Could it be that for many people the debate about homosexuality has less to do with homosexual than heterosexual behavior?
Consider the popular line, “They can’t help how they feel.” This proposition is the minor premise of an implied syllogism, the major premise of which may be put, “To act upon a desire which one cannot help feeling is always blameless.”
Is the major premise persuasive? Hardly. Many an adulterer might say in perfect sincerity that he can’t help wanting to sleep with his neighbor’s wife; many a thief, that he can’t help wanting his victim to be few dollars poorer. It doesn’t follow that these persons are blameless for acting on their desires.
We accept such absurd postulates not because they persuade us, but because they provide excuses for our own bad behavior. “I can’t help wanting to sleep with everyone who wears a skirt, therefore ….”
Tomorrow: Maybe Not the ONLY One