|
submit
articles |
| Homosexuality: The Cost to
Society
Muhammed A. Asadi Of all topics most popular in today's
media, issues concerning homosexuals and homosexuality in general top the
list. Homosexuality is
generally defined as a sexual relationship between partners of the same
sex. Debate concerning its causes and consequences has been going
on for many centuries and almost in every period in human history.
However, never before in human history has it been granted such
wide scale acceptance in western society as it has now.
The question that I seek to answer in this paper is whether such
wide scale acceptance should in fact be granted to homosexual behavior?
Is such behavior rational, scientifically functional or is it
actually detrimental to the high level of civilization that we've
achieved? I) THE SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE: Scientifically speaking, sex is a means to
an end; the end being the propagation of the human race. This end can
never be fulfilled by sex between males (in the case of gays) or between
females (in the case of lesbians). Therefore, the general conclusion is
that homosexuality is irrational and illogical. If we consider the construction of the bodies of the male and female, what is noticed at once is that the construction of a body of a male (the penis and the anus- i.e. no vagina) does not accommodate having sex with another male. Nor does the construction of a body of a female (no penis, a vagina) accommodate sex with another female. What is obvious to common sense is that the construction and location of specific sexual organs in the bodies of a male and a female accommodate sex between a male and a female and not among members of the same sex. Therefore, the conclusion once again is
that homosexuality is an unnatural and an irrational behavior. The case with birth control is different to the "cause & effect" argument above [this point was brought up in my meeting in class with the SMSU (Southwest Missouri State) Gay & Lesbian Alliance]. Birth control is simply the further delaying or prevention of a naturally occurring delaying process. The egg (ovum), which when fertilized develops into a zygote, which then eventually develops into the fetus, is released in the female's body in a specific period of time and pregnancy is caused only if a sperm fuses with the egg in that specific time period. If the egg is not fertilized during that period, then the cycle in humans ends in menstruation (Encyclopedia Britannica, vol 26, Macropaedia 701-703) II) THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: It was clearly recognized by experts who
were objective and unprejudiced, that psychologically speaking
homosexuality is an abnormal behavior. However large scale lobbying by
homosexuals and certain psychologists brought in biases into this
scientific field of inquiry and hence the truth got masked and the results
are stated below: "Before 1973 the DSM [Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders] listed homosexuality as a sexual
disorder. Protests by gay activist groups and many psychotherapists
eventually led to its elimination from the manual as a sexual disorder per
se, but the DSM did retain a category called "ego dystonic
homosexuality - the feeling of extreme distress over one's homosexual
preference". DSM III R
has dropped even this category, and the issue of homosexuality is no
longer mentioned (Comer 480)." "Until the early 1970's the U.S
psychiatric establishment classified homosexuality as a mental illness,
but that designation was dropped amid increased political activity and
efforts by homosexuals to be seen as individuals exercising different
sexual preferences rather than aberrant personalities (Encyclopedia
Britannica, Vol. 6, 31)." Homosexuality is proven to be a learned
behavior according to experiments with clinical cases of intersexuality. At puberty, the individuals in question were "generally
attracted to the sex opposite to their sex of rearing [even if it be
opposite to their genetic sex of males, having X & Y chromosomes and
females both X chromosomes] This suggests that sexual orientation is
primarily established in post natal experiences (Encyclopedia Britannica,
Vol. 27, 247) There has however been great debate
concerning the nature versus nurture question concerning homosexuality: i) Brain Difference: The most recent one
seems to indicate a certain difference in certain parts of the brains of
homosexual people. What has however not been resolved is whether such
difference in the brains was the cause or the effect of homosexual
behavior. Further many people in the sample studied had Aids and Aids in
its later stages affects the brain. Therefore no strong conclusions can
scientifically be drawn from such a study. ii) Hormonal Differences: when hormones are
artificially altered in female animal's bodies [introducing excess
androgen prenatally] it makes them behave more like males even showing
mating preference for members of the same sex. (Britannica, Vol. 27
,248-249). The same source however, also narrates that
changing the hormone level postnatally does not mean that sexual
preference for partners will change. The only thing that will change will
be the arousal level. Therefore, based on the above, I believe I
can justifiably conclude that abnormal sexual preference even when it
becomes "normal" to a particular individual due to abnormal
circumstances like the above can be controlled. If every male took his
sexual desires towards every attractive female to their conclusion, you
can well imagine the galloping rate of rapes in this or any other society.
Just because certain individuals experience sexual desires towards members
of the same sex, because something went wrong somewhere, does not at all
mean that they should engage in homosexual behavior or that their behavior
be accepted without question or search for a solution. iii) The Gay Gene: Even though many
"political" efforts have been made by gays to attribute sexual
orientation to the infamous "gay gene," nothing conclusive has
been found. The study that is cited has fallen our of favor due to the
biased nature of the sample and its taking into account only gay men and
not lesbians. 1) From psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover,
M.D.: "Like all complex behavioral and
mental states, homosexuality is...neither exclusively biological nor
exclusively psychological, but results from an as-yet-difficult-to-quantitate
mixture of genetic factors, intrauterine influences...postnatal
environment (such as parent, sibling and cultural behavior), and a complex
series of repeatedly reinforced choices occurring at critical phases of
development." 2) William Byne, a psychiatrist with a
doctorate in biology, and Bruce Parsons (1993) carefully analyzed all the
major biological studies of homosexuality. They found none that
definitively supported a biological theory of causation. --W. Byne and B.
