US Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) is a conservative Republican. For a long time, he opposed gay marriage, along with the majority of members of his party. Recently, he discovered that his son was "gay", or that he revealed that he was gay. When he learned this information, Portman had a "change of heart" about the issue, and now he has "come out" in favor of "gay marriage".
His initial opinion on the matter was based on tradition, moral law, and the proper conduct and foundation for men and women in our society. After this personal revelation about his son, he has changed his mind. His take on the issue conflates a number of issues which deserve greater scrutiny.
Sexuality in itself is a choice. Attraction is a response to what we are thinking. Our thinking, or identity, our actions should not be a response to what we are feeling. The fact that Rob Portman as father is accommodating his son rather than instructing him, or even informing him of the poor consequences of his decision, is disconcerting.
The culture in this country is drifting toward accommodation instead of education on the issue of homosexuality, which is unfortunate. The boundary between childhood and maturity often rests on our growing reliance on truth and verities greater than ourselves, instead of resting and acquiescing to our sentiments. Human beings who make massive life decisions based on feelings are dooming themselves to limited lives with very little to live on besides a race of appeasing one's feelings or shifting one's circumstances to acculturate ourselves to comfort measures.
Homosexuality is a choice, and a bad one. The high incidence of disease, dysfunction, and death creates ample evidence to suggest that human beings would be wise to avoid such conduct. The larger number of people who engage in homosexual conduct, only to break away, settle down and marry, then have children, all but refutes the notion that people are "born gay".
Sex is also a choice, one based on a proper understanding of ourselves, and our bodies. The growing consensus is some religious communities, however, indicates that instead of walking by faith, feelings and the "facts" of the moment are dominant. Sexual conduct should not be determined by feelings alone, anyway. The consequences of unimpeded emotional leadings on sex in our society has contributed to the rising number of women having children out of wedlock. The long-term consequences of raising children without a stable home, with a mother and a father, are staggering.
Yet returning to the issue of homosexuality, the argument that people are "born gay" has no validity or reliability in empirical, historical, anecdotal, or even sociological literature. Even Tammy Bruce, the openly gay talk show host, acknowledges that she chooses to be a "lesbian."
Even the Ancient Greeks, who celebrated homosexuality, in the end promoted marriage as the means for procreation and civic life. Other tribal societies which permit such conduct do not establish such relations as the final norm. This issue rises above law, tradition, or even religion. The truth of the matter remains: homosexuality is a choice, and a bad one.
What has created this turn of events in our culture, that now men and women accept the idea that people are born "gay" or straight? First, a manifest of "radical individualism" has taught people that they are who they think they are. Unfortunately, the disparate opinions of individuals cannot carry a person. As a result, we are swayed by the opinions of men, the largeness of groups, and a massive conformity ensues. Portman is wrong to change his mind about the issue simply because his son "says" that he is "gay", when the very notion of identifying oneself by one's conduct is foolish. The poverty of identity in our world has led people to succumb to sexual urges as a defining element of who they are.
Furthermore, a culture of shame and conformity, which has replaced a commitment to greater realities beyond ourselves, and certainly our sentiments, has created these attitudes in our society. Rather than standing up for what people believe, a growing number of people are accommodating the perverse choices of the few, with a quiet disdain now giving way to a raving refrain of "bigotry", "prejudice" and "discrimination" for those who choose to speak the truth on the matter.
US Senator Bob Portman is wrong to change his views on gay marriage simply because his son announced that he was "gay". Instead, the growing acceptance for an aberrant lifestyle is now informing people to adopt the conduct as "normal", when a person's own body resists such interactions in the first place.
Portman did not have a "change of heart", as much as he has allowed his feelings to lead on this issue, as much as his son's feelings have dictated his own sentiments. A good father, and a good country, would never despise a person for abusing his body, but would instead remind him of his innate dignity as a human being, then contrast this truth with the damage which will ensue should he choose to practice homosexuality.
US Senator Bob Portman is wrong: gay is not good.
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