Poll: If you could know your baby's sexual orientation...

[Ezekel]

When someone says that they shouldn't act on feeling towards someone of the same sex because it's a sin, in a way, that's demoralizing them because they simply care about someone. Straight people don't know what it's like to be gay.

There are young teens that go through the stage of realizing that they are gay/lesbian/bisexual and try to change that because they do not want to be hurt, physically or mentally, by friends or family or even complete strangers. Yes they can choose to not act on those feelings. But that's rejecting them for the chance to love.

There are so many things in the bible that says that are sins. Yet what I don't understand why most people tend to stay focused on homosexuality. I've seen religious people treat homosexuality as something that is worse of a sin, then of someone that commits murder.

Now, I don't believe in the bible. It was written by man, and because of being treated like less of a human being for being gay, I gave up on my religion because I choose not to be part of a something that treats people like they are a disease. I don't have to have a religion to believe in god. I believe in god, but I like to believe that he loves everyone. How could he dislike someone that loves another person. Regardless if it's a person of the same sex, or opposite sex. Saying god loves people that are gay, but doesn't like homosexuality, is basicly splitting hairs. They are both part of the same thing. Saying that god doesn't like homosexuality is pretty much saying that he doesn't like gay people, but just using different words.

If you believe in the bible, that's fine. Nothing wrong with that. If the bible says that being gay is a sin, no one should say that just because someone is gay, they will automaticly go to hell and so they should repent. That's forcing religion onto someone. Speaking opinion is entirely different. One can speaking their opinion, but say it in the way that doesn't seem like it's almost as if someone is tring to force something upon someone else. But I just wish that everyone could treat every person like a human being. Just because someone is gay, doesn't make them a bad person. Anyone could meet someone that is gay, realize that they are not like the stereotypes that a lot of people tend to picture them as and see that they are like everyone else. We are all part of humanity. But why can't we just be human towards each other?

You are right in the idea that I do not know what its like to be gay. I am aware that it isn't easy to go against, and I feel for those who struggle against it for the sake of Christ.

Love is a very nuanced word. There are a many different kinds of love. Love of a parent for child, love of a child for parent. Love of brother/sister hood. Love between friends. And also love for a spouse. Only one of these definition is in any way sexual, so one can still have love with out ever thinking or doing anything sexual.

I am not condoning how people treat homosexuals, and neither does the Bible. Christ ate with the tax collectors and prostitutes. He did this out of love and care for them, but he did not just say "I love you, do whatever you want". This is the example of how we are to treat others.

I understand, to a certain extent, that being treated like something lower than dirt is not enjoyable. Christians are not called to be followers of the church, but rather followers of Christ. God does love everyone, but he hates sin. Just as he hates stealing, but forgave the thief on the cross. Just as he hates murder, but still loves the one who took that life. All sin is equal in the eyes of God, so my sin is just as great as yours, which is just as great as everyone else. This does not excuse either mine or yours.

No one goes to hell for being a homosexual. Sin is ultimately what separates us from God. Homosexuality, or the practice of it, is sin. But so is lying, and I have lied. So is stealing, and I have stolen. So is greed, and I have been greedy. I was just as condemned as everyone else. I have merely found salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. With that salvation has come repentance from my sin, it is not perfect by any means. I have failed, and will continue to do so. This does not excuse those failures, but I am forgiven.

I am not calling homosexuals bad people. I treat them as human beings. I try to love all people, as Christ loves me. This does not mean that I accept all behavior and actions. Sin is sin, and I will declare it as such. But just as Christ loved me, a sinner, so shall I love them. They need Christ just as much as I do, and I will offer Him to them at every opportunity. I do this out of love, and not of hate. If I truly hated them I would never try to explain how to be forgiven.

Not all who claim the name of Christ are followers of him. This is ultimately what christians are called to do. It is what the name means for goodness sake, "little Christ".

 

[Triple G]

You do realize that being straight or gay isn't determined by someone's genes? "Being gay" is just a sexual-developement-error and is considered a pathology by serious psychiatrists.

 

[infernal_tuba]

I don't think society accepts gays well enough for me to not give a shit what orientation my child is born with when given a choice. I'm straight and my kid would be straight because society's easier to gel with when you're not "strange."

 

[SovietSecrets]

No option for Bisexual? But I wouldn't care, I would just leave them be long as they are happy and such.

 

[Novandor]

When someone says that they shouldn't act on feeling towards someone of the same sex because it's a sin, in a way, that's demoralizing them because they simply care about someone. Straight people don't know what it's like to be gay.

