It is ridiculous for Jennifer Keeton or anyone else to say they consider gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender lifestyles as "identify confusion" and that homosexuality is a behavioral choice.
Does she think she can become a lesbian if she so chooses? I am a heterosexual and could not choose to be gay. Many people have friends and relatives who are not heterosexual, and who I am sure did not choose their male/female preference or behavior.
Behavioral studies are documented where non-heterosexuals formed a class and met on a regular basis for months for discussion and guidance, and to pray for change. Their goal was to change their behavior and desire and become heterosexual. Results were that all participants failed to change.
We are all a blessing from God. Included in our makeup are "X and Y" chromosomes. I believe people have different numbers of "X and Y" chromosomes, and this is what makes us different. This is why some males are more feminine, and some females are more masculine.
I definitely believe in God and the Bible, but one must remember the Bible was written by men -- not God -- and text should not always be used to support a personal belief.
Frank Allen
Augusta
Perhaps sexual attraction is biology. But behavior is a choice.
brilliant retard. the only thing that is a choice is breeding.
Clemens: If you disagree, then please explain how behavior isn't a choice.
If sexual attraction isn't a choice, and as an adult human being I am true to myself, then acting on it is not a choice. Being anything other than true to myself is dishonest, a lie, hurts me and hurts those around me.
I find myself attracted to many of the opposite sex, not all, but many. I choose to not act on all of those attractions. If I did not I would surely find myself afoul of the law.
nocatch, it is not afoul of the law to be promiscuous. That is the choice you have. And if you choose to be promiscuous while lying to your wife you are a lier and it is grounds for divorce, not jail. Your logic fails.
Clemens: being "true to yourself" is not a force that overrides choice. You can say that it's a factor in your choice but you still make the decision with your brain. Logical fallacy.
All sex is a choice. Haven't run into anyone having accidential sex. God doesn't declare something a sin and then not give someone a way to avoid it. If fact, He says He gives a way of escape from every temptation. Trying to defend sin is a stressful, tiring, and anger producing lifestyle. Why not come over the the other side and become Jesus's friend and live in peace and joy; loving God and each other.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. Not only was the bible written by men, it has been heavily edited and the content carefully selected by men as well. Accepting everything in it as the "word of god" is literally, a leap of faith.
As an aside, I agree with this writer's main points. They are fair and come from the heart even if his knowledge of biology is limited. Ignorance of biology does not discredit his views. For the record, we all have the same number of chromosomes, 23. Males have 22 'X' plus a 'Y' chromosome pair, females have 23 'X' chromosome pairs. In VERY RARE instances, we are born with an extra X or an extra Y. The general term, intersex, incompasses both chromosomal abnormalities and diseases associated with hormonal abnormalities. Gays and lesbians are biologically and psychologically normal. Where there may be a difference is simply in genetic expression. In most traits, such as eye/skin/hair color or handedness, multiple genes may cooperate to produce the trait in addition to some being "dominant" over others.
Well big vike, you can't really prove that the contents were heavily edited and carefully selected so that statement is based on faith as well.
Retard/Fiat or whoever your are, no one on this thread is a subject matter expert on the Bible, but scholarly research among both Jewish and Christian historians and archeologists disagrees with you even if simply about matters of translation, scribing, scribal editorializing, writing in the name of previous authors and errors in reconstructing ancient texts from torn fragments that were torn 2200 years ago and remain torn today.
Actually Retard, Big_vike is quite right in his statement and there is quite a bit of historical evidence to support it.
That's not to say that the bible isn't a great book. It is and has provided strength and solace for many people for many years. However, getting wrapped up in trying to quote from it to judge other people is folly.
Terms like Male and Female may seem like obvious distinctions, but the lines can blur when studied at a genetic level. Scientists have learned alot, but not everything, about the effect of genetics on human sexuality. However, at the end of the day, the process of life on earth as defined through genetics is part of Creation and who are we to judge?
"being "true to yourself" is not a force that overrides choice"
Then we have different ideas of what it means to be an adult. My "God" says you MUST write with your left hand from now on. I don't care whether it is natural for you to write with your right hand. I don't care if it hampers your ability to learn and communicate with others. Appearance is everything. Better yet, go ahead and sneak around and only write with your right hand when you can hide it then lie to all of us who are more righteous. Then we can all feel better. Fool ourselves and God. Better yet, don't write at all. We don't care what your kind has to say anyway. Your right handedness discredits you from the get-go. Anyone else hearing any of this in all the previous posts?????
A very little bit of research will find that man DID pick and choose which stories to put into the christian bible. This happened at the Council of Carthage in 397 C.E. Christ had been dead for over 300 years before people could decide what fairy tales, sorry, "gospels," were to be included in their most holy book.
At the heart of the matter is Ms. Keeton and her unwillingness to put aside her own beliefs to counsel those who may come to her in need. If she is unable to do this then she is unable to function effectively in her chosen profession, sort of like a construction worker that doesn't like working outside. It has also been stated by the university that in not being able to set aside her somewhat extreme views of her religion that she is breaking the code of ethics as set forth by the school and the American Counseling Association as well as the American School Counselor Association. The latter two organizations of which she will have to conform to if she wishes to work as a counselor.
It's not about punishing the poor little christian girl (add sarcasm liberally). It's about a girl who refused to follow the guidelines set for her chosen profession and now she's crying about the repercussions.
Thank you for your insightful article. It seems that the commenters are confusing Gender Identity with Sexual behavior. Behavior can be repressed but Identity is fixed at birth. I'm a 3 year post-operative Trans woman. I am essentially celibate and really have very little interest in sex at my age of 57. So lets debunk this myth that being Transgender or Gay makes you promiscuous.
