1853- SEX- ALL TYPES

Let’s cover the ‘other’ news story of the day- the Elephant in the room.

Yes- with all the things going on in the news this week- we also have had the start of the Jerry Sandusky sex case.

Most of you know the scoop.

Sandusky is the famous coach from Penn state that worked for years with the famed Joe Paterno.

There were rumors- and ‘chance’ encounters where people saw Sandusky with young boys- and he was caught molesting kids.

As the defendants have been testifying this week- well- we heard bad stuff.

I don’t want to ‘defend’ the Sandusky’s of the world in any way- but I want to speak openly- and in a politically incorrect way about sexual orientations of all kinds.

I have a book here in my study- about 3 feet from where I’m sitting.

It’s the story of Jeffrey Dahmer’s conversion to the Lord after he was sent to prison.

I do realize that we see lots of jail house conversions- and for some people they will never believe that a Dahmer could convert.

But as I read the book- and also have watched the re play of the interview that Dahmer did with MSNBC- I do believe he was sincere.

One very interesting- and truthful part of the interview was when Dahmers dad was asked ‘why do you think this happened to your son’.

The dad- who is a Christian man- said he felt like somewhere along the line- Jeff associated- connected- the act of sex with dead things.

That he was fixated as a boy with skulls and dead things- and in time when he went thru puberty- that he also- somehow- connected the joy of collecting skulls and stuff with the act of sex.

Now- some might dismiss this as a lame excuse- and of course the crimes Jeff committed were very serious [for those not familiar- Dahmer is the famed serial killer who cannibalized his victims].

In point of fact- people- in all societies and in every age- can- and have ‘learned’ certain types of behavior- for good or ill.

The reason this debate is hard to have in our country- is because the present debate over gay rights pits one group against another.

For anyone to say ‘we actually do have proof that certain sexual behavior can indeed be learned’ seems to be bigoted and against the civil rights of people.

The purpose of this post is not to get into a long drawn out discussion over this.

I want to simply say- there are- and have been- all types of sexual associations that people have made with certain acts.

In the Sandusky case- with minors.

In the Dahmer case- with dead things.

The list does go on.

Is it possible to ‘un learn’ associations like this?

In short- yes.

Is it easy?

Probably not.

A few years ago I noticed that one of the major hospitals in the U.S. - famous for doing sex change operations- very quietly quit the practice.

As I listened and read about the story- I came to find out that the hospital- that was lauded for their non judgmental attitude- their willingness to break ‘the religious bigotry of our day’ that after doing the operation for years.

Admitted that the results were horrendous.

How?

The rate of depression and suicide among most of the patients went sky high.

After years of doing the operation- the data showed that despite all the ‘political correctness’ the facts on the ground were these operations were doing more harm than good.

Yet- year after year we see people who have had the operation- on well meaning news shows being interviewed- and the interviewer- without fail- always comes across as ‘look how accepting I am of you- look how wonderful it is for us all to celebrate your freedom and to not judge’.

Yet- many of the times I get the impression that these people are under great pressure to go with this line.

That they are cast into the limelight as a great example of acceptance- and they seem at times to not want to let the interviewer- or the world- down.

But- if the data says the rate of suicide and depression sky rockets among those who have gone thru with the procedure- then if we really love these people- or our kids- or generations to come- then we would be more careful before we jump on the ‘what a great thing you did’ bandwagon.

In the whole debate about whether or not sexual orientation [or simple associations of sexual expression with particular acts] is changeable- we need to be aware of the overall effects we are having on all sorts of people.

In the Sandusky case- we do see an attraction that many men have.

There are entire organizations supporting man/minor ‘love’.

NAMBLA- North American Man Boy Love Association- being one.

Do these men make the same argument that some have made with the gay rights issue?

Yes.

Many argue that that they have had this ‘orientation’ for as long as they can remember.

They argue that they share a common orientation with thousands of other men all over the world.

They argue that its’ the ‘Victorian era morality'- that religion wants to impose on people- that tells them- and society- that they are wrong.

After all- if ‘God created me this way- why should I not express it’.

Now- I- like you- do not accept these arguments- but in truth- they are basically the same type of arguments that others have made with the gay rights debate.

[Note- I do have gay friends- and I do not want to come off as saying I equate child molesters with gay people- I don’t. The point I’m making is the NAMBLA folk are saying ‘who has the right to say that Man/Boy sex is wrong’. And to be honest- if you reject the basis of natural/moral law- then they win the point.]

The point I’m making is if we- as a society- tell people that sexual orientation is never learned behavior- then we are in ways justifying the NAMBLA argument.

I was going to delve into the entire field of what we call natural/moral law.

Where does it come from?

Does society simply make up moral law?

Actually no.

This is a very long debate- going on since the days of Immanuel Kant [one of the great thinkers going back a few centuries].

In short- some have argued over the years that we need to rid society of moral law- that it’s these restrictions on men [particularly sexuality] that is the cause of society’s ills.

The famous thinker Freud [and Nietzsche] advocated this.

But after hundreds of years of debate- there are no examples of any successful society that has managed to develop any type of functioning ethic- apart from what we call the Judeo/Christian ethic.

I don’t mean to come off as judgmental- nor to offend any group of people- but if we are telling entire generations of people ‘you are a slave to your sexual orientation’.

If we are saying to people ‘you can never change’ or overcome your sexual associations.

Then we might be biting off more than we can chew.

If it simply makes us [the interviewer] feel better about ourselves when we say ‘see- you have done such a great thing- if only these religious bigots would stop judging you’.

But in reality- the data show that these people suffer tremendously- for the most part- after they get the sex change.

Then maybe we need to re think what we are saying to them as a whole.

Maybe we should tell people ‘yes- associating sexual expression with a particular act- or life style is a very strong thing’.

In most cases- even in cases like Sandusky- even if there are hundreds of thousands of people with the same ‘feelings’ all over the world.

Yet- if we do love people and are honest- we would tell them it is possible to change the feeling- the association- dare say ‘orientation’.

We must realize that there are many types of sexual expression- that society- and moral/natural law say is wrong.

Those in these lifestyles- often will argue that the orientation was with them for as long as they can remember.

Others argue that there are many others like them.

All this may be true- but in the end- this does not mean the association is right [NAMBLA] or can never be broken.

I’ll end with a couple of verses ‘I hate vain thoughts- but your law do I love’ ‘commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts will be established’ ‘God will keep them in perfect peace whose minds are fixated on him’.

This entire debate is long- and even many Christians disagree on some points. There are movements within the church that seek to accept the gay lifestyle as an acceptable lifestyle.

Today’s point is- if we tell people- with all types of orientations- that you can 'never change’ them- or overcome them- then we are not being honest.

If we think that the solution is ‘let's just live with no moral law’.

That has been debated- and tried- and found wanting [Freud died in a mental hospital- going insane from a sexual disease].

If we love our kids- those around us- our neighbor- then we should not encourage those among us struggling with orientations to ‘go with what you feel’.

Or to be so accepting of an operation that the data shows does not solve anything- only makes it worse.

In short- if we love people- we must be truthful with them.

Yes- try not to judge- love them even if they don’t become what you think is best.

But be honest with people.

I feel sorry when I see Chaz Bono being interviewed- time and again- everyone telling her how happy they are for her.

When I know in reality the data says something different.

The statistics show that those who go as far as ‘changing’ their sex- many of them take their own lives.

And it’s not because they feel judged- it’s because many of them can’t believe what they have done.

Sad that we hide this- sad.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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