Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Larry the Lamb has Two Dams


As I have mentioned here before, I am a huge fan of the website/blog of Bad Science, authored by Guardian columnist Ben Goldacre.

In his latest entry Goldacre dissects some ludicrous reporting in Britain's Sunday Times (a once decent newspaper knobbed about with by Rupert Murdoch) and in the process reiterates a point often overlooked in debates about nature vs. nurture and the controversial practice of "curing" homosexuality as advocated by some of the more batshit Christian denominations:

"For those of you at the Sunday Times with some catching up to do, here's a news flash: we cleared up the question of Lamarckian inheritance of acquired traits over 100 years ago. If it helps, you could think about whether boob jobs will make future generations have larger breasts. And even if you could intervene to make a gay human straight- which only the Sunday Times and their friends are claiming here, not the researchers- then in any case, you might reasonably expect this to make any inherited tendency towards homosexuality more prevalent, rather than less." (The rest)

Brilliant! To recap Goldacre's point; as homosexuality is a genetic quality, not a conscious decision, and therefore people trying to turn gay people straight, and thus encouraging them to marry and procreate, are actually doing sterling work in ensuring that the next generation will include a larger percentage of gay people. This is either further proof that fundamentalists of all stripes are so self-deluding they should probably be hospitalized for their own (and others) safety, or evidence of a fiendish scheme to ensure a ready supply of future clients for these bogus sexuality adjustment shenanigans.

4 comments:

Mondale said...

Gay sheep. That's what happens when the democrat party takes over government.
(needless to say I didn't actually read your post)

Wisdom Weasel said...

I can see that the mellowing effect of fatherhood that made you all zen-like and thoughtful about others has worn off, Mr. Mondale.

I envison all sorts of ethics debates in the snug bar of The Woolpacker's Arms, about one's own relative sexuality if one biblically knows a gay ram or lesbian ewe. No questioning the ethics of actually bionking a sheep from the assembled yokels, mind.

(And before the National Yokel and Hick Council of Great Britain bares its fangs, I'm a yokel me'sulf.)

Wes said...

Brilliant argument. That should really scare the Religious Right.

Wisdom Weasel said...

Sort of puts them in a bind, doesn't it? For those who pretend to "love the sinner, hate the sin" but really are frightened of homosexuality and who know in their heart of hearts that science trumps biblical revelation, what are they to do?

Serves the hateful bastards right, I say.

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