divadoc is offline divadoc Post #1  January 30,2009, 4:13pm
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ok, somebody's gotta have an opinion on this!





Is there a gay gene? I mean, is homosexuality genetic, environmental or both? I honestly don't know......I mean, I believe it can be either. I know many people who say they were born with an attraction tp the same sex, but I have 2 problems with this:


1) how do you explain the thousands of people who have "changed" to a heterosexual lifestyle with the help of programs such as Exodus International?


2) Almost every homosexual man or woman I have ever met has had some traumatic experience, either in childhood or later, which has profoundly influenced them. Could that experience have been psychologically enough to "flip the switch"? If so....can it be flipped back?


I just don't know! So I'd like to hear your thoughts! Is sexual preference/identity part of our DNA or a "lifestyle choice"?





Not judgin....just wonderin!
 
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JediSoth is offline JediSoth Post #2  February 3,2009, 6:46am
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I wish I could contribute something meaningful to this topic, but honestly, I just don't know. I know plenty of gay people and some are very effeminate which to mean, seems more like something innate rather than a choice (I mean, I certainly can't choose how I feel on any given day), whereas others I know seem to have made a choice to devote themselves to the same gender.


Maybe it's a combination of both? Certain people are predisposed to behave in a certain way, but don't actually ever act that way unless something in their environment encourages and nutures that behavior?
 
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jokerfan666 is offline jokerfan666 Post #3  February 5,2009, 7:57pm
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divadoc, wrote :

ok, somebody's gotta have an opinion on this!





Is there a gay gene? I mean, is homosexuality genetic, environmental or both? I honestly don't know......I mean, I believe it can be either. I know many people who say they were born with an attraction tp the same sex, but I have 2 problems with this:


1) how do you explain the thousands of people who have "changed" to a heterosexual lifestyle with the help of programs such as Exodus International?


2) Almost every homosexual man or woman I have ever met has had some traumatic experience, either in childhood or later, which has profoundly influenced them. Could that experience have been psychologically enough to "flip the switch"? If so....can it be flipped back?


I just don't know! So I'd like to hear your thoughts! Is sexual preference/identity part of our DNA or a "lifestyle choice"?





Not judgin....just wonderin!
Answers to your questions


1) Those people who have supposedly "changed" into heterosexuals haven't. They've just been guilted and brainwashed into believing they are something they're not. If you are gay, then you are gay, there is no changing that. The church needs to stop telling people how they have to be, and start accepting how they are. Being Gay isn't wrong, it's just how that person is and they don't need to change that.


2) I don't think being gay is a choice. Traumatic experiences profoundly influence everyone, that's why they're called traumatic. That doesn't mean that's their "motive" for being gay. And frankly, even as a straight man, I think the idea that there has to be a reason why someone is gay is absurd and offensive. I know you didn't mean anything negative when you posted these questions, but this type of thinking is keeping the world from progressing into a place where everyone can live as they want to.
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #4  February 6,2009, 7:02pm
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fair enough....thanks for your opinions. "the church" hasn't told anyone how to be....just how to behave! It's ok to have feelings whatever they are, but "the church" tells those of us who believe, to ACT in a pure and holy manner, abstaining from sex outside of a covenant marriage. The group I spoke of, Exodus International, is not an official arm of any church, just an organization that helps followers of Christ to live a holy life. I don't think anyone is "brainwashed"....I've heard story after story of people who were sucessfully able to leave that lifestyle.


Some people (not all, by any means) have good reason for wanting to change. They should be allowed to do that without being called guilted or brainwashed. Maybe it's a choice and maybe it isn't....just like addicts have no choice in the matter, the tendency to addiction being something we are born with or not. Still, we can choose to live a life bound to alcohol or drugs with its ensuing complications: jails, institutions or death. Or, we can choose recovery. Are we being brainwashed, or simply making a better choice? I would not fault someone for looking for a way out of a lifestyle that has a higher risk of AIDS and other STD's, depression and even higher suicide rates. Everyone can live as they want to....but we have control over what we choose to want!
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #5  February 6,2009, 7:23pm
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"the church" isn't telling anyone how they need to be.....but it does encourage believers to live a pure and holy lifestyle. That means we can choose whether or not to act on certain feelings.....gay or straight.


Maybe, for many people, being gay is not a choice....just like having a tendency toward addiction is not a choice; we are born that way. However, we can choose to live in bondage to alcohol or drugs, with its ensuing complications: jails, institutions or death. Or, we can choose to live in recovery. If someone chooses to be free of a lifestyle that leads to AIDS and other STD's, higher rates of depression and suicide....who are we to call them guilted or brainwashed?


People can live as they want to....but we all have control over what we choose to want!
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #6  February 6,2009, 7:24pm
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the church" isn't telling anyone how they need to be.....but it does encourage believers to live a pure and holy lifestyle. That means we can choose whether or not to act on certain feelings.....gay or straight.


Maybe, for many people, being gay is not a choice....just like having a tendency toward addiction is not a choice; we are born that way. However, we can choose to live in slavery to alcohol or drugs, with its ensuing complications: jails, institutions or death. Or, we can choose to live in recovery. If someone chooses to be free of a lifestyle that leads to AIDS and other STD's, higher rates of depression and suicide....who are we to call them guilted or brainwashed?


