Nihilism is winning in the West. That so many report belief in this or that is irrelevant if they don't act accordingly.
When someone avoids doing a negatif act because of his religious beliefs, that is an "invisible" act of prayer and not Nihilism. So do not measure with rituals. I conjoncture that the decrease in belief in the west is a prime cause for the rise of homosexuality, as there is no resistance force to cancel lust thoughts.
Yes, you conjoncture. You do that well. Logical educated thinking? Not so much. Seeing as how homosexuality is largely determined by physiology, not environment, rates of homosexuality have always been approximately the same throughout history. The difference now is that ignorance is finally giving way to knowledge, compassion and acceptance, so gays are coming out.
My wife is the oldest of 5 sisters. Her youngest sister is a lesbian. She did not choose to be a lesbian any more than she chose to have blue eyes or be left-handed. That's her DNA. As a little girl she wanted to be like all the other girls -- grow up, meet Mr. Right, get married, have children, etc... Just one problem. She's not sexually attracted to men. She's attracted to women. Nothing she can do about that. The first discussion I had with her about homosexuality she said to me: "Why would I chose to be a lesbian? It makes my life more difficult. If I was straight my life would be so much easier." Throughout high-school and college she dated men hoping to find a man she would be attracted to... but she was only attracted to women. It's in her DNA... just like having blue eyes or being left-handed. In addition to being a lesbian, she's a great person, an outstanding aunt to my two daughters and an always-welcome member of our family.
A person addicted to cigarettes can make similar argument, which may imply it is not biological, because we know that cigarette addiction is not biological.
well. if they keep it to themselves people can believe what they want to. if one is your doctor just hope they paid attention in biology class. when they come into the public arena, like on this board, and start saying that what they believe is fact and they want our government to start teaching what they believe in school, its a whole different ball game. in the public arena you have to present evidence for what you believe or you will be challenged. lets take collins. he may be good at what he does for a living but at presenting evidence for a god he fails. here is what he calls evidence: "I struggled with that for many months, really resisting this decision, going forward, going backward. Finally, after about a year, I was on a trip to the northwest, and on a beautiful afternoon hiking in the Cascade Mountains, where the remarkable beauty of the creation around me was so overwhelming, I felt, "I cannot resist this another moment. This is something I have really longed for all my life without realizing it, and now I've got the chance to say yes." So I said yes. I was 27. I've never turned back. That was the most significant moment in my life. " when a scientist turns to superstition as his basis for evidence he deserves riddicule. Richard Dawkins: Religious faith not only lacks evidence, its independence from evidence is its pride and joy, shouted from the rooftops.
Here ya go... Biological differences in gay men and lesbians Physiological Some studies have found correlations between physiology of people and their sexuality. These studies provide evidence which they claim suggests that: Gay men report, on an average, slightly longer and thicker penises than non-gay men.[50] Gay men and straight women have, on average, equally proportioned brain hemispheres. Lesbian women and straight men have, on average, slightly larger right brain hemispheres.[51] The VIP SCN nucleus of the hypothalamus is larger in men than in women, and larger in gay men than in heterosexual men.[52] The average size of the INAH-3 in the brains of gay men is approximately the same size as INAH 3 in women, which is significantly smaller, and the cells more densely packed, than in heterosexual men's brains.[31] The anterior commissure is larger in women than men and was reported to be larger in gay men than in non-gay men,[30] but a subsequent study found no such difference.[53] Gay men's brains respond differently to fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.[54] The functioning of the inner ear and the central auditory system in lesbians and bisexual women are more like the functional properties found in men than in non-gay women (the researchers argued this finding was consistent with the prenatal hormonal theory of sexual orientation).[55] The suprachiasmatic nucleus was found by Swaab and Hopffman to be larger in gay men than in non-gay men,[56] the suprachiasmatic nucleus is also known to be larger in men than in women.[57] The startle response (eyeblink following a loud sound) is similarly masculinized in lesbians and bisexual women.[58] Gay and non-gay people's brains respond differently to two putative sex pheromones (AND, found in male armpit secretions, and EST, found in female urine).[27][59][60] The amygdala, a region of the brain, is more active in gay men than non-gay men when exposed to sexually arousing material.[61] Finger length ratios between the index and ring fingers may be different between non-gay and lesbian women.[55][62][63][64][65][66] Gay men and lesbians are significantly more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous than non-gay men and women;[67][68][69] Simon LeVay argues that because "[h]and preference is observable before birth[70]... [t]he observation of increased non-right-handness in gay people is therefore consistent with the idea that sexual orientation is influenced by prenatal processes," perhaps heredity.[31] A study of 50 gay men found 23% had counterclockwise hair whorl, as opposed to 8% in the general population. This may correlate with left-handedness.[71] Gay men have increased ridge density in the fingerprints on their left thumbs and pinkies.[71] Length of limbs and hands of gay men is smaller compared to height than the general population, but only among white men.[71] [edit]Cognitive Recent studies suggest the presence of subtle differences in the way gay people and non-gay people process certain kinds of information. Researchers have found that: Gay men[72] and lesbians are more verbally fluent than heterosexuals of the same sex[73][74][75] (but two studies did not find this result).[76][77] Gay men may receive higher scores than non-gay men on tests of object location memory (no difference was found between lesbians and non-gay women).[78] read more, especially about birth order... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_sexual_orientation