complete heterosexual." I don't wish this sort of cognitive dissonance on anyone, and I'm convince that no matter what he says or expresses outwardly, I believe his entire inner being is wracked with the pain of a life-long delusion that he must once again maintain for the world.

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"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel