“the Untouchables – Homosexuality Part 2”
Gladstone Baptist Church – 10/9/06 pm
Tonight I want to continue the series I started last week when we began to talk about Homosexuality. If you weren’t here last week, we were confronted with the fact that as Christians, we are often guilty of condemning other people’s sin, while downplaying our own sin. We affirmed that homosexuality is sin – it is a symptom that we have replaced God in our lives. But homosexuality in God’s eyes is no different to any other sin – whether it be murder, gossip, disobeying parents, pride or deception. We have a morality scale, but God doesn’t.
Too often we as Christians will condemn other “bad people” for their sin and gloss over the sin in our lives. This is what we do with homosexuals. We condemn their sin, but we conveniently ignore the sin in our own lives.
We looked at Rom 1:21-32 last week quickly and saw that ALL sin was a consequence of us rejecting God. We have ALL rejected God and we have consequently ALL have sinned. We all stand before God condemned for that
The challenge left for us was to recognise this and to be consistent in our condemnation of the sin we see around us. Too often we take a moral high ground on some issues, yet sweep other issues under the carpet. As Christians and followers of Christ we need to commit to condemn ALL sin as being wrong – whether in other’s lives or our own. But what does that practically mean in terms of relating to people who like us are sinners. Should we condemn everyone we come into contact with? No we shouldn’t condemn people. We maintain our stance that sin is wrong and no amount of public pressure should change our condemnation of it. But we should never, ever be condemning the people committing the sins – because that is God’s job – he is judge over all. We condemn the sin, and leave condemning the sinner to God.
When we relate to any sinner (homosexuals included), it must be with compassion and grace.
Philip Yancy in his book “What is So Amazing about Grace” records his experiences in helping his friend, Mel White, a prominent Christian writer in America, deal with his homosexuality. He writes …
“At one point, a TV interviewer asked Mel’s parents on-camera, “You know what other Christians are saying about your son. They say he’s an abomination. What do you think about that?”
“Well,” the mother answered in a sweet, quavery voice, “he may be an abomination, but he’s still our pride and joy.”
Homosexuals, just like everyone alive on this planet are sinners. God hates the sin of every sinner. “All have fallen short of the glory of God.” But somehow, God still loves us anyway. He loves us as people because he created us. We need to love others in exactly the same way, accept them as they are and allow God’s Spirit to work in them and convict them of their sin.
So that is where we got to last week. This week and next week, I want to talk about some of the myths about homosexuality – because often we are uninformed when we talk about homosexuality and we need to be informed if we want to help them.
S1 - Run a quiz about Homosexual statistics & information.
But before I do, I want to give you a bit of a quiz … On the back of your sermon notes are some questions … I want you to answer … I’ll even let you work together with the person next to you if you like.
1. Which of the “uniforms” below is not an outfit worn by The Village People?
a) Policeman b) Indian Chief c) Doctor d) Biker
2. Homosexuality is genetic
a) True b) False c) Don’t know d) What’s genetic
3. According to statistics, what percentage of people in Australia are homosexual?
a) 1.2% b) 2.1% c) 4.9% d) 9.8%
4. Which TV show / Movie does not feature a homosexual relationship?
a) Will and Grace b) Legally Blond 2 c) Queer Eye for the Straight Guy d) Brokeback Mountain
5. In the Netherlands where same sex couples are allowed to marry, the average length of a relationship between two men is
a) 9 months b) 1.5 years c) 4 years d) 9 years
6. What percentage of homosexual men have had sexual contact with ‘casual partners’ in the previous 6 months
a) 27% b) 58% c) 70% d) 78%
7. What percentage of homosexual men admitted to having between 11 & 50 sex partners in the previous 6 months.
a) 6% b) 16% c) 26% d) 46%
(Only 21% were in monogamous relationship which in part explains the high percentage of STI’s within homosexual populations)
8. In what year did the American Psychiatric Association remove the term "homosexuality" from its list of mental and emotional disorders?
