Jocelyn Fuentes November 20,2018
English 1101 Argumentative Essay
HOMOSEXUALITY:Were we born being gay?
Is homosexuality a new trend now or will there be a cause for such an increase in homosexuality? The truth is that even neuroscientific people and homosexual people are yet to find the real reason why they are homosexual. Some people reason that they were born gay or that there is a gene that indicates they are homosexual. However,in my opinion we are not born gay or have a special gene indicating we are gay. In at least five articles it demonstrates the different views each author has and some similarities they have. The articles are “The Last Mile” a chapter of a book The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, “Homosexuality:Born or Bred?”by Newsweek Staff, ‘God Made You This Way,’ Pope Is Said to Have Told Gay Man,by Jason Horowitz,“The Innate-Immutable Argument Finds No Basis In Science”by Dean Byrd and the Watchtower Online Library. My belief in homosexuality is that it is neither evolutionary,biological,neuroscientific,genetic,culture and etc. For me it is neither of the choices because I strongly believe that we were not not born gay or have a special gene that indicates a person is gay. There are enough reasons to actually believe in this, since the beginning of the creation we were created as a man and a women. As stated in the Bible in Genesis chapter 1 verse 27.(Genesis 1:27 JW Library)
No one is born with different characteristics than the other or have an extra gene. We are all composed with the same amount of genetic information. For example,in the “The Last Mile”a chapter from the book The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee there is an example of different cases on twins who were far away from each other. Mukherjee stated that there were two men who had been separated at birth and had a similar life. “ Both Jims had married women named Linda. Both had owned dogs that they had named Toy.”(Mukherjee,383) Siddhartha Mukherjee is saying in other words that twins are capable to have similar genetic information which will bring them together always. The truth is that even though twins have some similar characteristics but they don’t have the same blood type,or the same exact genes. Identical twins have special characteristics and there was and is a Creator who has the capability to create them with such special characteristics. The genes that are found in twins are particularly important to examine that there was a Creator who made them have such genes. For instance,we were created as the same image of God which it is stated in the Bible as well in Genesis 1:26,27. It states that “Let us make man in our image,according to our likeness”(JW Library), meaning that we are all created with the ability to love,care,be generous,benevolent and so on.This takes us to the next example which is Simon LeVay who states that was homosexual at the age of 12 also known as the age of hormones being all over the place.
Simon LeVay wanted to prove that it’s a matter of destiny not choice. LeVay stated an example of a mother who had a child at 17 who revealed he was gay. Usually around the age of 12-19 many young adolescents want to experiment new things in their life and are still undecided which is why they incline towards becoming gay. This means that we were not born gay because they realize they like people of their same sex at an age in which they don’t know what they want yet. Annette E. Brenner mentioned that she would negotiate with her son but didn’t have the results she wanted so she would always thought“ Sure,this week you’re homosexual. Enjoy the experiment,have fun. Next week you’ll be a Hare Krishna”(Staff,9) As a mother you should never try to negotiate but instead orient your son or daughter because during that age it’s when they need more attention. In my opinion parents have the obligation to discipline and orient them because they need of the parents around that age. Around the age of 13 it’s more likely to have certain type of inclinations and as I was taught during my entire life,parents should always be able to help their children when they seek help. Orienting the child isn’t the only thing you can do but also realize how God sees you.
A.Dean Byrd believed that there were many opinions that were controversy. In the article, “The Innate-Immutable Argument Finds No Basis in Science”, Dean Byrd stated that Mitchell thought “Homosexuality is not purely genetic…environmental factors play a role.There is not a single master gene that makes people gay…I don’t think we will ever predict who will be gay”(Byrd,1) There are no specific proves that anyone will know someone is gay or born being gay. Mitchell wanted to leave clearly that scientific people are yet to prove we were born gay or have a way to predict someone will be gay. Even though there might be some traits that are deeply ingrained in a person it is up to us to orient ourselves. Another statement that was stated is what an activist Camille Paglia said “Homosexuality is not ‘normal.’ On the contrary it is a challenge to the norm…Nature exists whether academics like it or not. And in nature,procreation is the single relentless rule. That is the norm. Our sexual bodies were designed for reproduction… no one is born gay. The idea is ridiculous…homosexuality is an adaptation,not an inborn trait…”( Byrd,3) Even though I don’t fully agree with the statement I do agree that we were designed for reproduction and if there are two men or two women how will there be reproduction. In order to have children there must be a men and a women because the female needs the sperm of the male. If we weren’t created with such traits then how were we born.
