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| Peter Hercules |
 Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:40 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 175
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One of the most controversial topics that I address in my discussion of the True Positive Individual in my book 'Liberating the Caged Human Animal' is that of homosexuality. (To see what I have to say look under 'The Book' on my site (www.untamedlife.com) in Chapter 10 and scroll down to characteristic 14 'Comfortable with and Enjoying One's Sexuality.')
I have received numerous emails from people indicating their surprise and disappointment with my position on this issue.
I would like to address this further here in order to help clarify my thoughts on this matter.
My discussion regarding homosexuality, as is my discussion regarding essentially everything else dealt with throughout the whole book, is directed towards the individual and not the species or society. I wrote this book with the intent of assisting individuals to become self-actualized.
You and I and the tree in my front yard and the mold growing in my attic, and all of life had a common ancestor about four billion years ago when life began on this planet. Each living organism today exists because there has been an unbroken chain of transmission of genetic information through sexual or asexual reproduction over this four billion year time period. It is my observation that there is a strong tendency in living things to want to move forward in time to the next generation.
I am well aware that in nature same-sex sexuality is commonly observed. If you read my articles on the website entitled 'Liberating the Caged Female Human Animal's Sexuality', you will seen that I address this issue directly by discussing the sexual life of bonobo chimpanzees and that I go so far as to promote same-sex activity among humans.
However, what I am addressing in my book under the category of homosexuality is "an exclusive preference to sexually interact with members of one's own sex and thus not focus on reproductively-oriented sexual activity." Simply put, if one sexually engages only with other members of one’s own sex it is impossible (using natural means) for one to reproduce and therefore the four billion year story of life that has led to one’s existence will end. From an individualistic perspective of life I consider this to be problematic and not inconsequential.
Frans de Waal, an author whose books I list on the Resources page of my website is a world-renowned primatologist and a promoter of bonobos and their approach to life. As he states in his book,'Our Inner Ape' - "Example after example of homosexual sex has been documented in the animal kingdom, from mounting bull elephants and necking giraffes to the greeting ceremonies of swans and mutual caresses among whales. But even if some animals go through periods in which such behavior is common, I shy away from the term 'homosexual' and its implication of a predominant orientation. Exclusive same-sex orientations are rare or absent in the animal kingdom." These are the words of a primatologist. Humans, of course, are primates and if exclusive homosexuality was observed among primates I am reasonably certain that he would be aware of it and would say so.
In his article 'Gene's Aren't Us' in his book 'A Devil's Chaplain', Richard Dawkins, the scientist/author most famous for the book 'The Selfish Gene' directly addresses the issue of the 'gay gene' as presented by D.H. Hamer et al. from Bethesda, Maryland in their paper 'A Linkage Between DNA Markers on the X Chromosome and Male Sexual Orientation' in Science 261(1993), pp.321-7. This study strongly suggested a hereditary component to male homosexuality. In the article, Dawkins used this subject to address a larger point regarding the significance of genes and genetic determinism.
He states,"Possession of a particular gene need not infallibly dictate that an individual will be homosexual. Far more probably the causal influence will be statistical. The effect of genes on bodies and behavior is like the effect of cigarette smoke on lungs. If you smoke heavily, you increase the statistical odds that you'll get lung cancer. You won't infallibly give yourself lung cancer. Nor does refraining from smoking protect you infallibly from cancer. We live in a statistical world. Imagine the following newspaper headline:'Scientists discover that homosexuality is caused.' Obviously this is not news at all; it is trivial. Everything is caused. To say that homosexuality is caused by genes is more interesting, and it has the aesthetic merit of discomfiting politically-inspired bores, but it doesn't say more than my trivial headline does about the irrevocability of homosexuality....Genes have no monopoly on determinism. So, if you hate homosexuals or love them, if you want to lock them up or 'cure' them, your reasons had better have nothing to do with genes."
Genes may be associated with the development of certain diseases and undesirable conditions and also be associated with what are perceived to be highly desirable attributes. As Dawkins points out, in many cases genes alone do not tell the whole story. If I develop schizophrenia or become a brilliant artist, genes inevitably have something to do with this but there are typically other factors at play as well.
I consider the abuse that is inflicted upon homosexuals and the hatred that is expressed towards them to be both ludicrous and obscene. The objective of what I present on my website and in my writing is to encourage self-liberation in order to enhance self-actualization so as to improve the quality of life and well-being of individuals. I am neither for nor against homosexuality (but, as inferred above, I am absolutely opposed to the persecution of homosexuals). As stated, exclusive homosexuality leads to a dead end point in terms of an individual's life line. The further personal implications of this reality I leave to each individual to consider with respect to its own life.
I encourage people to become what I call their True Positive Selves. The journey to that destination (never fully achieved) requires tremendous honesty, dedication, and introspection and the willingness to understand and accept and protect what is fundamental to one's essence and to discard what obstructs one's optimal self-development. Each individual must decide and address that for itself. The issue of being comfortable with and enjoying one's sexuality is one important and complex aspect of the whole that I encourage people to explore along the way. |
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