NFL Discussion Topic - Favorite Teams and How They are Doing

[Pokequaza]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Haunted Water does propose an interesting point; If it is not the direct result of genetics, and is caused by influences during your childhood, does that make homosexuality a choice of your surroundings?

Taste, for example, is not something you are ''born with'', you learn to appreciate different tastes during your childhood, so are all your preferences, why can't this be the case for your sexual orientation as well? The lack of a father figure during your childhood is often in correlation with a child ending up having a sexual preference for males.

 

[Frezgle]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Even if it IS a result of your surroundings, that does not make it a conscious choice, so it's still not a choice at all. You don't grow up thinking "hm I'd better get a father figure in my life so I don't turn gay later". You just grow up and turn out one way or the other.

 

[Haunted Water]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Haunted Water does propose an interesting point; If it is not the direct result of genetics, and is caused by influences during your childhood, does that make homosexuality a choice of your surroundings?

Taste, for example, is not something you are ''born with'', you learn to appreciate different tastes during your childhood, so are all your preferences, why can't this be the case for your sexual orientation as well? The lack of a father figure during your childhood is often in correlation with a child ending up having a sexual preference for males.

Exactly. But two things.
1. Father figures can also have an affect on someone's heterosexuality. I know someone who hasn't had a good father figure in his life, and he's straighter than a straight line.
2. @frezgle: Please explain.
I've had a speech problem nearly my entire life. What does that have to do with anything? Well, I have a Northeastern accent, which stands out in Michigan, since I learned how to speak in Conneticut. I never had a say whether I wanted to be noted mostly for my accent, but I had a say in whether not I had a problem with pronunciation. I still have that problem, and didn't care to fix it, eventhough I was put through Speech classes until 6th grade.
I made a choice to ignore enviromental factors. I didn't do subconsciously, I did it by choice.

 

[Pokequaza]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Even if it IS a result of your surroundings, that does not make it a conscious choice, so it's still not a choice at all. You don't grow up thinking "hm I'd better get a father figure in my life so I don't turn gay later". You just grow up and turn out one way or the other.

If your surroundings can influence your sexual preference, if they can knowingly (thus consciously) change and influence something, than that would make it a choice for them. I never said it was the choice of the person itself.

 

[le Roi-Soleil]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Haunted Water does propose an interesting point; If it is not the direct result of genetics, and is caused by influences during your childhood, does that make homosexuality a choice of your surroundings?

Taste, for example, is not something you are ''born with'', you learn to appreciate different tastes during your childhood, so are all your preferences, why can't this be the case for your sexual orientation as well? The lack of a father figure during your childhood is often in correlation with a child ending up having a sexual preference for males.

Exactly. But two things.
1. Father figures can also have an affect on someone's heterosexuality. I know someone who hasn't had a good father figure in his life, and he's straighter than a straight line.
2. @frezgle: Please explain.
I've had a speech problem nearly my entire life. What does that have to do with anything? Well, I have a Northeastern accent, which stands out in Michigan, since I learned how to speak in Conneticut. I never had a say whether I wanted to be noted mostly for my accent, but I had a say in whether not I had a problem with pronunciation. I still have that problem, and didn't care to fix it, eventhough I was put through Speech classes until 6th grade.
I made a choice to ignore enviromental factors. I didn't do subconsciously, I did it by choice.

So if you "catch the gay" earlier in life, and notice that you are homosexual, you can "fix" it?

Being gay is not something that can be "cured." One, it is not an illness, and there is nothing wrong with it. Two, you cannot change it. During gestation, sexual orientation is developed (especially if the hosting body treats the fetus like a foreign object). Of course, there are influencing factors outside of the womb, it is irreversible.

 

[StarlightSearcher]

And Josh Brent, who actually did kill a man; Jerry Brown, is still technically on the Cowboys roster.

Come on Jerry, get rid of him already.

 

[Haunted Water]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

I never said anything about a cure for the gay. In case you think I'm one of those guys, I'm not. I never meant to say it like that.
I did nothing to fix my problem, because I never had any repercussions from it. I made the choice to let it be, and it is slowly fixing itself. However, I just realized, this is a problem with my body, not with my identity.
I never said there is a cure. If there was a cure for speech problems, I'd gladly take it, as my girlfriend has a worse problem than mine. It is not much of a choice, but it still is, to a very, very minor extent.

