Doesn't really matter if it is a choice or not... Bottom line would be if a person has the Constitutional right to act on that choice. If there was no innate Constitutional right to act on that choice with another consenting adult, and also to be married, there would never have been any talk of a Constitutional amendment to prevent the choice of gays to marry... We had a Constitutional amendment at one time that prevented buying or selling, and transport of booze. Certainly drinking booze or sticking a needle in one's arm to get high is a choice. However, if these actions don't harm anyone but the person drinking or doing drugs, should the government prohibit people from these choices? Apparently not, as they discovered the revenue stream available both above board and in the black market. There isn't any money to be made from gay marriage, so what incentive is there to allow the same essential freedom that is granted to straights as gays? I've said this before, and it bears repeating. The only reasonable thing to do is to approach this scientifically, not religiously. Allow gay marriage. Then track the results of gay marriage on the participants and the family members (including children adopted or born of surrogates) and see if there is a genuine danger to America as a result of gay marriage. We let consenting adults smoke themselves to death, and let adults eat and drink themselves to death, but people want to prohibit gays from the joys and sorrow of marriage? We want to keep other Americans from life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? It really makes no sense, which is why we see the nonsensical opposition from the religious kooks who care more about what other people do in their lives than they do about practicing their own religion of perfecting themselves in their own lives...
If we have agreed that it is not a choice (I believe it is not) then who are we to tell them how reach sexual happiness? I have seen homosexuals in the most rigid and homophobe societies. If they resisted any attempt to force conformity on them in these countries, including sever prosecution such as the execution of two homosexuals in Iran, how in gods name can we say, while keeping a straight face, that it is their choice?
I'm not so sure about that. If a dog starts humping your leg, do you really have to <i>choose</i> not to hump it back? I think it's more like an instictive complete lack of desire for sexual activity with anyone or anything that isn't an attractive female human.
Good point. May I refer to this comment of yours in other exchanges that may arise? Evolution, perhaps?
You're into the scientific method, RM. In fact, it supports many of the positions you've taken, many of which I absolutely agree with, and that some claim are 'radical.' One example of this is the ability to treat depression far more effectively with opiates, opiate derived meds, or synthetic opiates (or the like), than with the incredibly ineffective SSRIs and other 'miracle meds' that have been pushed so stunningly successfully by Big Pharma (despite clear evidence they wreak havoc on many of the body's systems and are no more effective than placebo meds). Well, that same scientific method, whenever it's been rigorously applied, has indicated that there is little if any doubt that there is a strong genetic predisposition to homosexuality. Whether additional factors, whether biological or societal (nature versus nurture), play a role in 'pushing' people towards homosexuality, exist - well, that's worthy of further research. It's well known that a much larger % of gay females have higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of estrogen than the female population as a whole.
Yes, I think that sums it up. Anyone who has to consciously choose is probably resisting an opposing urge.
I don't know why not. Evolution has nothing to do with the possibility of, likelihood of, or actual existence of God... You atheists really need to let go of your own western Judeo-Christian foundation and perspective of your atheism. It really is quite primitive...
Resisting and controlling urges and basic instinctual behavior based on choices that are more "enlightened" is what civilization is all about... Whether the urge is to have sex with the opposite sex, or same sex, it is still an urge. The urge by the homophobes to hate gays and deny them Constitutional rights for the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness needs to be resisted as well as any other primitive urge...