a) 1965 b) 1970 c) 1973 d) 1977
(This wasn’t based on any scientific facts, but was due to immense lobbying by the Gay and Lesbian communities)
9. What proportion of homosexual male sexual relationships last less than 2 years
a) 28% b) 48% c) 68% d) 88%
10. True or False? Critics have charged that Leonardo da Vinci’s "Mona Lisa" is really a man in drag.
a) True b) False
S2 - Homosexuality has many myths which need to be debunked
I dare say that some of the answers to that quiz were surprising to you. Homosexuality you see has many myths surrounding it and some of these are not true. Many people talk about homosexuality either in a positive or negative way, but do so out of ignorance. What I want to do tonight is to explore some of these myths. I want you to be educated about homosexuality so that you can talk intelligibly about it with a friend who might be struggling with it or be challenged to think about it in a different way to what you normally might have.
S3 - Myth 1: 10% of the population is Homosexual and therefore it is normal.
This myth started in 1948 when a guy called Alfred Kinsey stated that 10% of adult males are exclusively homosexual for a period of three years during their lives, while 4% of American men were “exclusively homosexual throughout their lives.
It is now recognised that Kinsey’s research methods were greatly skewed by the fact that he used a large percentage of prison inmates and known sex offenders in his study. Consistent research since then has shown that the level of homosexuality is actually between 1 & 3 %. A 2003 survey by LaTrobe Uni in Melbourne of 20 000 people with a special weighting for Sydney’s homosexual centres found that in Australia the figure was only 1.2% . American studies have shown a slightly higher percentage.
Why is this important? It is important because it shows that while 1% is significant, it is a minority group definitely cannot be classed as a “NORM” for society as some would have us believe. Many gay activists would argue that homosexuality is normal and therefore should be accepted into the normal cultural of our society. But normality and acceptance of what is good or bad is not based upon popularity.
This is what I mean … In 2001 research done by National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, 23% of males and 18% of females aged 14 years, over consumed alcohol at least once a month at a level that risked short-term alcohol related harm . That is nearly 1 in 5 people drank alcohol once a month at levels that were harmful to themselves and in turn to those around about them. Yet as a society, we don’t condone drunken behaviour or alcoholism as behaviour that is normal or which is healthy.
The myth that Homosexuality is common in our society is not true. Homosexuals do exist and homosexuals do have rights, but they don’t have the right to dictate what are the norms for society or to drive public policy. It would be like if Liz Cunningham was made premier of the state of Queensland and allowed to dictate policy – just because Gladstone elected her. I know we respect Liz, but the fact is that the majority of Queensland did not vote for her and so she does not have a right to rule or dictate public policy. She can have an input, but she can’t demand changes. That is the case with homosexuals. They need to have input, but shouldn’t expect to be able to demand changes.
S4 - Myth 2: Homosexuals are born Gay – Discuss the Gay Gene
The simple answer to this is no. Many people have sought in the past to show conclusively that there is a genetic link, but nothing has been conclusive so far.
One famous study by Simon LeVay back in 1991 looked at the differences in a small area of the brain called the Hypothalamus and found slight differences in one part of it (the INAH-3) for women, men and homosexuals. He found that in general, men’s hypothalamus were twice as large as women’s and that the size of the INAH-3 in homosexual men’s brains was similar to that of women. Unfortunately, because he was using dead corpses, his sample set was very small – only 6 women, 19 homosexual men and 16 men (who he assumed were heterosexual), so statistically speaking, nothing really can be definitively claimed from this survey. Another problem with this study was that LeVay based his observations on the volume of these brains and assumed that there was a correlation here between sexuality and size. Many scientists disagree that this is the best way to measure differences in the brain – it would be like trying to determine how intelligent a person is by looking at how big their hat is – our brains are much more complex than this. Lastly, there was a problem in this study because brains are living organisms which develop and strengthen depending on use. What that means that if I became blind and began to learn brail, over time, the section of my brain that controls the reading finger will grow larger and become stronger and stronger and more I use brail . The implication of this is that if the hypothalamus is connected to sexuality – does it develop with time, thus explaining the observed differences or was it that way in the first place – it is the old chicken and egg dilemma - we can’t be sure.
Having said that, there does seem to be some difference doesn’t there. But we are not sure if it is the cause of or if it caused by homosexuality.
