Are Homosexuals “Born that Way”?
One major defense for homosexuality is that those who have this inclination were “born that way.” In other words, they have a genetic predisposition for the practice. The obvious problem with this line of reasoning is that it suggests that people are in bondage to fleshly desires or whims and must live according to them because, after all, they were “born that way.”
For instance, since I like ice cream and my flesh desires to eat a gallon of ice cream every day, does that mean I have to live that way and suffer the inevitable consequences — obesity and bad health? I’m a 58 year-old married man, if I spot an alluring young woman and I discern my flesh yearning for her, should I act on that whim on the grounds that I was “born that way”? Or take men who have a fleshly penchant for adolescent or preadolescent girls. Does that justify that they should live as ephebophiles or pedophiles? Obviously not. It’s the same thing with a fleshly predisposition for homosexuality.
When I say “fleshly” I’m talking about the sinful nature, which is the evil side of every human being ever born; this carnal nature constantly flashes negative thoughts/desires to one’s mind (Galatians 5:17 & Romans 7:18). Freud called it the “id” (not that I’m a follower of Freud). Each person has the choice to either 1. feed these impulses with their thought life, which naturally increases the desire and ultimately compels him/her to sinful action or 2. reject the impulses by not feeding them and not acting on them (Romans 8:5). This explains what the LORD says:
“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”
The problem with modern society is that our celebrities and learning institutions in Western (or Western-influenced) areas have for the most part thrown out the concept of evil or unhealthy desires. Instead they essentially teach that any desire you have is good and should be embraced & acted upon because you were “born that way,” no matter how dubious, unhealthy or perverse. It’s all about doing what “feels good” at the moment, which is the hedonists‘ manifesto. Anyone who doesn’t do this is “repressed” (rolling my eyes).
It’s important that we differentiate between the desires of the sinful nature, which every human being experiences on a regular basis, and the actual embracing & practice of those desires, whether in imagination or deed. To experience a fleshly thought is not a sin because that’s what the sinful nature constantly produces — destructive whims, ideas and desires. Rather it’s the practice of those fleshly inclinations (in thought or action) that is sin. You can learn more about this inner war within every human soul and the biblical model of human nature here.
Liberals today want to reinterpret morality and therefore claim that homosexuality is not sinful. They argue that it’s something to be proudly embraced and lived as a lifestyle. Even more, they encourage the person to identify with the fleshly desire, à la ‘Gay American’ and so on. However the Bible plainly says it’s a sin, both Old Testament and New Testament (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 & Leviticus 18:22). ‘Sin‘ literally means to miss the mark. In other words it’s moral error and the practice of sin (in thought or deed) will lead to destruction in some way, including eternal destruction.
Yet you don’t have to be a Christian or know any verse in the Bible to grasp that homosexuality is wrong. It’s a matter of being honest about the obvious facts of reality. It’s common sense and you don’t need the Bible to tell you one way or another. I don’t mean to be crude, but honestly consider the male and female sex organs. They’re simple to figure out: Tab ‘A’ fits into Slot ‘B.’ Tab ‘A’ doesn’t fit with Tab ‘B’ nor does Slot ‘B’ fit with Slot ‘A.’ It’s common sense. Those who rebel against this glaring natural axiom are rebelling against their Creator and nature itself. They’re embracing a lie.
Thankfully, as the Lord proclaimed, the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32) and thus freedom from any fleshly issue is available for anyone who wants it, even if it’s a life-dominating sin bondage, like homosexuality, drug addiction or porn bondage. You can find details here.
Now let’s get back to the core question as to whether being born with a fleshly inclination for homosexuality justifies the practice of this behavior…
I had a friend from my youth who constantly struggled with alcohol all his life until he passed away earlier this year at the premature age of 53. He obviously had a fleshly predisposition for alcohol consumption. I overindulged in drinking alcohol in my mid-teens simply because, as a reserved youngster, I enjoyed being inebriated and letting loose socially. In short, I enjoyed drinking because I enjoyed the effects of alcohol. Yet I quit the so-called party lifestyle well before I was 20 years-old and have never struggled with the temptation of drunkard-ness since. My friend was born with a fleshly inclination for alcohol while I wasn’t. Yet we both indulged in overdrinking with the difference that I quit before I entered my 20s. What’s my point? We both engaged in this sinful behavior yet only one of us was born with the fleshly predisposition for it. You can relate this to any sinful activity.
Take homosexuality, there are homosexuals who have always been inclined toward that behavior because they were born with a flesh proclivity for this particular sin, but other homosexuals plainly admit that they chose the lifestyle for one reason or another, such as easy sexual gratification, a (misguided) sense of intimacy with others of their gender and freedom from the awkwardness & hassles of romancing the opposite sex; the behavior naturally developed into an addiction, meaning a flesh bondage.
