GAY: Religion can help you

There has been considerable discussion concerning the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people. Some of that discussion has done nothing more than stir up a lot of unnecessary hatred one to another. Some have claimed that they were born gay (etc.) but so far no one has successfully isolated a gay gene.

The difficulty in all this discussion is that of perception. If a person is born black others can immediately recognize that they are black, or Irish or any number of characteristics against which people often discriminate. However, the only way anyone knows if another person is gay (etc.) is that they themselves say so. In fact in the past this was not a problem simply because few people shared their personal orientation, and they were generally reticent to do so because our society did not favor such conduct. In fact if we pass any such ruling for non-discrimination it would make it very easy for anyone who felt discriminated against to simply claim they were gay and no one could prove them wrong.

We are told that about 2 percent of the population is gay. Hard to say how many are lesbian, bisexual or transgender, but it cannot be very many. Still, we have to consider that if we pass a law making it illegal to discriminate against the 2 percent then we are in fact discriminating against the other 98 percent. Our Constitution makes no such distinctions. The only requirement for non-discrimination is that you be a “person,” based on the Fifth and 14th amendments. “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

But all this discussion is beside the point. People are born with all sorts of negative predispositions. If they are against good citizenship then those propensities have to be overcome. There are many good reasons for not acting out gay (etc.) actions, and for the Christian the Bible makes it clear that they cannot continue such conduct. Giving it up is about like kicking a drug habit, but there are many who have done so. You can meet some of them by an Internet search. If you truly want help it is out there, starting, I would suggest, with your own pastor.

Life is often not easy, but there is nothing so rewarding as raising a family, and even seeing your very own grandchildren. Want help? jimhollingsworth@frontier.com

JIM HOLLINGSWORTH

Coeur d’Alene