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Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - 8:28pmSanction this postReply
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During tonight's Presidential debate, both candidates were asked whether they thought homosexuality was a choice:

Bush: "I don't know."

Kerry: "...it's not a choice."

What does this mean? Probably not too much, but I actually found it refreshing that a simple question was asked that penetrated to the core of a contentious issue.  That doesn't happen too often.


Post 1

Thursday, October 14, 2004 - 9:36pmSanction this postReply
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Neither sounds bad to me. I think neither of them would offend many people with such answers. But I maybe wrong...

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Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 11:05pmSanction this postReply
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That's right Hong, both are very politically calculated answers.  Yet, in this case, they also seem sincere. 

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Monday, October 25, 2004 - 6:08pmSanction this postReply
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Does anyone here think that sexual orientation has anything to do with genetics?

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Monday, October 25, 2004 - 6:54pmSanction this postReply
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I tend to believe that a person's sexual orientation is largely predetermined, in other words, coded in their genomes. But of course such genes have not been identified...

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Monday, October 25, 2004 - 7:03pmSanction this postReply
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"Does anyone here think that sexual orientation has anything to do with genetics?"

If a formerly heterosexual female rape victim becomes homosexual because of that rape I would think that is evidence of sexual orientation as not completely genetic. Although, I don't think that such circumstances constitute volitional homosexuality either. So... I don't know.

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Monday, October 25, 2004 - 8:05pmSanction this postReply
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If homosexuality had something to do with genetics (which were passed on from generation to generation) would this mean that in a few generations time there would be no homosexuals left, as it becomes more acceptable and homosexuals no longer enter into hetrosexual relationships?



Post 7

Monday, October 25, 2004 - 8:29pmSanction this postReply
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Martin,

I guess it would depend on the nature of the gene(s) that would influence such behavior - how many they were and what the environmental triggers are, if any. 

I think identical twin studies seem to show that sexual orientation does have an environmental component/trigger (which is not the same as saying that it is reversible or volitional). 

Just wondering what others thought.


Post 8

Monday, October 25, 2004 - 8:48pmSanction this postReply
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May be homosexuality is more of a mutant? I doubt it is hereditary.  Or we just never would know since they are not breeding?
(Edited by Hong Zhang on 10/25, 10:04pm)


Post 9

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 8:15amSanction this postReply
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I agree with Pete that a philosophical question regarding fundamentals, interjected into politics, is awfully refreshing (it is rare indeed - thanks Bob Schieffer!).

However, I don't believe that these 2 knuckleheads will attempt to integrate this fundamental into their actual political behavior - they merely paid their lip service when put on the spot to do so.

Regarding homosexuality, I think that we're born (genetically) on a spectrum of sexual orientation - and that most choose to live out at the ends of the spectrum (either hetero-sexual or homo-sexual).

An illustrative analogy is dieting: some do best on diets by never "cheating" and some do best on diets by instituting a "cheat day" every 1-2 weeks (as a reward to themselves).

But food choice is only one of a myriad of life choices, which each add up as an aggregate sum in order to get the grand conclusion of a person's "level of morality." This insight (and its analogous meaning to homosexuality) was not sufficiently explicated in past posts on the subject in this forum.

Whether sexual orientation has any identifiable moral "weight" FOR ANY GIVEN INDIVIDUAL is not an answerable question - without first knowing most of what there is to know about that particular individual, and most of what there is to know about their unique journey in life (a formidable task indeed!).

Ed
(Edited by Ed Thompson on 10/26, 8:18am)


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