Homosexuality is Unnatural?

A very common statement by theistic anti-equal rights activists is that homosexuality is unnatural. Despite their being wrong by hundreds upon hundreds of examples, their implications seems hypocritical to me.

For example, there's nothing in today's life that is 100% natural, because even the processes we use to make things natural are unnatural. About the only thing that you can do that is "natural" is to grow your own food, and even then one would need to make sure they aren't using anything unnatural in doing so, i.e. no plastic watering jugs.

The second distinct but tied-in problem is that they conflate "unnatural" with "bad." A quick look at a small amount of daily routines will show just how "bad" these people are because of all their "unnaturalness:"


Their coffee maker: not natural.
Their frying pan: not natural.
Their toaster: not natural.
Their fridge: not natural.
Their flatware and silverware: not natural.
Their cup: not natural.
Their carpet: not natural.
Their tile: not natural.
Their furniture: not natural.
Their toilet: not natural.
Their toilet paper: not natural.
Their shower: not natural.
Their shampoo: not natural.
Their towel: not natural.
Their toothpaste: not natural.
Their razor: not natural.
Their hair products: not natural.
Their deodorant: not natural.
Their washing machine: not natural.
Their dryer: not natural.
Their air conditioning: not natural.
Their medicine cabinet: not natural.
Their clothing: not natural.
Their car: not natural.
Their roads: not natural.
Their hospitals: not natural.
Their medicine: not natural.
Their building of employment: not natural.
Their sub sandwich: not natural.
Their watch: not natural.
Their cell phone: not natural.
Their MP3 player: not natural.
Their computer: not natural.
Their internet: not natural.
Their television: not natural.
Their books: not natural.
Their money: not natural.

And particularly for theists, I'll add
Their bibles: not natural.
Their churches: not natural.
Their pulpits: not natural.
Their flags: not natural.
Their musical instruments: not natural.
Their gospel CDs and DVDs: not natural.
Their indoctrination into reasonless hate: not natural.

Yet you won't see these people lobbying to remove these unnatural things from their lives. They separate out the negative connotations for their unnatural things. Granted, people who are anti-equality obviously do not have a fully developed sense of reason, but I can only hope that there is a point that can be touched upon to make them see the problem in that argument.

 

When theists say that homosexuality is "not natural", they are speaking in the context of an ethical system called "Natural Law" that originated with the Roman Stoics and is related to an earlier Greek approach called ethical naturalism. Central to both is the notion that there is a purpose to the universe or nature, and that doing anything to thwart the purpose is "unnatural" and wrong. Christians say God has a plan for us, including reproduction, and that it's wrong to thwart the plan by having sex that doesn't further reproduction. Of course this view would apply to heterosexuals who use birth control or practice masturbation. It's also seemed strange to me that churches like the Roman Catholic Church which place a high value on celibacy can take this position, since I can't think of anything more unnatural than that! It also sounds a lot like the line of thinking that "If God had meant us to fly, he'd have given us wings." And it assumes that we can identify "the" natural purpose(s) of a behaviors. Is God's plan mainly reproduction and child rearing or would it also include loving intimacy?

 

Perhaps some, but I'm referring to those who mean that it's not "of nature," and defend it by saying you don't see homosexuality in nature.

I agree with the rest, particularly the end, which is funny because you hear that, too, "Gays can't reproduce." Neither can infertile heterosexuals

 

obviously , there is no such thing as a fully developed
reasonable sensibility . this is why beer is good , god is
great , and people are crazy .

equal equals equal
= = =

no one is born homosexual
and neurotica happens weirdly
.
.

 

Wrong definition of natural. Everything that is being created within nature is natural.

 

In that case, they're uninformed. Same sex coupling is found in most mammals and some other species as well. It isn't exclusively homosexual--bisexual is more like it--but it isn't procreative either. Christian apologists sometimes try to explain this by saying the acts aren't really about sex, they're about dominance. Does that make it better? And some scholars think that dominance of one male by another is mainly what Leviticus was concerned about.

 

From biological point of view it isn't:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals

 

its natural. but it threatens the "natural" order of the patriarchal society. therefore it is stigmatised and fear of it is encoded into the fabric of society.

 

[emphasis mine]
Definitely agree with that.