The "Science" Of Sexual Orientation?

On March 12th the television news magazine, 60 Minutes presented a piece on The Science of Sexual Orientation. Once again the media has carefully constructed a report that supposedly appeals to biological predetermination or "science" in order to negate the moral elements which, in this case, relates to the legitimacy or lack thereof of homosexual behavior.
The report, which was presented by Leslie Stahl attempts to posit once again, but from a different perspective, that homosexual behavior is a biologically predetermined behavior and therefore does not come under the category of morality. In fact, the implication is that to assign moral judgment to this particular sexual behavior demonstrates ignorance of modern science and therefore constitutes a form of bigotry. This of course is the natural tendency of those who subscribe to the naturalistic worldview in which all of life and nature is merely the product of materialistic causes. These modernistic thinkers tend to reduce all choices to pragmatic decisions based on "what works" rather than moral questions of right and wrong that derive from a transcendent source.
We in the evangelical world often falsely assume that they are only pressing a liberal political agenda when in fact this is simply how many Americans attempt to explain reality. They reject the supernatural as a plausible explanation and therefore can only limit life's answers to the scope of scientific materialism. Former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich articulated this perspective quite clearly in the New Prospect, in which he wrote,
"The great conflict of the 21st century may be between the West and terrorism but terrorism is a tactic and not a belief. The underlying battle will be between modern civilization and anti-modernist fanatics; between those who believe in the primacy of the individual and those who believe that beings owe blind allegiance to a higher authority; between those who give priority to life in this world and those who believe that human life is no more than preparation for an existence beyond life; between those who believe that truth is revealed solely through scripture and religious dogma, and those who rely primarily on science, reason, and logic."
The reality of scientific materialism as a dominant life and worldview has naturally resulted from a century of indoctrination through public education combined with generous reinforcement from virtually every other sphere of society and culture.
However, contrary to Reich's assertion, Christian Theism, at least, is not at odds with legitimate science. In fact, the scientific method which serves as the basis of Western science comes directly from the Christian life and worldview. It was after all Sir Francis Bacon, (1561-1626) known as the "father of inductive reasoning," who led the dramatic shift away from Aristotelian deduction that ruled the intellectual world for nearly 1500 years. This shift in the scientific approach is regarded as a major milestone in Western scientific thought and this shift was the direct result of Bacon's belief in a rational God who was distinct and separate from creation. As such he believed that rational beings made in the image of God could understand nature because it too was created in a rational, orderly manner. Suffice it to say that Christianity and legitimate science are not mutually opposed.
Nonetheless, we too can look to the scientific method when it comes to confirming certain truths revealed in Scripture and creation. In the case of homosexual behavior the so-called "science" is not necessarily what such programs as 60 Minutes purport it to be.
One of the "experts" in Ms. Stahl's story was Michael Bailey who according to 60 Minutes is "a psychology professor at Northwestern University and a leading researcher in the field of sexual orientation." Bailey along with Richard Pillard, another Psychiatrist teaching at the Boston University School of Medicine, authored the now infamous "twins study" which attempted to prove genetic cause for homosexual behavior. The Council for Responsible Genetics and other researchers have criticized this work for its methodology. It is important to note that Bailey and Pillard are psychologists and not geneticists.
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, records that "Following the publication of Bailey's book The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism, Northwestern University received many complaints from the transsexual women Bailey interviewed, who complained that they didn't know he was using them as research subjects and that distorted versions of their case histories appeared in his book.
Northwestern University opened a formal investigation into charges of research misconduct against Bailey, as detailed in a series of articles in the Daily Northwestern and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In October 2004, as reported in the December 10th 2004 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bailey resigned from his Chairmanship of the Department of Psychology, following the completion of the investigation and implementation of undisclosed sanctions against him by the University."
The fact is that the innate and immutable argument has been largely settled and dismissed within the scientific community. Only certain researchers (in this case, discredited researchers) and the media persist in making claims of biological causes for homosexual behaviors. These claims are then taken by those who do, in fact, have a political agenda and seek to advance their cause by convincing Americans that homosexual behavior is on par with skin color and as such should be given similar civil rights protections. A very effective strategy if it works!
Despite the attempts of certain ideologues like Bailey, behaviors (or nonMendelian traits) such as homosexuality simply cannot be linked to genetic or other direct biological causes in the same way that eye color can for example.
For more on the "science" of homosexual behavior and the proper Christian response to this issue I suggest ordering a copy of my 27-page booklet, Thinking Critically - Acting Compassionately. Given the fact that according to a recent Zogby survey, 84 percent of High School seniors believe homosexuality is genetic it might be a good idea to review the facts with your teenage and young adult children.
from Crosswalk