The Problem, in A
Fundamental Nutshell:
'Is Your Baby Gay?'
By Lynne Duke,
washingtonpost.com from the Web, March 18, 2007
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The Rev.
R. Albert Mohler Jr., one of the leading voices of the 16
million-strong Southern Baptist Convention, raised the possibility
of a biological basis for homosexuality in his blog.
(Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Via Associated
Press) |
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Pity the poor fetus. There's a
lot coming its way. And now there's talk on a conservative evangelical
blog of a hypothetical hormone patch that an expectant mother might wear to
eradicate her fetus's natural gayness.
The patch, the biological determinism: It's all conjecture, for now.
But it hit like a theological IED when it turned up earlier this month on the
blog of the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., one of the leading voices of the 16
million-strong Southern Baptist Convention. He blogged on these issues
under the appropriately provocative headline: "Is Your Baby Gay? What if
You Could Know? What if You Could Do Something About It?" In his
postings, he raises the possibility of a biological basis for homosexuality and
prods his flock to think about how it should respond.
At a time when homosexuality in the military has reemerged as a flash point,
causing presidential candidates to deflect and dance gingerly around the topic,
Mohler has taken up the debate about the origins of homosexuality in a way he
admits has roiled many in the Christian right.
For seeming to contradict a basic tenet of anti-gay thinking -- that
homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, not a state of nature -- Mohler, president
of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, was inundated with
e-mails from readers who castigated him, he said on his blog Friday.
And for expressing his approval of a hypothetical prenatal intervention to
change a baby's sexual orientation, he was verbally attacked by gay-rights
advocates. Some of them likened him to the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele for seeming
to advocate the manipulation of nature to "basically wipe out gay people," said
Wayne R. Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, a group that fights efforts to
convert gays to heterosexuality.
To quiet the storm, Mohler's blog on Friday attempted to more fully explain his
thinking, sparked by an article by Tyler Gray, entitled "Is Your Baby Gay?," in
the March issue of Radar magazine.
"My purpose in writing my previous article was, in the main, to draw attention
to a very real threat to human dignity that lurks as a possibility on our
horizon, a possibility explicitly described in the Radar magazine article,"
Mohler wrote. "This is the possibility that, if a biological marker (real
or not) is ever claimed to mark homosexuality in prenatal testing, widespread
abortion of such babies might well follow," a prospect he denounced.
In an interview on Friday, Mohler said that Christian couples "should be open"
to the prospect of changing the course of nature -- if a biological marker for
homosexuality were to be found. He would not support gene therapy but
might back other treatments, such as a hormonal patch.
"I think any Christian couple would want their child to be whole and healthy,"
he said. "Knowing that that child is going to be a sinner, we would not
want to make their personal challenges more difficult if they could be less
difficult."
On his blog, he said "Christians must be very careful not to claim that science
can never prove a biological basis for sexual orientation. ... The general trend
of the research points to at least some biological factors behind sexual
attraction, gender identity and sexual orientation."
Indeed, some scientific research suggests homosexuality may stem from biological
influences including genetics and hormones. A 2006 study published in
Proceedings of the National Academies of Science concluded that homosexuality in
some men may be a result of an immune response in a mother's womb if she has
previously given birth to one or more boys. Earlier studies revealed a
genetic variation that might influence homosexuality.
On his blog, Mohler wrote that the search for a biological cause of the
"disorder" could also lead to a "cure." In the interview, however, he
distanced himself from the "therapeutic language of a 'cure' " and spoke instead
of "salvation through Christ." Homosexual behavior is sinful, he said,
whether based in nature or nurture.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, a pastor and member of the Evangelical Church Alliance,
which he said is probably the most conservative of the evangelical groups,
applauded Mohler for launching a dialogue.
But, he warned, "this is such a delicate and risky conversation to have for a
number or reasons ... We're going to have to be extremely prayerful and careful
about making any decision to tinker with a child's genetic or biochemical
construction. We may be awfully close to violating the sanctity of that
child's life and their integrity as a person."
Mohler has "touched the third rail of the radical religious right's view of
homosexuality," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, executive secretary of the National
Council of Churches, which represents 35 denominations and 45 million
congregants.
"What he said lends credence to the fact that it's God's creation. His
brothers in faith would be more surprised than liberals with his comments."
Ironically, Mohler's musings on these subjects were based on an article in an
irreverent pop culture magazine. Gray, the article's author, said he was
"not real happy" with the way Mohler used his writings.
"You can't just pick the parts that you like and say, 'I'm going to use this to
say that I would be okay with a treatment that would eradicate homosexuality,' "
said Gray, whose article raised the prospect for hypocrisy among conservatives
and liberals faced with choices about the sexuality of their unborn children.
Mohler's missive has had a "chilling and frightening effect" on the homosexual
community, said Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at the
Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group. "My word for
[Christian conservatives] is they should be more focused on repentance for the
sins they have committed against homosexuals than on manipulating the next
generation of the unborn."
Besen said Mohler's musing are akin to calling for a "final solution" for gays.
"It's the first time I've ever used such a term, and having a family background
that included the Holocaust I don't take that lightly," said Besen, author of
"Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay
Myth."
"However ... if you follow what he said there would be no gay people in the
future."
Homosexuality is a "huge challenge" to Christianity, said Mohler, referring, in
part, to the Rev. Ted Haggard, former president of the National Association of
Evangelicals, who was forced to step down last November because of a gay sex
scandal. And the Rev. Lonnie Latham, a member of the executive committee
of the Southern Baptist Convention, was embroiled in a gay sex scandal but was
found not guilty of having solicited sex from another man.
"In our churches and in our families there are people struggling with
homosexuality and for a long time this was kind of hidden," Mohler said in the
interview. "It is no longer hidden, and the fact is we've got to be coming
up with genuinely Christian responses to Christians who are in this struggle."
Asked if he perhaps was moving ahead of the science on homosexuality's origins,
Mohler said, "I don't think it's that far off. The battle for human
dignity is already here."
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