In a news article today, the idea that homosexuality is primarily an inherited trait is revisited with new evidence.
This got me thinking... If homosexuality is an inherited trait, why would God deem an act that is resultant from that inherited trait a sin?
1Co 6:9-10 GW Don't you know that wicked people won't inherit the kingdom of God? Stop deceiving yourselves! People who continue to commit sexual sins, who worship false gods, those who commit adultery, homosexuals, (10) or thieves, those who are greedy or drunk, who use abusive language, or who rob people will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Or is it more likely that the ruling of homosexual acts as sin is from man and not God? Really it comes down to our understanding of the old testament and its accuracy on specific points. These include disagreement between who wrote the first four books (direct word of God vs. word of Moses), transcription/translation and multiple version problems, etc.
This analysis states that the bible does not recognize homosexuality as an inherited or genetic trait, but it is a psychological / sinful-nature trait. This site also supports the idea that God doesn't create any person sinful, but homosexuality is a choice. Of course, it also condemns women who wear men's clothing (Deu 22:5).
I'm not saying that the bible is wrong on all points. It just seems more likely that an inherited trait (by God's will/work?) isn't a sin. Rather, it is more likely derived from social mores that don't understand it, so it is ostracized and condemned. But that site also makes up words like deathstyle (instead of "homosexual lifestyle") and sexcapades (instead of "homosexual acts").
Before commenting on this entry, I encourage you to read the news article as well as the referenced URLs. Let me know what you think!
Additional scriptural references for homosexuality and sodomy can be found here.
This site offers a nice comparison of both ways of looking at homosexuality. It seems pretty well balanced.
The original BBC article follows:
How homosexuality is 'inherited'
Scientists say they have shown how male homosexuality could be passed from generation to generation.
Nature encourages mothers to pass on a "gay trait" to their male offspring by boosting their fertility, the Italian University of Padova team believes.
This would keep the pattern of gay inheritance alive, they told the Royal Society's Biological Sciences journal.
Critics of the theory argue a gay gene would eventually be wiped out because gay couples do not procreate.
Inheritance theory
There is controversy about whether sexual orientation is a matter of choice, the authors of the study admitted to the journal.
Campaigners say equality for homosexual people is the more important issue.
Back in 1993, US researchers suggested male homosexuality was passed from mother to son after they found strong patterns of inheritance in family trees.
It has also been noted that homosexual males are more often the younger siblings of a number of older brothers.
Scientists have said it might be that the mother develops some kind of resistance to the male Y chromosome in her offspring that makes subsequent baby boys more likely to be born gay.
Scientists doing DNA studies on homosexual brothers pinpointed 'culprit' genetic material to a region of the X chromosome that mothers pass on to their offspring.
But other researchers in the US have not been able to replicate these findings.
Highly fertile
Andrea Camperio-Ciani and colleagues argue genetic factors favouring homosexual male offspring could make women more fertile.
"Our data resolve this paradox by showing that there might be, hitherto unsuspected, reproductive advantages associated with male homosexuality," they said.
They looked at 98 homosexual and 100 heterosexual men and their relatives, which included more than 4,600 people overall.
The female relatives on the mother's side of the homosexual men tended to have more offspring than the female relatives on the father's side.
This suggests that these women who, in theory, pass on the gay trait to their male offspring are also more fertile.
In comparison, the female relatives on both the mother's and the father's side of the heterosexual men did not appear to be as fertile, having fewer offspring.
The researchers believe the homosexuality-increased fertility trait must be passed down on the female X chromosome.
They pointed out that this would not explain the majority (80%) of cases, and that cultural factors might be important.
Bigger picture
"It is clear that our findings, if confirmed by further research, are only one piece in a much larger puzzle on the nature of human sexuality," they said.
In 2002, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics produced a report into the possible link between genes and behaviour, which included sexual orientation.
It concluded: "There are numerous problems with genetic and other biological research into sexual orientation which mean that any reported findings must be viewed with caution."
It said many of the genetic studies were too small to draw definite conclusions from.
Alan Wardle from the gay rights charity Stonewall said: "This is an interesting debate and there may well be a genetic element, but it's not conclusive.
"It does not really matter whether it is nature or nurture.
"The important thing is getting equality for homosexual people."
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