A wonderful development. 800m world champion Caster Semenya,

[Joe Chi Minh]

on the controversy surrounding her sex:

"It does not upset me - God made me the way I am."

I believe she had been feeling suicidal for a while, at all the shameful publicity given to her unusual physical condition by the world's media.

[hedgehog]

1. You mean to say she isn't "inherently disordered"?

On a serious note, when I read Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides, it occurred to me that if God made people that were different on the outside, why not on the inside as well? I was already somewhat dubious about the notion that homosexual acts are sinful, that book really clarified things for me.

[Joe Chi Minh]

2. I can't see the sense in your thinking on that at all. But I've had discussing it

"up to here". Nothing personal.

As regards that sweet girl, I believe she is still feeling psychologically devastated by it all.

[Joe Chi Minh]

3. I should at least say that the idea that homosexuality is a genetic

inheritance like melanin is absurd. What about bisexuals, men who want to fornicate with their car or the pavement? Both have happened in the UK. Errol Flynn is said, latterly at least, to have been a pederast. What about the bisexual Casanova? Did they have a hormonal or genetic aberrancy? And the 300 lb cons in the prisons? What about them? Or did promiscuous lust eventually get the better of them? It is not flesh and blood we are fighting against, is it, but rather the Principalities and Powers.
Ironically, the more worldly-wise and educated the homosexual militant, the more he will simplify the issue to the nth degree. The man-in-the-steet would be ashamed to try and put over such palpable nonsense.

I don't say, of course, that a genetic aberrancy could never be a factor, but I have read nothing to suggest that that young woman had different feelings for the opposite sex than other girls. Certainly testosterone is know to heighten the female libido. In the early sixties, I knew an Austrian lad who was a hermaphrodite, but although he claimed he had "w*nker's doom" (very funny to hear him mutter it in a thick Austrian accent), was always chatting up the nurses and giving me hints on how to do it (Once again, I play the jerk, admirably!), who neither looked feminine nor acted in a feminine way.

Apparently, his father had been a fairly senior police officer, so I expect his parents were at least as socially conservative and authoritarian as most others. So, unsurprisingly, family influence and imprinting must play a major role in the psychology of what the Church has always taught to be the only proper gender orientation and healthy family unit.

Then, on top of that, there is the question of what we perceive as morally beautiful and morally ugly, and our response to it.
Of course, it is perfectly natural for atheists, presumably all materialists, to reject this traditional Christian viewpoint. And that exemplifies why our life in this world is characteriszed in scripture as a vast spiritual warfare. Above our Edinburgh police HQ, today, they fly the "homosexuality is diversity" flag. It seems that "live and let live" is not an option" as far as the militant homosexuals are concerned. They must rule. And in the UK, certainly Scotland, they do.

[hedgehog]

6. Almost 400 years later, the hierarchy is still trying to clean up

the mess left over by the way Galileo was treated. Today, we see bishops and priests twisting the observations of scientists to justify Church teachings on sexual morality. Dig down deep enough into those teachings, and you'll find that they are guided by the Medieval theory that every time a man ejaculated, he lost part of his brain. Also, the ejaculate contained miniature humans waiting to be implanted in a womb. (The woman provided only the seed bed, the man the seed.) Thus, any time a man ejaculated without planting his seed, he was both wasting his seed and losing part of his brain for nothing.

My understanding is that everyone is somewhere along a spectrum that runs from totally heterosexual to totally homosexual. I think we need to refocus our teachings on morality from who puts what where to the trickier issue of whether the sexual activity is an expression of love or exploitation. Thus, partners use sex to express their love for one another. The pedophile, the prison rapist, the domineering husband, none of these people see the other as an individual person and they use sex for their own satisfaction. Suggesting that a man who loves another man and expresses that love sexually is to be compared to a man who sticks his wang in a car exhaust pipe is beyond ignorant and insulting; it is hateful speech unworthy of a Christian..

Church teachings on sexual morality tend these days to be guided more by a needed to project authority than by science or morality. As proof, consider this; a priest who falls in love and wishes to marry is forbidden to act as priest. A priest who seduces a woman or rapes a child but who promises to return to celibacy is protected by the Church.

To me, your post implies that the only proper role of members of the GLBT community is to hide in the shadows. When they assert their right to live in the light, you accuse them of trying to take over. Unless same sex marriage becomes mandatory, I fail to see your problem.

I urge you to ponder these words from John chapter 16:

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.

[Joe Chi Minh]

4. Let's hope this little girl and her family don't suffer more heart-ache.

It sounds as if it will turn out well.

Commenting on this area is a mine-field, since there is such a broad spectrum of painful problems and afflictions, as well as the controversy on sexual morality between the tenets of the major religions and the convictions of secularists.

[Matilda]

5. I don't completely understand where you're coming from.

I haven't read anything about Caster Semenya being targeted simply because of her sexual orientation - whatever it
might actually be.

It's all about whether her musculature is male or female. If her body is structured more like a male's, she has an
unfair advantage when competing in women's races. That's it, pure and simple.

I don't care what sexuality she is and neither should anyone else; it's nobody's business but hers. But should a
person whose muscle structure makes her physically a male be allowed to compete in women's races? No. There
are rules about it, and it's up to the governing bodies to make the determination. For the rest, she should be
left in peace to live her life as she wishes.

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. Well, I can't complaint about that. Athletes tend to be extremely self-centred,

devoting most of their time, energy and commitment to winning prizes, and its understandable that they should not consider the feelings of a young girl to the extent of prejudicing their own chances.

However, someone let out the story without authorisation. It should have been kept private. The news, in itself, would have been devastating enough, and that without reference to her own sporting ambitions.

[Matilda]

8. Although South Africans have complained loud and long, it was leaked from within their own country.

However, matters like this - cheating, essentially - are always going to become public knowledge, and so they should.

I think the shine has long worn off many sporting events; when someone breaks any kind of record now, you just
wonder what drugs they're using. It's all very sordid. But cross-gender performances are considered a form of
cheating, and unfortunately for her, Caster Semenya's case is just such an example, however innocent she may be.
If there is a possibility that someone who's essentially a man is competing in female events, of course the sporting
authorities are going to crack down; they have to.

She's now a personality in her own country though, and if running is closed to her, perhaps other doors will open,
and she can do something more meaningful with her life.

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. 'Cheating' implies design. That was wholly inadvertent, not cheating. Perhaps

you think the South african authorities knew, or had a shrewd idea.

But I agree. Sport is now a tawdry business, by all accounts. From top to bottom. And having politicians batten onto it for photo ops and so on, is just the last straw. Imagine, say, Maradona, having to shake hands with one of the South American 'beasts of the eearth', the 'caudillos' of his day. I expect he had to. Just disgusting beyond belief.