The Shocking Truth About Sexual Orientation

Posted By Jay Jones on Dec 5, 2016

There is a narrative in modern society that casts shade on anyone who does not agree with or condone the LGBT community and its non-expedient behavior. It’s true that among their detractors, there is a vast mixture of those who are blindly intolerant and hurtful, and those who are compassionate and caring. It’s my belief based on observation and research that the former category is a mere fragment of the latter, and that the majority of proponents of straight behavior are loving, principled individuals.

Nevertheless, to be openly opposed to homosexuality and other aberrant sexual behavior in our current cultural climate puts one at risk of being labeled “homophobic”, a “hater”, “intolerant”, etc. These unfair labels completely distract from the facts that, not only does the Bible give clear instruction against this behavior, but so does science.

If you’re interested in some scholarly reading regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, and the mental health outcomes, and social stress of sexuality, I highly recommend this study on Sexuality and Gender conducted by world-renowned Johns Hopkins University scientists Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer and Dr. Paul R. McHugh. It was published in the fall 2016 edition of The New Atlantis Journal. It’s a meta-analysis of data from over 200 peer-reviewed studies regarding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” It was and is, far and away, the most objective, exhaustive, and comprehensive study on the topic to date.

However, if you’re not into deep reading, here are some important highlights from the paper…

• “The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings — the idea that people are ‘born that way’ — is not supported by scientific evidence.”
• “Sexual orientation” in adolescents is “fluid over the life course for some people, with one study estimating that as many as 80% of male adolescents who report same-sex attractions no longer do so as adults.”
• “Compared to heterosexuals, non-heterosexuals are about two to three times as likely to have experienced childhood sexual abuse.”
• “Gay”-identified people are “at an elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes.”
• “Gay”-identified people experience “nearly 2.5 times the risk of suicide.”
• “The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate, fixed property of human beings that is independent of biological sex — that a person might be ‘a man trapped in a woman’s body’ or ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body’ — is not supported by scientific evidence.”
• “Studies comparing the brain structures of transgender and non-transgender individuals … do not provide any evidence for a neurobiological basis for cross-gender identification.”
• “[S]ex-reassigned individuals [are] about five times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide.”
• “[T]he rate of lifetime suicide attempts across all ages of transgender individuals is estimated at 41 percent, compared to under 5 percent in the overall U.S. population.”
• “Only a minority of children who experience cross-gender identification will continue to do so into adolescence or adulthood.”

This paper is just one of several recent scholarly reports that show the destruction of sexual confusion.

It is vital for Christians to understand that culture does not trump the word of God. We have to remain true to scripture, even when culture and pop-science appear to claim otherwise. In the end, God will always be true. Those experiencing the confusion of sexual identity, and those promoting aberrant sexual behavior, need compassion, but they also need facts. These are both essential if we are to love them to Jesus and show them that there is a better way.

God, help us to be knowledgeable and compassionate in order to lead this generation to you!