Friday, March 16, 2007

More on Mohler

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, is still in the news for musing that homosexuality may just be biological after all ...

This AP article in today's New York Times is basically just a rehash of Mohler's blog that I commented on last week ... "How far they would go ..."

It is kind of interesting to note, however, that he's "getting it from both sides:"

Mr. Mohler said in the article that scientific research “points to some level of biological causation” for homosexuality.

That suggestion offended fellow conservatives, Mr. Mohler said. Proof of a biological basis would challenge the belief of many conservative Christians that homosexuality, which they view as sinful, is a matter of choice that can be overcome through prayer and counseling.

But Mr. Mohler said he was criticized even more strongly by supporters of gay rights, who were upset by his assertion that homosexuality would remain a sin even if it were biologically based, and by his support for possible medical treatment that could change an unborn child’s sexual orientation.

“He’s willing to play God,” said Harry Knox, a spokesman on religious issues for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights group. “He’s more than willing to let homophobia take over and be the determinant of how he responds to this issue, in spite of everything else he believes about not tinkering with the unborn.”

Others picking up the story included:
TIME Magazine ... here
ABC News ... here
and (according to Google) at this point 228 other news sources

My, my, my!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just think,
Once they can fix the gay "problem"
then they can move on to eye color, skin tone, nose shape, hair color and type,,,,, didn't an other character in history set out to do the same thing?
hmmm

Anonymous said...

So Bruno . . . are you part of a pro-life movement or, at least, an opponent of partial-birth abortion?

Anonymous said...

Gee whiz, poor Mr. Mohler, don't you think it's about time to ship him off to an asylum for Southern Baptist bigots so he can rest awhile? The only problem is that he will probably dream up some other eugenic solutions to the problems he and others of his stripe think exist. Now, let's not tell Titus One Nine bloggers this, 'cause they are so fond of dear Mohler. Just ask Kendall Harmon.

Hiram said...

Here is a link to Dr Mohler's article on the responses and reactions to his first article:
http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=901

I never read the original article, and it is no longer available, so I can't respond to anything in it. It sounds as if someone took one thing he said, and made some inferences, and then the fur began to fly...

SometimesWise said...

Country Squire - perhaps you should read the article:
http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=891
and his follow-up:

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=901

before making judgements - just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

"Sometimes Wise:" 'cuse me, but do I sense some passion for Mr. Mohler's views lurking under your scalp? I've read enough of this bigot's writings to know whereof I speak. I am not making judgements, as you call them, I'm just suggesting that the appropriate place for this man is a nut house.

Anonymous said...

It is thought that there may be some genetic element to homosexuality, but in general it is not viewed as strongly determinant.

Here is a quote from Dr. Francis S. Colllins, the head of the Human Genome Project.

An area of particularly strong public interest is the genetic basis of homosexuality. Evidence from twin studies does in fact support the conclusion that heritable factors play a role in male homosexuality. However, the likelihood that the identical twin of a homosexual male will also be gay is about 20% (compared with 2-4 percent of males in the general population), indicating that sexual orientation is genetically influenced but not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations

So genetics may have some influence on homosexual behavior, but by no means does it drive it. After all, 4 out of 5 identical male twins with a homosexual brother are not homosexual themselves; you'd expect quite the opposite if genetics drove this. Instead, what we do see is what Christian doctrine will tell you. We are all born to sin, some more strongly than others and some to different sins than others. But God has granted us the ability to overcome our sins, including those of homosexual temptation.

RonF