Ben Carson says being gay is a choice

[aujeff11 6,243]

Yeah, gay people choose this lifestyle because they like to be harassed and even beat up or worse yet, murdered for their lifestyle. Gay people choose to be gay so they can risk being fired from their jobs for no other reason than they're gay. Yep, Dr. Carson--you figured it out.

To be honest, I never understood this love affair that some Republicans have for him. I know he criticized Obamacare in front of The Chosen One himself, but how in the name of hell does that make him a legitimate contender for the Presidency of the United States?

Do you think if Carson was a white retired neurosurgeon, he would get this much publicity. As a black man, he criticized Obama and earned some supporters by doing so. IMO I think this guy is a nut.

[AURaptor 1,125]

If Carson were white, he'd have been savaged by the LBGQLMNOP community far more by now.

[TigerTale 357]

You guys are right...Dr. Benjamin Carson knows absolutely nothing about biology. Therefore,we should just dismiss him as a religious nut.

[AURaptor 1,125]

You guys are right...Dr. Benjamin Carson knows absolutely nothing about biology. Therefore,we should just dismiss him as a religious nut.

No 1st hand knowledge , but I'm pretty sure going to prison doesn't turn you gay.

Just sayin'.

[AUDub 11,158]

You guys are right...Dr. Benjamin Carson knows absolutely nothing about biology. Therefore,we should just dismiss him as a religious nut.

[TigerTale 357]

I'm simply guessing he has a better grasp on biology than any of us. Just a hunch. Since I don't really know any of you I could be wrong.

[AURaptor 1,125]

Why is the issue of biology relevant to this thread again?

[TigerTale 357]

Lots of talk about DNA in previous pages.

[AURaptor 1,125]

Lots of talk about DNA in previous pages.

That's gay.

[TigerTale 357]

Back to homosexuality as a choice or not. One could point to the mayor of NYCs wife. Many years ago she wrote an article for a magazine in which she said she was gay. Now she is married to a man. Did she make a choice or was she mistaken in her sexuality?

[AUUSN 823]

This man was trown off a roof for being gay. If it was such a choice, dont you think he would have CHOSEN a lifestyle that inluded not falling to his death?

[AUFAN78 3,911]

This man was trown off a roof for being gay. If it was such a choice, dont you think he would have CHOSEN a lifestyle that inluded not falling to his death?

Good question, but my answer would be no. Gay Pride is a powerful thing. I've worked with a number of gay men and they are willing to fight even die for their rights.

[AUDub 11,158]

Back to homosexuality as a choice or not. One could point to the mayor of NYCs wife. Many years ago she wrote an article for a magazine in which she said she was gay. Now she is married to a man. Did she make a choice or was she mistaken in her sexuality?

Does her experience cover all homosexuals?

There's a growing body of research that does seem to confirm a biological component. There's good information out there if you want to learn (i.e. Google it).

[AURaptor 1,125]

Good question, but my answer would be no. Gay Pride is a powerful thing. I've worked with a number of gay men and they are willing to fight even die for their rights.

Few men , or women, are so brave as to actually die for their beliefs.

You HONESTLY think that a person would be willing to be put to death for something they aren't ?

[AUFAN78 3,911]

Good question, but my answer would be no. Gay Pride is a powerful thing. I've worked with a number of gay men and they are willing to fight even die for their rights.

Few men , or women, are so brave as to actually die for their beliefs.

You HONESTLY think that a person would be willing to be put to death for something they aren't ?

No. I think some gay men and/or women will die for something they are. I certainly can't say all. Maybe I misunderstood the question?

[AURaptor 1,125]

Maybe I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that people CHOOSE to be gay, and that those who chose to be gay, being actually straight, would still choose to say that they're gay, and even die for their " cause ", what ever the hell that is.

[TigerTale 357]

I don't mean to suggest her experience is the same as all homosexuals, but in her case she has made a choice. Dr. Carson said he believes homosexuality is a choice and this particular example backs his claim.

Sorry for the random response. Trying to learn the quote aspect of this forum.

[AUFAN78 3,911]

Maybe I misunderstood. I thought you were saying that people CHOOSE to be gay, and that those who chose to be gay, being actually straight, would still choose to say that they're gay, and even die for their " cause ", what ever the hell that is.

Now you really confused me. LOL. Want be the first time or the last.

I do know people who chose the gay lifestyle only to go straight later in life. But those aren't the ones I was referring to in my post. I know gay men that are passionate regarding their sexuality and would fight or even die due to their pride.

[AUFAN78 3,911]

Good question, but my answer would be no. Gay Pride is a powerful thing. I've worked with a number of gay men and they are willing to fight even die for their rights.

Few men , or women, are so brave as to actually die for their beliefs.

You HONESTLY think that a person would be willing to be put to death for something they aren't ?

Meant to touch on this earlier, but I know quite a few soldiers that would disagree with that statement. And I am sure that is not your inference, just saying.

As far as your comment relates to gay men, ask them if they are afraid of contracting AIDS. It will give insight into the pride I referenced.

[AUDub 11,158]

I don't mean to suggest her experience is the same as all homosexuals, but in her case she has made a choice. Dr. Carson said he believes homosexuality is a choice and this particular example backs his claim.

Sorry for the random response. Trying to learn the quote aspect of this forum.

You'll get used to it. Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Even if she did, how would we know that? She very well could have been mistaken, or she could have been lying. Who knows?

As I said earlier, I'd recommend some Google-fu on the subject. There's a lot of published scientific literature on the subject supporting that it is not a choice. Note how few of those present an opposing view.

Them we have Dr. Carson. True, he probably studied biology in depth a few decades ago, but he is arguing on a matter outside of his expertise. A matter on which his view happens to fly in the face of the consensus on the matter.