There are young teens that go through the stage of realizing that they are gay/lesbian/bisexual and try to change that because they do not want to be hurt, physically or mentally, by friends or family or even complete strangers. Yes they can choose to not act on those feelings. But that's rejecting them for the chance to love.

There are so many things in the bible that says that are sins. Yet what I don't understand why most people tend to stay focused on homosexuality. I've seen religious people treat homosexuality as something that is worse of a sin, then of someone that commits murder.

Now, I don't believe in the bible. It was written by man, and because of being treated like less of a human being for being gay, I gave up on my religion because I choose not to be part of a something that treats people like they are a disease. I don't have to have a religion to believe in god. I believe in god, but I like to believe that he loves everyone. How could he dislike someone that loves another person. Regardless if it's a person of the same sex, or opposite sex. Saying god loves people that are gay, but doesn't like homosexuality, is basicly splitting hairs. They are both part of the same thing. Saying that god doesn't like homosexuality is pretty much saying that he doesn't like gay people, but just using different words.

If you believe in the bible, that's fine. Nothing wrong with that. If the bible says that being gay is a sin, no one should say that just because someone is gay, they will automaticly go to hell and so they should repent. That's forcing religion onto someone. Speaking opinion is entirely different. One can speaking their opinion, but say it in the way that doesn't seem like it's almost as if someone is tring to force something upon someone else. But I just wish that everyone could treat every person like a human being. Just because someone is gay, doesn't make them a bad person. Anyone could meet someone that is gay, realize that they are not like the stereotypes that a lot of people tend to picture them as and see that they are like everyone else. We are all part of humanity. But why can't we just be human towards each other?

You are right in the idea that I do not know what its like to be gay. I am aware that it isn't easy to go against, and I feel for those who struggle against it for the sake of Christ.

Love is a very nuanced word. There are a many different kinds of love. Love of a parent for child, love of a child for parent. Love of brother/sister hood. Love between friends. And also love for a spouse. Only one of these definition is in any way sexual, so one can still have love with out ever thinking or doing anything sexual.

I am not condoning how people treat homosexuals, and neither does the Bible. Christ ate with the tax collectors and prostitutes. He did this out of love and care for them, but he did not just say "I love you, do whatever you want". This is the example of how we are to treat others.

I understand, to a certain extent, that being treated like something lower than dirt is not enjoyable. Christians are not called to be followers of the church, but rather followers of Christ. God does love everyone, but he hates sin. Just as he hates stealing, but forgave the thief on the cross. Just as he hates murder, but still loves the one who took that life. All sin is equal in the eyes of God, so my sin is just as great as yours, which is just as great as everyone else. This does not excuse either mine or yours.

No one goes to hell for being a homosexual. Sin is ultimately what separates us from God. Homosexuality, or the practice of it, is sin. But so is lying, and I have lied. So is stealing, and I have stolen. So is greed, and I have been greedy. I was just as condemned as everyone else. I have merely found salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. With that salvation has come repentance from my sin, it is not perfect by any means. I have failed, and will continue to do so. This does not excuse those failures, but I am forgiven.

I am not calling homosexuals bad people. I treat them as human beings. I try to love all people, as Christ loves me. This does not mean that I accept all behavior and actions. Sin is sin, and I will declare it as such. But just as Christ loved me, a sinner, so shall I love them. They need Christ just as much as I do, and I will offer Him to them at every opportunity. I do this out of love, and not of hate. If I truly hated them I would never try to explain how to be forgiven.

Not all who claim the name of Christ are followers of him. This is ultimately what christians are called to do. It is what the name means for goodness sake, "little Christ".

Yes it is true that everyone does do something bad in their life, if it's stealing, lying, anything. But what counts in life is not what you do that is bad, but what good you do. If it's donating to the homeless, being a volunteer for a cause, there's numerous options.

You may treat gay people as human beings, but what I meant was in general. For example, the people at Westboro Baptist Church. The signs that they hold, saying really horrible things. They treat all gay people, no matter who they are, as someone that is little to nothing.

Everyone has their own opinion, along with that not everyone has to agree with how others live their lives which includes who they are interested in. But what makes us human is the ability to make our own choices, opinions, and actions. But we are only human. No one is perfect.

Some people will view homosexuality as a sin. Others will not. I respect your opinion, along with your belief. But in my opinion, we are all made a certain way and I don't mean just sexuality.

 

[jpoon]

Can't say that I would want a gay kid. I'd flip a coin.

 

[Lord George]

You do realize that being straight or gay isn't determined by someone's genes? "Being gay" is just a sexual-developement-error and is considered a pathology by serious psychiatrists.

Thats debatable, its highly possible a gay gene does in fact exist.

But I myself would not be bothered what the child turns out to be and I don't think I'd want to know it would be up to him/her to find themselves and how they naturally feel.

