If. If. If.
If a well-known evangelical Christian leader thought that scientists may indeed determine there is a biological basis for homosexuality, and if he actually wrote that in his blog that was widely disseminated, then he’d certainly have some ‘splaining to do.
Especially if said leader happened to be a board member of Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs Christian media empire with an entire cottage industry devoted to convincing gay people that homosexuality is not biological, but a behavior that can be “cured.”Such is the place that Albert Mohler, the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a man that Focus on the Family described just two months ago as a “distinguished scholar,” has found himself in. A recent essay that Mohler posted at his web site stated that, while there is no scientific “proof” of a biological basis for homosexuality, “the direction of the research points in this direction.” Indeed, mainstream scientific research has, for many years, acknowledged the likelihood that sexual orientation is at leased partially due to biology.
But Mohler didn’t stop there. Not even close. If such “proof” is discovered that being gay is predestined, he wrote, then Christians should be ready to accept the testing of unborn babies and if they are indeed homosexual, then Christians should also support “treating” them to apparently make their homosexuality go away. Here’s the thought process, in his own words:
“If a biological basis is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to reverse the sexual orientation to heterosexual is ever developed, we would support its use as we should unapologetically support the use of any appropriate means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable effects of sin.”
The 10-point stream of consciousness, titled Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?, was put up on March 2. Today, Mohler, who was elected to the Focus on the Family Board of Directors three years ago, posted another riff about the resulting firestorm, including from gays and lesbians objecting to the claim that homosexuality is a sin. In his latest, Mohler asks, “Was it Something I Said?”
He’s frustrated by the media, which took his words out of context, Mohler claims. He also claims he never said, and doesn’t acutally believe, that babies are “born gay.” And he’s even more frustrated with conservative Christians “who read the secular headlines without even bothering to read my article.”
Yes indeed. This stance, even just a whiff of, as Mohler wrote, “some level of biological causation for sexual orientation in at least some individuals,” would be enough to send some folks at Focus on the Family into orbit.
Such heresy –
Comments are closed.