[AUFAN78 3,911]

I don't mean to suggest her experience is the same as all homosexuals, but in her case she has made a choice. Dr. Carson said he believes homosexuality is a choice and this particular example backs his claim.

Sorry for the random response. Trying to learn the quote aspect of this forum.

You'll get used to it. Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Even if she did, how would we know that? She very well could have been mistaken, or she could have been lying. Who knows?

As I said earlier, I'd recommend some Google-fu on the subject. There's a lot of published scientific literature on the subject supporting that it is not a choice. Note how few of those present an opposing view.

Them we have Dr. Carson. True, he probably studied biology in depth a few decades ago, but he is arguing on a matter outside of his expertise. A matter on which his view happens to fly in the face of the consensus on the matter.

Yes welcome Tiger! I think you'll actually learn quite a bit on the forum. I know I have. Plus there is the added comedy relief. Trust me on that. Great bunch here. Enjoy!

[TigerTale 357]

Thanks for the welcome.

I have read multiple studies on this topic and have questions I don't feel have been completely answered so my doubts remain.

I realize I threw out an easy and obvious example of choice, but it's one I felt everyone would be familiar with. My example probably made me look simplistic in my views.

I agree that Dr. Carson's expertise is not in genetics, but that doesn't undermine his ability to understand the topic to a great degree.

I find it interesting that such an intelligent man is being so quickly dismissed in this thread. He's not a politician so he is going to say things that a handler didn't get to review first. The prison example was probably not a good example and I think he has already acknowledged that and apologized for offending people.

Still working on that Quote thingy.

[AUDub 11,158]

I agree that Dr. Carson's expertise is not in genetics, but that doesn't undermine his ability to understand the topic to a great degree.

But it doesn't mean he does understand the topic to a great degree. There's a reason the sort of work he did often involves teams, with different experts focusing on their area of expertise. Given a choice between the vast majority of experts (MDs, psychologists, geneticists etc.) in the relevant fields and Dr. Carson, I'm going with the experts.

From what I know, he is a brilliant surgeon. If I needed someone to cut into my brain, his name would be one of the first to pop into my head. But that doesn't mean I would ask him to give me a psych eval.

I find it interesting that such an intelligent man is being so quickly dismissed in this thread. He's not a politician so he is going to say things that a handler didn't get to review first. The prison example was probably not a good example and I think he has already acknowledged that and apologized for offending people.

This is hardly the first gaffe he's had, and it will not be the last. I have no doubt he is a smart man, but he holds some out there views on areas outside of his area of expertise and apparently isn't afraid to share them.

[DKW 86 7,431]

Legitimate question here because I don't know the answer. What % of the population is gay? And has/does that % stayed the same? The thinking would be that if being gay is an inherent DNA/gene makeup, then outside influences should have no impact on the % of the population that is gay and that % should not change very much. Is that the case? I do not know?

Last time I researched it was a few years ago and as I recall, conservative estimates were in the 2-3% range but with some estimates a good bit higher.

There's no way of knowing if that number has increased or decreased as the data just don't exist. There is plenty of evidence that homosexuality has alway been present in the human population to some degree, as it has in other species as well.

Masters & Johnson said they thought homosexuality could be as high as 10%. The new accepted norms run 1-3% That would still mean 3.1M-9.3M-31M gays in America alone.

Did anyone actually mean to state that that rate would vary based on environment or some other component?

I am not an authority here, but i do like what the statistical analysis does state for us. I would think that the rate of homosexuaulity would be a fairly steady constant, say plus or minus 3% of the stated norm: @ 1%, that would mean +/- .3% or @ 3 %, +/- .9% , @10%, +/- 3.1M giving us a range of about .7% - 3.9%-13% or 2.1M upto 34M.

I believe the new understanding would be 1-3% now days tho.

If the reasons are genetic & environment, which i do believe, i still think the ultimate mix of all those detailed components should give us pretty steady results.

So unless, there was some HUGE shift in environment, there should not be any shift in the %ages. Genetics would/should yield very stable contributions.

Now, why would culture want to kill a homosexual?

1) You have not affected the genetic contribution to homosexuality at all. So, over time, Zero difference made by killing.

2) If you killed a homsexual, all you would do is free up the environmental contributors to shift another person. So, with time, again, effectively Zero difference made by killing.

So, i guess i will now be accused of being gay or being a PFLAG member, etc. After all, nothing gets mouth breathers going harder than mentioning gays.

In short: Ben Carson maybe actually correct, in some small way. Dumping people that are likely sexually 'over-active' into an environment where there are no heterosexual partners is of course going to lead to many participating in homosexual behavior, either thru rape or seeking out a true homosexual partner. This should be a temporary happenstance for most, most returning to their hetero ways once released. But then again, we have had the same basic structure for housing law breakers since the dawn of time, and i could make a valid point that jail/prison would likely be counted as a normal environmental contributor.

Said all that to conclude on this: If i read correctly, (some seem to be saying that there may be some real fluctuations in overall numbers) i dont see how whatever the true normal statistic for homosexuality is, (1-3-10%), there really should not be any real variation thru genetics nor thru environmental contributors, OVER TIME.

So, Carson could be right, but using his exception in the debate actually likely reflects so few true changes that it should have been dismissed. It is a special circumstance.

I like Dr Carson, but that was a not a well thought out answer. I will not be supporting him for President, specifically because he has no background in govt. He is too inexperienced to be a real candidate, IMHO.

[aubfaninga 16]

Looks like we may get to see how much environment plays a role in the future.

With the decline of traditional christian values found in the bible and same sex marriage soon to be an accepted American norm we can see if same sex relationships rise.

Bi racial relationships rise every year as the environment becomes more acceptive to it.