People can live as they want to....but we all have control over what we choose to want!
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #7  February 6,2009, 7:26pm
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jokerfan666,473567 wrote :

divadoc, wrote :


ok, somebody's gotta have an opinion on this!





Is there a gay gene? I mean, is homosexuality genetic, environmental or both? I honestly don't know......I mean, I believe it can be either. I know many people who say they were born with an attraction tp the same sex, but I have 2 problems with this:


1) how do you explain the thousands of people who have "changed" to a heterosexual lifestyle with the help of programs such as Exodus International?


2) Almost every homosexual man or woman I have ever met has had some traumatic experience, either in childhood or later, which has profoundly influenced them. Could that experience have been psychologically enough to "flip the switch"? If so....can it be flipped back?


I just don't know! So I'd like to hear your thoughts! Is sexual preference/identity part of our DNA or a "lifestyle choice"?





Not judgin....just wonderin!


Answers to your questions


1) Those people who have supposedly "changed" into heterosexuals haven't. They've just been guilted and brainwashed into believing they are something they're not. If you are gay, then you are gay, there is no changing that. The church needs to stop telling people how they have to be, and start accepting how they are. Being Gay isn't wrong, it's just how that person is and they don't need to change that.


2) I don't think being gay is a choice. Traumatic experiences profoundly influence everyone, that's why they're called traumatic. That doesn't mean that's their "motive" for being gay. And frankly, even as a straight man, I think the idea that there has to be a reason why someone is gay is absurd and offensive. I know you didn't mean anything negative when you posted these questions, but this type of thinking is keeping the world from progressing into a place where everyone can live as they want to.
the church" isn't telling anyone how they need to be.....but it does encourage believers to live a pure and holy lifestyle. That means we can choose whether or not to act on certain feelings.....gay or straight.


Maybe, for many people, being gay is not a choice....just like having a tendency toward addiction is not a choice; we are born that way. However, we can choose to live in slavery to alcohol or drugs, with its ensuing complications: jails, institutions or death. Or, we can choose to live in recovery. If someone chooses to be free of a lifestyle that leads to AIDS and other STD's, higher rates of depression and suicide....who are we to call them guilted or brainwashed?


People can live as they want to....but we all have control over what we choose to want!
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #8  February 6,2009, 7:28pm
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"the church" isn't telling anyone how they need to be.....but it does encourage believers to live a pure and holy lifestyle. That means we can choose whether or not to act on certain feelings.....gay or straight.


Maybe, for many people, being gay is not a choice....just like having a tendency toward addiction is not a choice; we are born that way. However, we can choose to live in bondage to alcohol or drugs, with its ensuing complications: jails, institutions or death. Or, we can choose to live in recovery. If someone chooses to be free of a lifestyle that leads to STD's, higher rates of depression and suicide....who are we to call them guilted or brainwashed?


People can live as they want to....but we all have control over what we choose to want!
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #9  February 6,2009, 7:29pm
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jokerfan666,473567 wrote :

divadoc, wrote :


ok, somebody's gotta have an opinion on this!





Is there a gay gene? I mean, is homosexuality genetic, environmental or both? I honestly don't know......I mean, I believe it can be either. I know many people who say they were born with an attraction tp the same sex, but I have 2 problems with this:


1) how do you explain the thousands of people who have "changed" to a heterosexual lifestyle with the help of programs such as Exodus International?


2) Almost every homosexual man or woman I have ever met has had some traumatic experience, either in childhood or later, which has profoundly influenced them. Could that experience have been psychologically enough to "flip the switch"? If so....can it be flipped back?


I just don't know! So I'd like to hear your thoughts! Is sexual preference/identity part of our DNA or a "lifestyle choice"?





Not judgin....just wonderin!


Answers to your questions


1) Those people who have supposedly "changed" into heterosexuals haven't. They've just been guilted and brainwashed into believing they are something they're not. If you are gay, then you are gay, there is no changing that. The church needs to stop telling people how they have to be, and start accepting how they are. Being Gay isn't wrong, it's just how that person is and they don't need to change that.


2) I don't think being gay is a choice. Traumatic experiences profoundly influence everyone, that's why they're called traumatic. That doesn't mean that's their "motive" for being gay. And frankly, even as a straight man, I think the idea that there has to be a reason why someone is gay is absurd and offensive. I know you didn't mean anything negative when you posted these questions, but this type of thinking is keeping the world from progressing into a place where everyone can live as they want to.
part 1)


the church" isn't telling anyone how they need to be.....but it does encourage believers to live a pure and holy lifestyle. That means we can choose whether or not to act on certain feelings.....gay or straight.


!
 
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divadoc is offline divadoc Post #10  February 6,2009, 7:30pm
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part 2)


Maybe, for many people, being gay is not a choice....just like having a tendency toward addiction is not a choice; we are born that way. However, we can choose to live in slavery to alcohol or drugs, with its ensuing complications: jails, institutions or death. Or, we can choose to live in recovery. If someone chooses to be free of a lifestyle that leads to sexually transmitted diseases, higher rates of depression and suicide....who are we to call them guilted or brainwashed?


People can live as they want to....but we all have control over what we choose to want!
 
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