 

[cobra_ky]

It's kinda ironic how many people throw around the word intolerant while being extremely intolerant to other peoples views when none of them are even slightly offensive.

Oh, I'd say that the notion of sexuality being a conscious decision is rather offensive.
It practically renders the entire struggle for sexual equality meaningless since "those homos just kept on in spite and could've straightened up at any time."
That is the kind of argument that would be valid if aforementioned idea was taken as hard fact.

Even so, it's better to calmly and rationally explain why that notion is offensive, like you did here. that way you open a dialogue and people actually learn things. calling someone an intolerant bigot usually just shuts them out to you and doesn't change their way of thinking. Case in point...

Change genes or abortion. I like to keep away from gays, not because i would be interested in they sex life, no no, I don't like how they talk, how they act and what they are talking about. Homosexuality is not something to be proud about (or ashamed), it's a defect. It happens, but if we can make it not happen, why wouldn't we?

i have plenty of friends both gay and straight, and i have yet to notice any significant differences in their conversational habits.

You do realize that being straight or gay isn't determined by someone's genes? "Being gay" is just a sexual-developement-error and is considered a pathology by serious psychiatrists.

i would love to see a source for this assertion.

 

[Maynia]

You do realize that being straight or gay isn't determined by someone's genes? "Being gay" is just a sexual-developement-error and is considered a pathology by serious psychiatrists.

...que? Quacks and fundamentalist psychiatrists maybe, but homosexuality as any sort of pathology, disorder or disease was removed from the DSM in 1986 and the ICD in 1992. The two APAs (the American Psychiatric and Psychological Associations), the US National Association of Social Workers and the Royal College of Psychiatry have repeatedly expressed the opinion that homosexuality is in no way an impairment and generally does not respond to the sort of external efforts to change it bandied about by pseudoscientific organisations like the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.

Find me a well-respected and qualified modern psychiatrist saying anything against the core guidance of essentially their entire profession and I will be rather surprised.

 

[cathou]

You do realize that being straight or gay isn't determined by someone's genes? "Being gay" is just a sexual-developement-error and is considered a pathology by serious psychiatrists in the 60's.

there, i fixed it for you...

it's not a desorder since 1973...

1. The American Psychological Association supports the action taken on December 15, 1973, by the American Psychiatric Association, removing homosexuality from that Association's official list of mental disorders. The American Psychological Association therefore adopts the following resolution:

Homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgement, stability, reliability, or general social and vocational capabilities; Further, the American Psychological Association urges all mental health professionals to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with homosexual orientations.

2. Regarding discrimination against homosexuals, the American Psychological Association adopts the following resolution concerning their civil and legal rights:

The American Psychological Association deplores all public and private discrimination in such areas as employment, housing, public accommodation, and licensing against those who engage in or have engaged in homosexual activities and declares that no burden of proof of such judgement, capacity, or reliability shall be placed upon these individuals greater than that imposed on any other persons. Further, the American Psychological Association supports and urges the enactment of civil rights legislation at the local, and state and federal level that would offer citizens who engage in acts of homosexuality the same protections now guaranteed to others on the basis of race, creed, color, etc. Further, the American Psychological Association supports and urges the repeal of all discriminatory legislation singling out homosexual acts by consenting adults in private.


Please cite this policy statement as:
Conger, J.J. (1975). Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, Incorporated, for the year 1974: Minutes of the annual meeting of the Council of Representatives. American Psychologist, 30, 620-651.

 

[DanDeFool]

I chose 'Straight and Wouldn't Change", but only because I'm assuming that this is in the far future where gay relationships are considered perfectly normal and all the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish holy books are only considered academically, as opposed to religiously, as a curiously coherent collection of desert scribblings; like a "Lord of the Rings" series of the 1000 BC to 500 AD era.

If this were the present day we're talking about, where every religious group of middle-eastern origin seems to think God wants us to gather all the homosexuals into a big gay pile and burn them like so many old tires, I would definitely have picked "Straight and Would Make Straight." Seriously, choosing not to change a potential child's homosexuality these days is like choosing not to change their grotesque ugliness: they're going to take so much flak from their peers for it that it makes no sense not to make them straight.

 

[Novandor]

Change genes or abortion. I like to keep away from gays, not because i would be interested in they sex life, no no, I don't like how they talk, how they act and what they are talking about. Homosexuality is not something to be proud about (or ashamed), it's a defect. It happens, but if we can make it not happen, why wouldn't we?

That's your choice to not befriend someone that is gay. Not every person that is gay, is a stereotype. Not every gay person has a lisp. Nor do act feminine. People that think this way about them, are clearly homophobic. You never know, if you ever did meet someone you liked and wanted to be friends with, after a while you found out he was gay, what would you do? Ignore him? Also, do you have proof that being gay is a defect?