 

[Rally]

I read about that in a Sports Illustrated. Killed him in a DUI, I believe. A sad mistake, but should it be forgiven?

And all of these stories about professional athletes getting into these ridiculous situations...is depressing, to say the least.

 

[Pokequaza]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Exactly. But two things.
1. Father figures can also have an affect on someone's heterosexuality. I know someone who hasn't had a good father figure in his life, and he's straighter than a straight line.
2. @frezgle: Please explain.
I've had a speech problem nearly my entire life. What does that have to do with anything? Well, I have a Northeastern accent, which stands out in Michigan, since I learned how to speak in Conneticut. I never had a say whether I wanted to be noted mostly for my accent, but I had a say in whether not I had a problem with pronunciation. I still have that problem, and didn't care to fix it, eventhough I was put through Speech classes until 6th grade.
I made a choice to ignore enviromental factors. I didn't do subconsciously, I did it by choice.

So if you "catch the gay" earlier in life, and notice that you are homosexual, you can "fix" it?

Being gay is not something that can be "cured." One, it is not an illness, and there is nothing wrong with it. Two, you cannot change it. During gestation, sexual orientation is developed (especially if the hosting body treats the fetus like a foreign object). Of course, there are influencing factors outside of the womb, it is irreversible.

Take asthma for example. It is know that smoking increases the change of your child ending up with asthma, there is even found an increased chance in grandchildren. People with asthma, due to their parents smoking a lot, never had te choice themselves to ''not get'' asthma. However, the parents, with this knowledge available, still continued smoking, resulting in a child with asthma. Was it their choice? Yes.

The same thing applies to, if this is the case, homosexuality. However, a hundred years ago, people would have gotten conversion therapy, although a horrible experience by itself, it did change some people, but often the torturous therapy itself caused mental problems as well.

I never said it was an illness, nor did I say that it was a problem, these are your words.

I would like to see the article you read that studie in though. I only managed to find a recent article from 2013, but it did not prove anything, it only assumed that it might be influenced by pre-birth factors.

Now the question is; If it were a choice, would that make it a problem for you?

 

[Chaos Jackal]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Homosexuality is something decided by the genes. It is not your choice. And it's not really an illness, you can't cure it. It's like trying to cure brown eyes and change them to black.

 

[le Roi-Soleil]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

I would like to see the article you read that studie in though. I only managed to find a recent article from 2013, but it did not prove anything, it only assumed that it might be influenced by pre-birth factors.

Now the question is; If it were a choice, would that make it a problem for you?

With the subject of asthma, I fail to see any correlation, whatsoever, unless you are proving me right by saying it is hereditary. How, at all, is homosexuality a choice?

The article can be found on the first page, and a YouTube link can be found in one of Haunted Water's posts.

If it was a choice, I certainly would not choose it. Logically speaking, who would choose a "lifestyle" that involves constant discrimination, fear of self incrimination, violence, hatred, bigotry of others, religious intolerance, and the list could go on and on...

Oh, and a fun fact... Brown eyes are actually blue underneath, and you can have laser surgery to revert them back to blue.

 

[PokePhD]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Kudos for creating a thread with much to be discussed.

Do I think homosexuality is a choice? Yes, and no. There are definitely elements of free will that weave their way into homosexuality. If the option were not present (e.g. you are stranded on an island with one person of the opposite gender), I do believe it would be less common. For this reason and others that go beyond my scope of expertise (environmental and hereditary factors), I truly believe there are elements of choice at work here.

That being said, however, I do not think it is a concrete decision. At no point in my upbringing did I think to myself, "you know, I'm going to be straight." Nobody thinks like that. As [mod]Dustin DeVine[/mod] eloquently stated above me, who would choose a lifestyle that invokes intolerance and hatred? There is a lot at work here that research has yet to unravel and as far as I am aware, there are no conclusive studies that suggest it is a choice. Until then, the best I can do is give you a bit of food for thought.

On a related note, I am straight (and a devout Christian), but have no quarrels with anyone of the LGBT community. We are all equal.

 

[Haunted Water]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Can I just state that I'm agreeing with Dustin here? Asthma can't really correlate with homosexuality in this type of debate. Trust me on this one. My brother was diagnosed with asthma after he caught what I had: the common cold mixed with whopping cough. He never had asthma beforehand, and was very healthy otherwise.

