One of the many wrongs committed by secularist leftist ideology is the deceptive distortion of language to sow confusion and promote their radical agenda. One very current example of this is evident in the usage of the words “gay” and “homosexual”.
In almost every discussion on the topic, one finds oneself forced to define these words in order to prevent misunderstanding.
To whom do these terms refer:
- to one afflicted with same-sex attraction who chooses not to act on his desires, or
- to one who chooses to engage regularly in homosexual sexual acts—a practicing homosexual?
Although the radicals appreciate very well the logical distinction between a desire and an act, they seek to cover it up in order to insidiously promote their hedonistic neo-pagan ideology—that one with aberrant desires has no choice but to act on them. Sexual desires must be satisfied. Celibacy is simply impossible, so all people with same-sex attraction are sexually active. And if they’re not currently active, then they should be and they will be. (This terminology also ignores the fact that a very large percentage of those who identify as homosexual also feel attraction to the opposite sex.) Desires and actions are inextricable and identical.
This equation is fallacious, for the two are logically and practically distinct:
Although it may indeed be very difficult (and this writer has nothing but sympathy for one who faces such a struggle), a person with homosexual tendencies is fully capable of being celibate; moreover, in many cases (but apparently not all), he or she is also able to engage in sexual activity with a member of the opposite sex. Conversely, even an individual with no homosexual tendencies is technically able to engage in homosexual sex.
(It is striking that when it comes to the other way around—developing homosexual desires in heterosexuals—homosexuals are quite eager to encourage heterosexuals to “try it and see,” especially in the “sex-education” and “tolerance” curricula that they are campaigning be adopted in public schools to underage children. Likewise, many radical feminist thinkers advocated that all women choose to become lesbians in order to rebel against the “patriarchy.”)
Whether these choices come easily or with great difficulty is beside the point; they are possible in theory, and in most cases in practice.
This egregious abuse of language also leads to the ubiquitous accusation of hatred leveled against bible believers. Any criticism of same-sex sexual activity, whether based on natural law, health risks, or theological grounds, results in one being branded a hateful bigot “homophobe.” Why? Because homosexuals were “born that way.”
But this is an absurd straw man argument that misrepresents what believers are actually saying. First, whether they are indeed “born that way” is still unknown. However, even if it were proven true that homosexuals were born with the innate latent desire for homosexual sex, they were certainly not born performing the act of homosexual sex. Believers condemn the act, not the desire itself, or the person afflicted with the desire.
Homosexual desires, inasmuch as they come involuntarily, are not forbidden or condemned. Rather, the act of homosexual sex is forbidden—regardless whether homosexual desires are innate or learned, and regardless whether one commits the act out of a desire to satisfy a same-sex attraction or one does so without such a desire.
Thus, condemning a specific behavior that certain people engage in out of their own free will in no way implies animus to those people for harboring those desires. Rather, it stems from a theological, intellectual, and ethical condemnation of those sexual behaviors.
In summary, G-d granted us free choice. This means that we are not compelled to act on our sexual desires. We are free to suppress them when their expression would be harmful and sinful, as is the case with a desire for homosexual behavior (along with a range of other forbidden sexual behaviors).
Weltanschauung Kampf 