God designed sex to be engaged in only between a male and a female and only within the arrangement of marriage. However I would like to clear my view of homosexuality which is that I don’t hate homosexuals but I can’t approve of their conduct. What the Pope said in the article ‘God Made You This Way,’Pope Is Said to Have Told Gay Man doesn’t go in agreement with what other religions teach you. For example, Pope Francis said to the Chilean Juan Carlos Cruz that “You have to be happy with who you are.God made you this way and loves you this way,and the Pope loves you this way.”(Horowitz,1) This is contradicting from what Mitchell said in the article of Dean Byrd because the pope said that we were born gay meanwhile Mitchell said that there are no proofs that we were born with a gay trait. Also, “The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that people with “homosexual tendencies” “must be accepted with respect,compassion,and sensitivity,” but it also calls a “deep-seated” homosexual inclination and its acts “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law”(Horowitz,2) This is definitely controversial because even though they make it look like the religion of Catholicism is respectful, God is also a kind God and tells us to show kindness to all people even if they are gay. As Jehovah Witness we are not homophobic and do not reject homosexual people but their conduct. To illustrate it, I also choose not to smoke. In fact, I find the very idea of it repugnant. But suppose you’re a smoker and you feel differently. I wouldn’t be prejudiced against you for your view,just as I’m sure you wouldn’t be prejudiced against me for my view,right? The same principle applies to our differing views of homosexuality.(Watchtower Online Library,g 12/10 pp.22-24) We are not prejudiced against homosexual people but just don’t agree the fact that it is said thaws were born that way and that God love you the way you are. God is benevolent and loves everyone but didn’t create us with homosexual inclinations.
Religion is a controversial topic but throughout my argument I have accomplished remarking what I see and think. As mentioned before I am Jehovah Witness and I do not hate homosexual people but I don’t approve their conduct. I have been Jehovah Witness since I was 3 years old and I can affirm that God is love,benevolent,and is wise. There is no other like him and even though there are many proofs to see him many people don’t want to see it. Mitchell and Camille Paglia both mentioned in the article of Dean Byrd both agree that there are proofs that we have an inborn trait or have developed a gay trait in us. The pope and Simon LeVay both are in concordance since they both believe that we were born gay or have the approbation of God. We were all born with natural inclinations but as time has passed being gay has become a trend and it is very common to see more homosexual people.
In conclusion,homosexuality is a controversial topic to talk about because it can involve evolution,religion,biology,neuroscience,genes,culture and more. It is now a trend and has been developing as a natural law for many people. Although I have mentioned this at least two times I would like to repeat it so no one takes it the as if I was prejudiced. I do not hate homosexual people but I cannot approve of their conduct. The four articles helped me see how many different views there are. But in the last website I saw that it was very useful to take out key facts in order to explain in more details. I respect everyone’s different views but I hope there is respect towards my personal view.
MLA 8 Citation
Byrd, A. (2001). The Innate-Immutable Argument Finds No Basis in Science. [online] Available at: Http://www.narth.com/docs/innate.html [Accessed 16 Jul. 2012].
Horowitz, J. (2018). ‘God Made You This Way,’Pope Is Said to Have Told Gay Man. [online] Available at: Https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/world/europe/pope-francis [Accessed 30 Oct. 2018].
MUKHERJEE, SIDDHARTHA, 2016, The Gene,an Intimate History. Published by Scribner 2016.
STAFF, NEWSWEEK, 1992, Homosexuality:Born or Bred?. .1992.[Accessed 4 March 2018].
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200272757
JW LIBRARY [Accessed 2 December 2018]
