No gay
by Fred Penzel, PhD
This article was initially published in the Winter edition of the OCD Newsletter.
OCD, as we know, is largely about experiencing severe and unrelenting doubt. It can cause you to doubt even the most basic things about yourself – even your sexual orientation. A study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that among a group of college students, 84% reported the occurrence of sexual intrusive thoughts (Byers, et al. ). In arrange to have doubts about one’s sexual identity, a sufferer desire not ever have had a homo- or heterosexual experience, or any type of sexual life at all. I have observed this symptom in young children, adolescents, and adults as well. Interestingly Swedo, et al., , establish that approximately 4% of children with OCD experience obsessions concerned with forbidden aggressive or perverse sexual thoughts.
Although doubts about one’s own sexual identity might feel pretty straightforward as a symptom, there are actually a number of variations. The most evident form is where a sufferer experiences the thought that they mig
No single gene associated with being gay
A genetic analysis of almost half a million people has concluded there is no single "gay gene".
The analyze, published in Science, used data from the UK Biobank and 23andMe, and found some genetic variants associated with same-sex relationships.
But genetic factors accounted for, at most, 25% of same-sex behaviour.
Advocacy group GLAAD said the study confirmed "no conclusive degree to which nature or nurture influenced how a lgbtq+ or lesbian person behaves."
The researchers scanned the genomes - the entire genetic make-up - of , people signed up to the UK Biobank plan, and 68, registered with the genetics company 23andMe.
Participants were also asked whether they had same-sex partners exclusively, or as adequately as opposite-sex partners.
The Harvard and MIT researchers concluded genetics could account for between % of homosexual behaviour across the population, when the whole genome is considered.
Five specific genetic variants were found to be particularly associated with same-sex b
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What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible Express About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the matching sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the behind 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can bounce into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a concise but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible