Re: With all due respect,...

Alethinos (alethinos@aol.com)
Tue, Feb 21 1995 20:33:37 GMT

Dear Mr. G:

While we certainly agree that homosexual behavior is condemned in the
Baha'i Writings, it does not do well to keep refering to it as *satanic* -
at least without explanation of the term as used by Baha'u'llah. We simply
look like fundamentalists when we say this.

Also, your ref. to primates and *gay* behavior is not quite accurate.
While it is true that primates, and some other animals participate in what
we call homosexual behavior this must be examined in context of animal
social behavior. These acts are almost always confined to young maturing
males in the group that are not yet ready to mate. Also, you will not find
any animal choosing to be *homosexual* as a lifestyle . . . Simple sexual
stimulation with a member of the same sex does not constitute a
"homosexual lifestyle".

While the Writings condemn any undue or *addicitive* sexual behavior - any
sexual activity outside the confine of marriage - homosexuality is a
distortion of the tendential nature of a human being . . . a nature which
is to be expressed in spirituality, meaning, among other things detachment
from the animal/physical life as an *end*. Heterosexual behavior that goes
beyond the bounds of moderation - extramaterial affairs, casual sex, etc.
is destructive to both the individual and society - it is an exaggeration
of our natural impulse (physical) to procreate - and it becomes a
mechanism for the exaltation of the human ego. Homosexuality is simply a
far greater distortion along these lines. It is an extreme warping of the
soul - where the ego has gained complete control and the soul has no way
of coming to "know itself".

Everything that is *condemned* by Baha'u'llah is condemned because it is
something that will allow the dictates of the ego to go unchecked. Whether
it is alcohol, drugs, causual sex, homosexuality, gambling, backbiting,
etc. etc.

We can show love, and kindness without having to accept someone's
lifestyle as legit. If they become offended because we refuse to accept
their behavior as *normal* this is simply a manifestation of their ego
attempting to make the world accept its (the ego's) *world-view
construct*.

But I think we should move beyond this issue, really. Those who are
fanatical. whether they are religiously so, or they are gay fanatics,
pro-abortion fanatics, etc. are not engaging us to honestly debate and
*explore* this issue - they are attempting to disrupt, confuse, and
frustrate. Best to leave them to themselves - we will very likely NOT
convince them of the correctness of our views, so why waste the time?

Alethinos, Jim Harrison
Jim Harrison, Alethinos@aol.com