Thursday, August 07, 2003

Bent

I have so much I want to say about the latest topic in Singapore -- the acceptance of homosexuals in sensitive government jobs.

My church and the leaders are so narrow-minded. I feel that they do not have much credibility in most of what they preach against homosexuality for the mere lack of exposure. Of course, I do not discount what they say about homosexuality as a sin with reference to the Bible. However, what they know about this group of people is only what is read or heard about them. They have hardly are any real personal encounters that are worthy of mention.

In the expression of my view, I must make some things very clear. Firstly, I am not discussing the nature-versus-nurture origin of homosexuality. My points do not rely on this the truth of either one. (Though personally, I have qualms about saying with full certainty that nature has no part to play in the development of homosexual tendencies.) Secondly, I do believe and take homosexuality to be a sin. Thirdly, I am in no way condoning homosexuality though what I'm about to write.

I don't understand (actually I do, I detest) the way gays are treated. I've made mention of this in my Sunday class. Both adulterers and homosexuals have committed sex-related sins. (For the sake of simplicity and to bring out my point, I have assumed here that homosexuality is not the result of nature gone wrong but is a choice made by the individual.) Yet, why is it that adulterers do not get as condemned as gays are now? Is there a double standard? What makes one sin worse than the other?
Perhaps it can be argued that adulterers in the past were as scorned upon as gays now, but they have been in obvious and growing existence for so long now that society has evolved into one that is now more tolerant of adultery, where our expectations and ideals have been lowered. In other words, adultery has become a norm, while on the other hand, homosexuality is still very much a "new" lifestyle. Will Time prove that she aids the establishment of norms and hence society's responses to something "unethical"? I suppose Singapore is still very much in the early development stages of having gays coexisting naturally with the rest of society.

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