Parsons, "Human Sexual Orientation: The Biologic Theories
Reappraised." Archives of General Psychiatry 50, no.3.) 3) Psychiatrists Friedman and Downey state
that "a biopsychosocial model" best fits our knowledge of
causation, with various combinations of temperament and environmental
events leading to homosexuality. They say: "Despite recent
neurobiological findings suggesting homosexuality is
genetically-biologically determined, credible evidence is lacking for a
biological model of homosexuality."
--R. Friedman, M.D. and J. Downey, M.D., Journal of
Neuropsychiatry, vol. 5, No. 2, Spring l993. 4) From sociologist Steven Goldberg, Ph.D.: "Virtually all of the evidence argues
against there being a determinative physiological causal factor and I know
of no researcher who believes that such a determinative factor
exists...such factors play a predisposing, not a determinative role...I
know of no one in the field who argues that homosexuality can be explained
without reference to environmental factors." I would like to add as a conclusion. If we
take the arrow of implication backwards, some people have a predisposition
to alcohol, that doesn't mean that they should abuse alcohol and that no
therapy is effective. 5) An article on genes and behavior in
Science magazine says: For more information on the "gene" factor this site (from which the above 5 quotes are taken ) is helpful: http://www.narth.com/docs/bornway.html 6) THE RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE: There is absolutely no doubt that
Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the three most widely embraced religions
in America condemn homosexual behavior in the strongest terms: According to the Old Testament & the
Koran, the people of Lot were destroyed because they engaged in homosexual
behavior and were unrepentant and unaccepting of God's admonishment (Holy
Bible, Genesis chapter 13, 14, 18, 19; Koran 7:80-84; 4:16 etc) In the book of Romans, in the Bible [New
Testament], Paul states: "Their
women exchanged natural relations for unnatural and the men likewise gave
up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one
another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own
persons the due penalty for their error (Romans
1:22-27)." The above verse also condemns those who worship God in the image of a man i.e. those who believe in the concept of a "God- incarnate". IV) SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES: i) Aids: Among the groups that have
directly and indirectly contributed to the wide scale spread of Aids to
even innocent patients like children are homosexuals and their practice of
anal sex. "There are specific behaviors that
place people at a high risk for AIDS. The first is anal sex that can cause
rectal bleeding and thereby allow easy transmission of HIV.
This practice is therefore extremely dangerous and, of course, the
greater the number of sexual partners, the greater the risk.
Gay males, in some cases with many sexual partners, commonly
practice anal sex. For this reason about two thirds of persons with
Aids are homosexual or bi-sexual males (Macionis
545:1987)." The above statistic of two thirds shows the
trend in the spread of AIDS a few years after it was recognized as a
threat (1987). Even today according the General Social Survey of the
University of Chicago (Smith 1998) gay men are at the highest risk of
contracting AIDS. Aids
results in many national cost problems too: GENERAL CONCLUSION: According to common sense, science, logic,
psychology and religion - i.e. all those aspects of present society, that
have contributed to its civilization, homosexuality is irrational,
illogical, abnormal and an immoral behavior. Those who practice is should
not be personally condemned but their behavior should and solutions to
their ills be found, and the free practice of homosexual behavior be
stopped, so that our society prospers.
If clear and concrete evidence were indeed found in the other
direction, I would gladly change my above conclusions. Therefore let our
end be towards the truth! "..What is left after the truth except error? How then are you turned away." (Koran10:32) Note on homosexuality in the animal
kingdom: I) Discussed under hormonal errors above. II) A comparison with the animal kingdom is
not justified. Animals at
times kill and eat their offspring too, as the exception and not the
general rule. We cannot
therefore justify the killing of our children just because it
"happens" in the animal kingdom.
Homosexuality is not the rule but an exception. WORKS CITED Comer, Ronald J.
Abnormal Psychology. New York, W.H Freeman & Co, 1992 Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Iowa,
World Bible Publishers Inc, 1971. "Homosexuality", Encyclopaedia
Britannica, vol 6 (Micropaedia). 15th ed, 1990 Koran. Translation, Picthall, M. Marmaduke,
Lahore, Taj Co 1981. Macionis, John J. Sociology. New Jersey,
Prentice Hall International, 1987. "Reproduction & Reproductive
Systems", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 26 (Macropaedia), 15th ed.
1990. "Sex & Sexuality", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 27 (Macropaedia). 15th ed,
1990. Smith, Tom. 1998. General Social Survey, Topic 25. University of Chicago. reprinted with permission from M A Asadi |