 

[Ryuk2]

That's your choice to not befriend someone that is gay. Not every person that is gay, is a stereotype. Not every gay person has a lisp. Nor do act feminine. People that think this way about them, are clearly homophobic. You never know, if you ever did meet someone you liked and wanted to be friends with, after a while you found out he was gay, what would you do? Ignore him? Also, do you have proof that being gay is a defect?

From genetic stand point, that is a defect. Well, if a guy doesn't like girls, then he wouldn't have children, it's nothing special really for humans, but imagine the same thing with animals. If you stop thinking like your expected to think you can see that homosexuality has it's down sides.
They are not all the same, but i can tell the difference in the way they speak and act. I have never harmed or said something bad about them. If they ask me something i answer them politely or help when needed, so i don't consider myself homophobic.
As for the gay friends, then i would be friend with a guy that never says that he's gay and doesn't act ''strange'', if someone else says that or he's just not interested in women, that's ok, but it has never happened.

 

[Tekyro]

I would tell the doctor to not even tell me I want my son or daughter to surprise me with their personallity, sexual orientation and character flaws.

This.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

As long as homosexuals won't make a big deal out of themselves, I won't. So I won't care even the slightest if he/she's gay or not. As long as he/she doesn't bring his/hers little mates over when I'm in the house. It'd be weird.

But I don't know, maybe I would change it to straight. Not for depriving him of his choice, but for protecting him. There is still intolerance over gay people in the world, and while it isn't much, it still exists, and it might even grow. I don't want my child to be discriminated. The problem isn't the homosexuals, it's the homophobes.

 

[Novandor]

That's your choice to not befriend someone that is gay. Not every person that is gay, is a stereotype. Not every gay person has a lisp. Nor do act feminine. People that think this way about them, are clearly homophobic. You never know, if you ever did meet someone you liked and wanted to be friends with, after a while you found out he was gay, what would you do? Ignore him? Also, do you have proof that being gay is a defect?

From genetic stand point, that is a defect. Well, if a guy doesn't like girls, then he wouldn't have children, it's nothing special really for humans, but imagine the same thing with animals. If you stop thinking like your expected to think you can see that homosexuality has it's down sides.
They are not all the same, but i can tell the difference in the way they speak and act. I have never harmed or said something bad about them. If they ask me something i answer them politely or help when needed, so i don't consider myself homophobic.
As for the gay friends, then i would be friend with a guy that never says that he's gay and doesn't act ''strange'', if someone else says that or he's just not interested in women, that's ok, but it has never happened.

That's fine, it's your choice on who you are friends with. But having children isn't really everything. There are actually children that don't have anyone to take care of them, and need a home.

There's multiple possibilites of what causes homosexuality. If it's nature, or nurture, or anything. I don't know, nor does anyone else. There's only theories. But being gay doesn't make that person less of a human being compared to someone that is straight. Just because one likes the opposite sex, and the other likes the same sex, doesn't mean that they are not like everyone else.

 

[LiquidGrape]

Even so, it's better to calmly and rationally explain why that notion is offensive, like you did here. that way you open a dialogue and people actually learn things. calling someone an intolerant bigot usually just shuts them out to you and doesn't change their way of thinking.

Admittedly, that is an excellent point. Good show, sir.

 

[Captain_Caveman]

In the future, if you were having a baby & doctors told you he/she would be gay/straight; but they had the ability to switch genes so he/she would be straight/gay. Would you do it, or would you leave your baby the way the genes naturally occurred?

*note: I am NOT equating homosexuality to a disease that needs to be cured. NOR am i implying any discrimination towards homosexuals. This is a hypothetical.

i dont believe being gay or straight is a matter of genetics, its a choice based on living conditions as far as i am concerned (if it was genetic how can it really get passed on? gay people cant really have biological children). im not anti-gay or anything. i just dont think its a genetic condition.

http://www.livescience.com/health/080617-hereditary-homosexuality.html

most evidence points to the strongest component being genetic. of course that wont turn you into a gay guy dancing on top of a parade float in a thong and biker hat while waving a rainbow flag. But u get my point.

 

[Jedoro]

I'm sorry, but I want biological grandchildren. I wouldn't make anyone else change their child's orientation, but if given the choice, I'd like a straight child.

 

[WalrusMan]

Homosexuality is not an action.

From Merriam-Webster:
1 : the quality or state of being homosexual
2 : erotic activity with another of the same sex

Erotic activity is most certainly an action.

"state of being"

Do you also think that anger is an action?