I guess I should also make myself clear, in case I wasn't before.
I do not believe homosexuality is a choice. However, the part that I believe is the choice is when you come to terms with it; if you choose to accept it, or continue to hide it.

 

[AdamLambert]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Haunted Water does propose an interesting point; If it is not the direct result of genetics, and is caused by influences during your childhood, does that make homosexuality a choice of your surroundings?

Taste, for example, is not something you are ''born with'', you learn to appreciate different tastes during your childhood, so are all your preferences, why can't this be the case for your sexual orientation as well? The lack of a father figure during your childhood is often in correlation with a child ending up having a sexual preference for males.

Well, I doubt losing/not having a father figure would make someone gay. That's like saying gay couples will raise gay kids and straight couples will raise straight kids, which everyone knows isn't true. Would not having a mother figure equal straight kids? Actually, I'm the exact opposite. I lost my father BECAUSE I'm gay not the other way around.

 

[Pokequaza]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Haunted Water does propose an interesting point; If it is not the direct result of genetics, and is caused by influences during your childhood, does that make homosexuality a choice of your surroundings?

Taste, for example, is not something you are ''born with'', you learn to appreciate different tastes during your childhood, so are all your preferences, why can't this be the case for your sexual orientation as well? The lack of a father figure during your childhood is often in correlation with a child ending up having a sexual preference for males.

Well, I doubt losing/not having a father figure would make someone gay. That's like saying gay couples will raise gay kids and straight couples will raise straight kids, which everyone knows isn't true. Would not having a mother figure equal straight kids? Actually, I'm the exact opposite. I lost my father BECAUSE I'm gay not the other way around.

Well, I am not saying it should make sense, but a strong correlation has been seen between them, and remember it is not the only factor, there are many more.

 

[AdamLambert]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Well, I doubt losing/not having a father figure would make someone gay. That's like saying gay couples will raise gay kids and straight couples will raise straight kids, which everyone knows isn't true. Would not having a mother figure equal straight kids? Actually, I'm the exact opposite. I lost my father BECAUSE I'm gay not the other way around.

Well, I am not saying it should make sense, but a strong correlation has been seen between them, and remember it is not the only factor, there are many more.

I do agree that there very well could be environmental factors. I just can't really see the lack of a father figure making someone gay IMO. Heck, I remember thinking guys were cute when I was in Preschool (which, looking back on it is kinda, no, really weird) Of course back then, I didn't know 'gay' was a thing. Honestly, I don't know if there's really a way to prove if it's a choice or not. I mean, the only way to know is to ask a person, and you can't really argue with their answer because you're not them.

 

[Their Goominess]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

I don't really see how it could be a choice.
Think about all the teenagers coming out as bi/gay/lesbian, and the amount of crap some (evil) people give them. Why would they deliberately tell people that they are LGBT knowing that they'll get picked on and all?
I'm bi myself and whilst no ones ever given me direct shtick about it to my face, before I came out a load of people told me I was gay because of the way I dress, dye my hair etc. (but then again my close friends who I came out to have family members who are bi/gay/lesbian so they already knew about it) (my parents are also cool with it)

But I've only been asked once before when I 'decided' to be bi, and I just straight up told the person who asked me that it wasn't a choice, that I couldn't help the way I felt towards boys and girls, and I 'decided' I was bi when I came to realise I had feelings for both genders and actually knew that I was definitely bi and it wasn't a phase. (this was like 2 years ago)

 

[Cinesra]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

To be on topic because my post got deleted last time: homosexuality is no more of a choice than heterosexuality is.

 

[CCloud]

All of a sudden, the Patriots aren't unanimous favorites to win the AFC East, assuming that Gronkowski misses some time to begin the season. Obviously, the Pats are still the frontrunners in that division, but if the rookies and newly acquired players for the Dolphins mesh well, and Tannehill improves, the Dolphins can give the Pats a run for their money like they did in 2008.

 

[Zenith]

RE: Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Well, I doubt losing/not having a father figure would make someone gay. That's like saying gay couples will raise gay kids and straight couples will raise straight kids, which everyone knows isn't true. Would not having a mother figure equal straight kids? Actually, I'm the exact opposite. I lost my father BECAUSE I'm gay not the other way around.

Well, I am not saying it should make sense, but a strong correlation has been seen between them, and remember it is not the only factor, there are many more.

Cite your sources dear.