Actually Gender Identity and Sexuality are far more commplicated than just what chromosomes we are born with. Most likely there are maternal hormonal effects, genetic mutations, and environmental factors that can all play a role in our brain gender identity and our sexuality. Studies have been shown that by altering a specific gener which affects a particular enzyme can change female mice into lesbians.
Neurobiology and body chemistry has a huge influence on our personality and behavior.
As far as repressing your true identity or sexual preferance, I think that most psychological studies have shown this to be very psychologically unhealthy. Very few people have the ability to change either their Gender Identity or Sexual preference. I think statistics of Ex-gay conversion therapy is about 4% successful. Since Gender Identity is a spectrum, there are a few people who are bigender and can choose which gender to live as. Most can't because they are not bigender and they fall further to the polar extreme of the gender spectrum. Same goes for bisexuals.
Sexual behavior can also be influence by environmental factors e.g. prison, child molestation, rape. It is incredibly inhumane to deny a person of the ability to live as they feel appropriate or to be able to love as they choose.
As far as the Bible goes, I agree that the books of the Bible were compiled by men (Catholic bishops) in the Middle ages (Council of Nicea) and very much influenced by politics of the day. It is not a fax from heaven...lol. It must be understood in the culture and context that it was written in and understood with the limited scientific knowledge available at the time...Another debate for another time...lol. Many progressive denominations are re-examining these issues in light of modern scientific understanding and rejecting the historical treatment by the Church towards GLBT people.
ZeeBee, while I salute you for actually knowing your history, you will find that the majority of posters who are so vehemently supporting Ms. Keeton do not even know the basic definitions of the words "fact" and "faith". They think any ideology they choose to accept is "fact" rather than "faith".
Clemens: I know that there is plenty of Biblical theory out there. This is the reason there are so many denominations. However, I've never presented myself as an expert and at the moment I wasn't discussing my personal Christian beliefs. Just faith in general.
About "being true to yourself": we'd have a horrible world if we were required to be true to our internal desires such that we act on all of them. Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and many other criminal sociopaths could very well use your argument to not only justify their actions but claim innocence because they "don't have a choice". Every day you decide to do or not do things. Sometimes it's in line with feelings, emotion, and nature but other times it's in line with our logical minds. This is what separates us from pure animals and IMO what makes us "adults".
Clemens: I know that there is plenty of Biblical theory out there. This is the reason there are so many denominations. However, I've never presented myself as an expert and at the moment I wasn't discussing my personal Christian beliefs. Just faith in general.
About "being true to yourself": we'd have a horrible world if we were required to be true to our internal desires such that we act on all of them. Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and many other criminal sociopaths could very well use your argument to not only justify their actions but claim innocence because they "don't have a choice". Every day you decide to do or not do things. Sometimes it's in line with feelings, emotion, and nature but other times it's in line with our logical minds. This is what separates us from pure animals and IMO what makes us "adults".
If this student choose to attend a secular university, then she needs to abide by their rules, which are guidelines set by professionals in the area of study. This university has an obligation to the public to graduate students who are educated appropriately and will not harm their patients.
She has the right to believe whatever she wants, including the tooth ferrie but she has no right to inflict her extremist beliefs on her patients, which could do immeasurable harm to someone who is confused and emotionally vulnerable.
If she wants to continue to profess her bigoted and uniformed views, she needs to go to some conservative Christian College, where she will fit right in.
I don't understand why so many keep falling back on that same argument of placing two consenting adult's consensual relationships in the same category of horrendous sex crime forced on someone outside of consent. IConsensual, loving relationships do not affect you in a harmful way. Aggressive, violent acts do. Has nothing to do with the subject at hand.
Local interests: there is no evidence of purposeful and malicious editing and selection of Biblical text. It's an unprovable statement. Which is why I called it out.
Retard :- If you would look up the word 'true' in the dictionary you may draw other conclusions. Apart from definitions such as faithful, loyal, accurate, legitimate, consistant, Mr Webster puts it as 'being that which is the case rather than what is manifest or assumed '.
@ retard. To compare someone who is Gay, Bi, or Trans to rapists, pedophiles, and criminal sociopaths is absurd and clearly indicates your prejudice against GLBT peoplke. There are laws against harming people or violence against society. Being GLBT is about choices that rational adults make, which has no harmful effect on society.
jiclemens
Funny you said that about left handedness as it is generally looked down upon and used to signify bad in the bible.
Retard,
You didn't call out anything, keep walking the "slippery slope", what I said is completely true. I can go to a book store right now and find several different bibles all different, what makes the one you read the "right one", what makes the bible more correct than the Quran, or the Torah? The fact that you believe it?
Retard: An entire course of study could be committed to the reign of Constantinople and his Counsel of Nicea in creating and defining the New Testament. Later translations would be even further courses of study. In fact, the Jews had made similar efforts years before in creating and defining the Old Testament.
The bible is a great book but it's history is considerably more complicated than your local preacher might lead you to believe. Like an earlier poster said, it wasn't a fax from heavan.
Unfortunately, retard and friends have no case beyond the Bible for their hate so they consistently resort to hysteria and lies.
On another note, there is a huge difference between cheating on your wife and living authentically and being true to yourself.
Many gay and trans folks get married thinking that will "fix" their problems. It doesn't. It just creates more collateral damage due to divorce and the negative effects of trying to be somebody that you are not.
I have found that following my instincts rather than trying to be someone that others want me to be is the best prescription for happiness.
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