On an Unaired, Conflicted View

I've been putting off writing thing particular blog, though I've felt like I should.  Let me explain why: I'm almost certain it will be misunderstood.

I'm not sure why I'm concerned about that.  I feel fairly certain that other than online casinos that are founded by people from out of the country, or who have horrible grammar, there's not a large group of people who read this blog.  I guess, though, it's always possible to be misunderstood even by people who know you well, and some misunderstandings are hard to clear, because the conversation needed to clear them is never had.  So, if I offend you, please let me know.  If you know me personally, feel free to call me to clear things up.

I've been thinking a lot about the middle ground.  I'll be straight up with you, I'm talking specifically of the gay rights movement.  Currently there are two strong voices that shout to be heard.  There are the voices that say that homosexual behavior is natural and should be accepted as such, welcomed.  There are those that say it's a perversion, and people who live like that should be shunned.  But the social media site has missed at least one view, mine.  I feel like I'm not alone with this either, so I wanted to explain what the quiet part of the country feels on this regard.  Okay, just part of the quiet country.

For there to be an understanding, I need to explain my background.  I'm religious, significantly so.  I've defined much of my life by what I believe, why I believed it, and what that belief lead me to become.  Part of my belief system is that people have the choice, the freedom if you will, to be what they want, to act as they choose.  You might say I even believe you have the freedom to choose who you will be.  This extends to homosexuality, or any kind of sexuality for that matter.  I am not saying that I believe you can always choose your temptations, or desires if you want a less churchy term, but I do believe how you act is ultimately up to each individual, and that no one is programmed to one particular lifestyle.

I also believe that homosexual behavior is wrong.  Note that I said behavior.  I believe that no one actually knows for sure where the impulse comes from (nature or circumstance), but that's beside the point for me.  From a scientific standpoint, it's natural for a married man to want to sleep with as many women as possible.  This behavior is still widely accepted as incorrect, though.  You might say I feel the same way about homosexual behavior.  I can offer no scientific argument as to why I believe this is wrong.  A wise man said that homosexuality is a social experiment, and I agree.  It's still in the experimentation stage, so as a scientist I can make no real argument one way or the other.  Even from a philosophical standpoint there are conflicting views, each as compelling as they are in conflict with one another.

But my religious views are both clear and rather solidly placed.  I believe that action of homosexuality to be incorrect.  I could make a rather long discussion as to why this is the case, but that's not my goal here.  My goal is to say, on top of believing that homosexuality is incorrect, I have family who define themselves that way.  And I love those people.  In fact, thinking about this makes my heart ache.  A little because I think they're making mistakes, but more because I also know the attitude toward them can be so vitriolic.  Even in my own extended family.  Imagine for a moment loving a brother, uncle, or a cousin who defines themselves as homosexual, and then to hear others vilify, debase, and mock those people.  I hurts me every time I hear it.

On the other hand, I have a lot of friends who are willing to mock any group unwilling to be accepting of the homosexual lifestyle.  Liberal media might be partially to blame for this, since it seems like their chief form of entertainment is making a joke out of the more right-winged thinking part of the country.  Regardless of where blame lies for encouraging it, the truth is that while the extreme right sends people to hell, the extreme left makes solidly religious into baboons.

And this is where the crux of the matter is.  I love my family.  I love my religion.  Both of them make up a large part of who I am.  An attack on either one is hurtful and hard to support.  I feel a lot of families are caught in the cross-fire between these two extremes.  I hope that people learn to be what they actually claim to be.  Open minded enough to see why so many believe in religion, loving enough to see past the label.  When I was a teenager, my dad once told me that as I grew and learned how close to me what I was mocking actually was I would learn to temper my words.  I have to say, he was right.