Another famous study by Michael Bailey & Richard Pillard also in 1991 looked at male twins (identical and non-identical) and also brothers (both biological and adopted). They picked brothers where they knew one was homosexual and then looked to see if the other brother was also homosexual. If homosexuality is genetic, you would expect that in the case of identical twins, a very high percentage close to 100% should be both homosexual because they share the same genetic material. For non-identical twins and biological brothers – they share half their genetic material, so you should expect about 50% of the brothers to be both homosexual. But as for Adoptive brothers, you would only expect about 1-2% - which is the percentage of homosexuals occurring in the general population.
What Bailey and Pillard found however, was …
• Only 52% of identical twins were both homosexual
• Only 22% of non identical twins were both homosexual
• Only 9% of biological brothers were both homosexual and
• A staggering 11% of Adoptive Brothers were both homosexual.
It doesn’t really line up to expectations does it. Actually the results are more exaggerated than they should be because Bailey and Pillard recruited their subjects for this study from advertisements in gay magazines. Even Bailey and Pillard themselves admitted that their subjects would be more likely to respond to an advertisement to participate in a study if their brothers were sympathetic or gay themselves. Gay men may not approach a brother to participate in a study, if the heterosexual brother was not comfortable with his gay brother’s sexuality. Therefore these numbers are likely inflated.
What this study shows, is that while there may be a genetic influence – emphasis on may – it is by no means definite or conclusive. The fact that adoptive brothers were more likely to be both homosexual than biological brothers even prompted the journal Science to respond : “This … suggests that there is no genetic component, but rather an environmental component shared in families.” Bailey agrees – on his website he says … “Because identical twins are often discordant for homosexuality, environment must matter. ”
Why am I telling you all this – because there is a myth out there that says homosexuality is genetic. People say “I’m born gay and I can’t do anything about it. It is natural for me.” The argument goes – if God created me this way, with this set of genes, then he can’t hold me responsible for seeking a loving relationship with a person of the same sex. How can he say that something he created is immoral and evil?
Scientific research to date says that homosexuality is not genetic. You don’t inherit it.
Even if it was, genetic, does having a particular set of genes control our behaviour? No. Regardless of our genes, we still have a choice in how we behave and how we live. And we are responsible for our choices.
What if we were to find a pedophile gene, or a homicide gene or an alcoholic gene? Do we accept that behaviour too because some people are genetically programmed to prey on children, to kill or to drink to excess? No, as society, we wouldn’t accept it. We’d still expect people to life in a way that respected and benefited all of society.
What most researchers do admit, rather than a gene causing homosexuality, is a genetic predisposition. This may explain why some people feel different from an early age. One homosexual wrote …
“I never decided to be more attracted to men than to women. If I did have the chance to choose, I certainly would not have chosen to be the kind of person all the other kids considered to be a freak. I felt totally helpless when my sexual urges were toward boys and not girls.”
While your genetics do not determine if you are homosexual or not, your genetics may make you more predisposed to same sex attraction. Some people are born with a predisposition to alcoholism or gluttony or work-aholism or rage and some have a predisposition to homosexuality. A person with a pre-disposition to alcoholism is not automatically an alcoholic. It’s like a person who has a predisposition to be a sportsman. They are not born an Olympic athlete, but with training and the right choices in life, they can become a great athlete rather than just a person who is athletic. A person with a predisposition to homosexuality doesn’t automatically become a homosexual, but the predisposition makes it easier for them to slip into this lifestyle. The bible actually says that ever since the Fall, we all have a predisposition to sin. David said in
Ps 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
We are genetically pre-disposed to sin in general and I would hasten to add that we all have a predisposition to a specific sin in particular. We all have temptations that come our way and while some people’s area of temptation may be in homosexuality, another’s is with pride or anger or independence. We will each be tempted somehow, but all of these sinful tendencies do not give us a right or an excuse to sin.
So Where does homosexuality come from then?
It is more likely to be the result of a whole series of things which will always include biological factors (the genetic predisposition we have just talked about), environmental factors and your own individual responses.
Many researchers believe that homosexuality is more learned than inherited. It is developed over time as a result of many experiences and a person’s responses to those experiences.
