Lola! I'm not blushing, but I admit, you've got me beat in the free spirit department. Now, if you tell Nikon that you also carry a concealed automatic weapon, gosh, he might stop flirting with Paddy image , and fantasizing about Valarie! All in all, I think the free spirit (for lack of a better word) is a different case than true sexual preference...say, how you see yourself or feel about yourself as an identity from childhood. Even as a little girl I can remember liking a certain boy in my neighborhood. There was always a boy in my mind!
So what about the fairly conservative person who is average in most ways, just wants a partner in life, but is attracted to the same sex. Why does it have to be a choice? Take, for example, the movie "March of the Penguins". Those amazing creatures did everything by instinct. That is the way they are born. Honestly, if they had a choice do you think they would incubate their one and only annual progeny in the worst weather on the planet?
And, regarding the hermaphrodite example...that is an excellent example of not knowing what the true gender of the individual is. If that can exist, and we know it certainly does, then how can we say "internal" gender is determined by "external" gender period!, and anything beyond that is a choice. That is a clear contradiction of the choice theory.
To me it is WRONG to establish that sexual preference is emphatically a choice IF it is not true.
It has been stated that there is no scientific evidence showing a biological cause for homosexuality. That just tells me that they haven't found the answer to the question of where it comes from...along with tons of other questions we still wonder about. Surely there is no scientific evidence that proves it is NOT a biological condition. I fully understand that there are many, many instances, such as in the case of pedophiles, where abuse or some kind of childhood trauma has had a lasting terrible impact on a person. But, really, there are many cases of regular people raised in a typical household that grow up homosexual. How do you explain this?
Regarding CalBob's comment about "love" and "law"...I'll put it in context a little more. My concern is over the split of major denominations as to whether to ordain practicing homosexuals and to marry same sex couples...and just exactly what does the bible say about homosexuality. I believe some people think that Christian love does not allow them, from a conscience standpoint, to condemn an excellent, caring and loving pastor because he is in a gay relationship. Therefore they "interpret" the bible in such a way as to justify this. It is my own observation that their "love" is the deciding factor...not biblical "law", which, in no uncertain terms, forbids and condemns homosexuality. However, the bible does place love above all...2Corinthians 13:13, which we all know from our marriage vows, and Mark 12:28-31, where Jesus says that loving the Lord, and loving your neighbor as yourself, are the greatest of the commandments. Most Christians, I believe, will agree that the bible opposes homosexuality.
So...who do we consult for the final answer? I, for one, want to believe the exactly right thing. This is not a creative issue here. image Sky