Too Concerned to Remain Silent anymore! 20 Jun 09 , 02:20 AM

REACH - OBJECTIVITY IN MEDIA REPORTING

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1. WHAT IS HOMOSEXUALITY?

Most people assume homosexuality to be little more than a sexual act between two individuals of the same gender. This is far too simplistic a view of this multi-faceted topic. Anyone interested in this subject must take four areas into account: physiological psychic response, identity, behavior, and lifestyle options.

Learned Responses

God created each of us as a complex creature. We have needs that must be met in order for us to grow and mature. When these needs are not met, we establish immature coping mechanisms that often work directly against God’s original intent for us. Frank Worthen, the founder of Exodus International, explains this phenomenon this way:

Psychic response is a technical term for what many people refer to as a homosexual orientation”. Though many people claim that they have experienced visual or sexual attraction for the same sex “as long as they can remember, there is a progression in a person’s life that leads to a homosexual psychic response. A child may start out with a need to compare himself with others to see if he measures up to societal standards. When he feels he doesn’t compare favorably with others, he develops admiration for those traits and physical characteristics he feels he does not possess.

Admiration, which is normal, may turn to envy. Envy leads to the desire to possess others and finally, to consume others. This strong desire becomes eroticized somewhere along the way, eventually leading to homosexual psychic response (also known as sexual thought life or fantasy).

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Behavior

When these psychic responses take root, some people carry out these fantasies first through masturbation and later in actual sexual behavior with another male or female. But the physical act itself does not indicate a homosexual orientation. Many young boys who engage in homosexual behavior later end up with no vestiges of homosexuality.

Identity

The problem in today’s social climate is that more and more individuals are taking on a gay identity simply because they need to find their place. Many who would rarely have experienced a struggle with homosexuality find themselves comfortable in this identity because of society’s “anything goes” mentality.

Other people embrace a gay identity after years of physiological psychic response. Their behaviors create an identity in which they take comfort or even pride.

Lifestyle

Homosexuality includes varying lifestyles. Some gays only engage in anonymous and relatively rare sexual encounters and tend to live in constant fear of being found out. Others “come out” and become active, politically motivated members of the gay community and associate only with those favorable to like causes.

As you can see, homosexuality is multi-dimensional, and individuals can land anywhere on the spectrum of these four basic components. What does this information mean for you? Don’t just take a friend or loved one’s confession or proclamation of homosexuality as evidence that he or she is engaging in same sex sexual behavior. Talk to him or her to develop a deeper understanding of what the admission means.

2. DO HOMOSEXUALS CHOOSE TO BE GAY?

Let me answer this one directly: NO! And in case you didn’t hear me, let me speak up:
NO!

This continues to be one of the myths of homosexuality that uninformed people perpetuate. Christians or conservatives may say to a homosexual, “I have a heart for those in your community, and I love you.” And then as if to drive a splinter under the fingernail of the hand they’ve just reached out to hold, they add: “But you and your friends have to realize that homosexuality was your choice”.

Ouch.

I can tell you from personal experience that virtually NO one chooses homosexuality and the resulting pain and rejection that come with it. No child or adolescent approaches the smorgasbord of sexual orientation and says, “Hmm… I think I’ll take that one”. One the contrary, most homosexuals try to deny the existence of their same sex attractions, to pray it away, or to repress it until they become so discourage by their inability to master the desires that they “come out”. Attributing this struggle to the willing choice of any individual not only conveys a lack of understanding but also adds to the tremendous shame seared into many homosexuals’ hearts.

So let me say clearly again: NO one chooses to feel attracted to someone of the same sex. However, men and women DO choose how they will act on those feelings. When the pain of this struggle captivates the heart, some people believe their only option is a homosexual identity and lifestyle. That’s where CHOICE comes into play: actively participating in a homosexual act.

One last important note on this subject: As harmful as the “you choose to be gay” argument, is another oft-repeated phrase, all too frequently seen on the signs of conservative protesters at gay events “God didn’t create Adam and Steve, He create Adam and Eve”. Anyone who thinks this is cute or helpful couldn’t be more wrong. Flippant expressions like this make whoever’s saying them look foolish, and their underlying malice directly contradicts Scripture.

Agrees with LEE: "When I say that its a lie that homosexuals are incapable of changing, I am talking about those who want to change but are told that they cant and simply have to live with it. For those who do not wish to change, that is their choice.
I have used the word "lie" because no one has a right to stop another individual from wanting to change if that individual DESIRES to do so. The individual needs to know that help is there should he desire it.

On the issue of IMMORALITY

As much as I wish we didnt have to use that term, I am afraid this is where we will have to disagree. Homosexuality involves constant acts of anal sex. This is something that is not natural nor healthy. As such I am sorry that these acts will continue to be an issue of immorality for many of us. But remember my earlier post that we are not into gay bashing. As mentioned in my earlier reply to you, many of us interact and get along with our gay friends even though we disagree on certain acts. Asking us to say its not immoral is like asking us to say smoking is healthy. If smokers push for more space to smoke freely in public space, we would also say no and no amount of discussion would make us change our minds".

Thank you LEE for this.