One person has likened the development of sexuality to a stream. Every child has a stream of sexuality that begins as a trickle, but grows as they get older. In every child’s life are a series of rocks which may be big or small or not there at all. These rocks interrupt the normal flow of sexual development and in some cases they divert the flow of sexuality completely and set it on a path that may result in a broken or damaged sexuality.
Some of the environmental factors include things like
• A break-down of significant same sex-relationships – either with the same-sex parent or same sex peers. Elizabeth Moberly has written that “One consistent underlying principle suggests itself; that the homosexual has suffered from some deficit in the relationship with significant others of the same sex ” … It may be that one of the parents is absent or consciously or unconsciously rejects the child or does not present an adequate role model. It may be that the child has been abused by a member of the same sex. It may be that their peer group rejects them as different or queer. The two most important same-sex relationships that a child has is with the same-sex parent and their peer group and often in a homosexual’s development, there is evidence that one or both of these is damaged. I say often here, so parents, don’t whip themselves into thinking that they have been a failure and are the cause of their child’s homosexuality. Because all people are unique, there will be a different set of circumstances (or rocks) that contribute to every homosexuality developing a same-sex orientation.
All we can say is that some research indicates that where a break-down in same-sex relationships occurs, there is a higher than normal chance of the child turning to a homosexual lifestyle. This is in part because the child makes a vow never to be like that person who has rejected them. They begin to detach themselves from the person who has rejected them in order to protect themselves from more hurt and essentially say “I don’t want to be like you” which can easily lead to a rejection of their own gender.
• Labelling by self of peer – kids calling other kids gay or different can make a child
• Sexual abuse
• Early exposure to sex or pornography – typical in an abusive situation
• Family disruption
• Passive / absent father – dominant / smothering mother
• Lack of unconditional love / poor self esteem
• Fear of the opposite sex
The result of many of these factors is that a developing child begins to doubt their own sexuality and is drawn unconsciously to members of the same sex. They think … “Perhaps I can gain from your maleness / femaleness what I know is lacking in my own”
What this says to us is that the environment in which children are growing up in has a big part to play in how they develop sexually. I believe the level of homosexuality will increase in the future because the rocks seem to be getting bigger in children’s lives. Families are increasingly becoming dysfunctional. Divorce is increasing and so more kids are being raised with out significant role models in both sexes. Abuse is increasing and we are normalizing homosexuality as a viable and in fact a positive option.
What does this mean for us here tonight. Firstly, I want you to understand that for some people sitting here, there is likely to be a predisposition to homosexuality. I don’t doubt that. But – you know, we live in a fallen world and we all have a predisposition to sin. All of us have a particular struggle with some sin. It is the chink in our armour that Satan loves to exploit when he tempts us. Some of us have a predisposition to lose our temper. Some of us have a predisposition to lust after people of the opposite sex. Some of us have a predisposition to lust after people of the same sex. The point is, we all have a predisposition to sin, but this does not mean that we have to give into it (but we’ll talk about that more next week). When we relate to people who have a predisposition to homosexuality, we need to treat them with honesty, compassion and grace – recognising that they are just like us, struggling with sin. As we said last week, they aren’t to be judged, but to be accepted as people struggling just like you and me. Let’s walk the journey together because we are all struggling with the same problem.
Some of you here tonight are parents and have the opportunity to build positive relationships with your children. While this is no guarantee, it is the best chance you have to help your children develop healthy sexuality. So invest in your children’s futures now, be a good role model for your kids and develop strong relationships. Help them to see
Some of you here are not parents, but have the opportunity to minister to kids and youth who are hurting and who are on the verge of having their sexuality damaged through relationship breakdown and other events in their lives. You can have a huge impact on their lives by stepping into the gap and accepting them as they are. Acceptance is what every child or teenager craves and if homosexuality is predominantly a learned behaviour as the research is showing, then with love and acceptance and the right role-models, negative habits can be unlearned. Learn to foster healthy self –images in the children you minister to – encourage them, support them, compliment them. Help them build their self-esteem and in so doing, you will build a positive self image of themselves as a man or woman. So if you are ministering to children or youth in this church, you have a wonderful opportunity to impact them positively.
Next week I want to wrap our short series up, by looking at 4 more myths and some advice to help those who are struggling with the temptation of homosexuality.