Consider Billy Hayes, who was imprisoned in Turkey from 1970-1975 when he was 23-28 years-old. In his autobiographical account, Midnight Express, he admitting to having a homosexual affair in prison for sexual gratification and a sense of intimacy. After escaping, he was at an airport in Greece preparing to fly home to America wherein he purchased a nudie mag at the book store because, he reasoned, he hadn’t seen a woman for so many years. The point is that he engaged in homosexuality for a period of time in prison, but he wasn’t “born that way” and obviously preferred women as far as sexual attraction goes. When it comes down to it, homosexuality is a sexual behavior and not something necessary for survival, like air, food and water.
Want more proof that not all people who practice homosexuality were born with a flesh inclination for it? If they were all “born that way” then the percentage of homosexuals would remain constant in any given society. But that’s not the case. For instance, homosexuality was rampant in Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19:3-5) and the town of Gibeah in Benjamin (Judges 19:22), the latter of which led to a war between the Benjaminites and the other Hebrew tribes based on — essentially — homosexual rights, which tragically ended with the tribe of Benjamin almost being wiped out (Judges 19-21). Truly, “the wages of sin is death.”
From a biblical standpoint, the rise of homosexuality indicates that a society is in its final stages of decay, which eventually incurs the Creator’s judgment because it’s an intrinsic abomination that defiles the landscape, resulting in the land “vomiting out its inhabitants,” one way or another (Romans 1:18-32, Leviticus 18:22 & 18:28). This has been borne out in societies throughout history, like the Greek and Roman empires.
Basically, as a society decays morally, homosexuality becomes the ‘sin du jour’ and spreads socially because it’s the ‘hip’ thing to do. This is what happened in Sodom & Gomorrah and Gibeah in the Bible. We see it happening today in America with homosexual bastions, such as parts of San Francisco, Provincetown, New York City, Palm Springs, Key West and many others. It was the same with Sodom & Gomorrah 3900 years ago and Gibeah 3000 years ago. Truly, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This, incidentally, destroys the arrogant argument that homosexuality is something “new” and “progressive.” No, it’s a perverse, unnatural act that is as old as sin.
So not all people who practice homosexuality were born with a fleshly inclination for this behavior. Many were attracted to the perverse lifestyle for reasons already noted. Others were lured into it by a practicing homosexual. Why else do you think homosexuals typically make references to “converting” people? If all homosexuals were “born that way” then no one would have to be converted.
Being the ‘sin du jour’ today, people are being brainwashed into the lifestyle. For instance, a girl I knew was encouraged by her uber-liberal mother to watch the Ellen DeGeneres show since she was a little girl. They watched it religiously on a daily basis wherein the girl was constantly exposed to DeGeneres’ “gay” propaganda. Is it any wonder that, upon reaching adulthood, she ‘came out’ as a lesbian and ‘married’ her lover?
I’m sharing this with compassion about the moral fall of America & modern Western nations in general with the hope of waking people up from the brainwashing of militant homosexuals & their enablers to see freedom through the gospel. God is calling all to repentance & faith (Acts 20:21); this includes people who have a flesh penchant for homosexuality or any other sinful practice.
Being born with a carnal inclination for a certain sin is no defense to justify its practice. If it were then thieves, pathological liars, drunkards, pedophiles and adulterers could claim innocence on the grounds that they were “born that way.” While I hate sin and the fleshly bondage it brings, I don’t hate people. Rather, I want to see them set free and do everything in my power to accomplish this, despite the knee-jerk persecution from Liberals. Speaking of which, some unbelievers will automatically accuse…
‘You’re a Bigot and a Homophobe!’
For those who rashly jump to such a conclusion, please consider this: The Bible plainly teaches that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This includes those who practice homosexuality. Like all people, the LORD has lovingly provided a way for them to escape their sin and the wages thereof — death — to reconcile via spiritual rebirth and obtain eternal life.
Is homosexuality wrong in God’s eyes? Yes, but so is fornication, adultery, drunkard-ness, pomposity, hatred, strife, gossip, slander, religious hypocrisy and numerous other sins (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 & Galatians 5:19-21). The wages of all sin is death and God wants us to escape it through the gospel, which literally means “good news” because it holds the power to set us free and reconcile us to our Creator (Romans 6:23). You see, there’s no discrimination — the LORD wants all people across the board to be set free from slavery to fleshly bondages. Christianity’s all about freedom: “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free” (Galatians 5:1).
Modern culture has embraced two lies:
- If you disapprove of someone’s lifestyle it automatically means that you fear or hate them;
- to truly love someone you must agree with everything they believe and do.
This is absurd. I don’t approve of practicing alcoholics, addicts and fornicators, but this doesn’t mean I fear or hate them. I actively walk in love toward arrogant people, liars, adulterers and slanderers, but that doesn’t mean I agree with their destructive behaviors. And by “walk in love” I don’t just mean the gentle variety because sometimes “tough love” is in order, which includes sharing the awful truth about the wages of sin — eternal death.
Related Topics:
Homosexuality is a Sin, BUT there’s Freedom through Christ
Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled
(Pseudo) Science is the “New God” and Dubious Scientists are the “New Gods”
What are the Sources of Truth (Reality)?
Understanding “the Right” and “the Left” from a Biblical Perspective
The Left’s Unbalanced View of Christ & Christianity
Understanding the Religion of LIEberalism
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