4/22/15

A&E, “Duck Dynasty,” GQ, & Homosexuality by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=4776

A&E, “Duck Dynasty,” GQ, & Homosexuality

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.
No doubt you’ve heard the brouhaha over the remarks of a member of the “Duck Dynasty” cast concerning homosexuality. Though we do not agree with all of the religious views of the Robertson family, the Christian cannot help but be encouraged by the forthright stand made by the Robertson family's patriarch. Phil Robertson told his interviewer that homosexuality is “sin,” “not logical,” and “not right” (Magary, 2013). Leading homosexual organizations and other “politically correct” advocates have been quick to condemn and spew hate speech against him (e.g., Sacks and Kaplan, 2013; “‘Duck Dynasty’ Family…,” 2013). The incident merely highlights the full-blown culture war that has been raging for a number of years in the United States.
Apart from the issues of “free speech,” the self-contradiction and utter inconsistency of the left, and the determination of anti-Christian forces to bully, intimidate, and silence those who oppose their agenda, the entire matter actually distills into a single, all-encompassing issue: Does the God of the Bible exist and is the Bible His inspired, decipherable Word to which all human beings are amenable and for which they will be held accountable? For those who still believe the Bible, the issue is clear and decisive.
Homosexual intercourse is condemned as immoral sexual behavior in every period of Bible history. It was condemned implicitly at the beginning of human history in the creation of a man and a woman to form marriage and the home (Genesis 2:24). It was condemned as “wicked and sinful” and “very grievous” in Sodom and Gomorrah during the pre-Mosaic age (Genesis 13:13; 18:20; 19:1-11; cf. 2 Peter 2:7-8; Jude 7). It was condemned under the Law of Moses (Leviticus 18:22-30; 20:13), even to the point of being described as “wickedness,” “outrage,” “vileness,” “lewdness,” and “evil” (Judges 19:23-24; 20:3,6,10,12,13). With the arrival of Christ and Christianity on the planet, the New Testament is equally definitive in its uncompromising and unquestioned condemnation of same-sex activity (Matthew 19:9). Paul summarized the “unrighteous” and “ungodly” behavior of the Gentile nations, and declared:
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to adebased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:26-32, emp. added; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:9-10).
So the Bible is clear.
What’s more, science is equally definitive. For all the reckless claims of a genetic link to homosexuality, the fact of the matter is that no scientific evidence has been discovered that establishes the existence of the alleged “gay gene.” The Human Genome project found no proof for a genetic connection ("Human Genome...," 2003), and the studies conducted many years ago, that are largely responsible for perpetrating the myth of a genetic origin for homosexuality in the minds of most Americans (LeVay, 1991; Bailey and Pillard, 1991, Hamer, et al., 1993), have been discredited (see Miller, et al., 2004).

CONCLUSION

It is more than hard to believe that a sizable segment of the population of the United States of America has come to believe that homosexuality—recognized by the bulk of Western civilization as sexually aberrant behavior—should be tolerated and even encouraged. The Father of our country expressed the sentiment of the vast majority of Americans which prevailed for most of American history when he expressed his “abhorrence and detestation” for homosexuality (“George…,” 1778). The Creator of the Universe, Who also created human sexuality, was equally vehement in His condemnation of same-sex behavior. America would do well to consider soberly the divine declaration regarding the eventual outcome for the nation that sanctions it: “For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25).

REFERENCES

Bailey, Michael J., and Richard C. Pillard (1991), “A Genetic Study of Male Sexual Orientation,”Archives of General Psychiatry, 48:1089-1096, December.
“‘Duck Dynasty’ Family, Conservatives Defend Phil Robertson” (2013), Chicago Tribune, December 20, http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-20131220,0,1685719.story.
“George Washington, March 14, 1778, General Orders” (1778), The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799, from ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit (gw110081)).
Hamer, Dean H., Stella Hu, Victoria L. Magnuson, Nan Hu, and Angela M.L. Pattatucci (1993), “A Linkage Between DNA Markers on the X Chromosome and Male Sexual Orientation,” Science, 261:321-327, July 16.
“Human Genome Report Press Release” (2003), International Consortium Completes Human Genome Project, http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/project/50yr.html.
LeVay, Simon (1991), “A Difference in Hypothalamic Structure Between Heterosexual and Homosexual Men,” Science, 253:1034-1037, August 30.
Miller, Dave and Brad Harrub (2004), “‘This is the Way God Made Me’—A Scientific Examination of Homosexuality and the ‘Gay Gene,’” Reason & Revelation, 24[9], September,http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1388&topic=36.
Sacks, Ethan and Don Kaplan (2013), “‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Phil Robertson Suspended From Show After Equating Homosexuality With Bestiality,” New York Daily News, December 19,http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-equates-homosexuality-bestiality-article-1.1551556.