This confusing message can be a danger in that it can erode and dilute some of our basic values. Let me preface my suggestions to develop an effective way to address this very sensitive and critical issue, with some background information.
Homosexuality is, of course, not a new behaviour. It has existed in practically all cultures and among all people, but usually in fewer numbers and in secrecy, not with an “in your face” attitude as it does in the west now. Unfortunately this is the reality of the times we live in, especially in the Western societies, and we need to deal with it. The homosexual, or the gay as they call themselves, in an attempt to polish their image, constitute a very active and powerful lobby group. They have strong political and social ties and access to the elites of the society, especially in the US, up to and including President Obama. Even though majority of the people in the US believe that homosexual behaviour is wrong, it is intriguing, but never the less remarkable, that the homosexuals have gained public acceptance for their behaviour in a very short period of time. This acceptance by the US public is a reflection of people who are committed to their cause and give due thought, time, money and effort to achieve their purpose, though a wrong one. The homosexual’s agenda is a very simple one to make their behaviour acceptable as NORMAL, and in the process recruit more to their ranks. They have a sophisticated and multifaceted campaign to achieve their goals. These include active participation in social and political issues other than their immediate ones, like feeding the hungry and dealing with human right issues. They promote their agenda through legislation, presenting themselves as victims of prejudice and discrimination, helping to enact the gender discrimination act, legalising and securing full benefits for same gender marriage, funding research similar to the hypothalamus issue (which shows a genetic propensity to homosexuality), teaching at even kindergarten level that the two-male or the two female can make a family unit which is an acceptable alternative that is even comparable to the traditional MOM and POP family, religious and moral blurring on the stand by establishing gay churches and synagogues, etc. The most effective milestone in the homosexual movement, was probably when in 1976 the American Psychiatric Association (APA) declared that homosexuality was no longer to be considered an illness but was to be regarded merely as an orientation or a sexual variant. The rest, as they say, is history. This made a lot of people very suspicious of the scientific community, who went against known scientific data that the homosexual behavior can be changed. Even though the APA has taken an official stand, this debate continues and many prominent members of APA oppose this stand. Again this has happened and continues to happen even in religious circles, amongst Muslims and others, where experts or priests make pronouncements in favour of those from whom they stand to gain favours at the expense of the masses and against clear moral and/or scientific stands supporting the contrary or opposite views.
The strength of the movement was demonstrated by the outbreak of AIDS. Up to that point in history, there was a standard to deal with ALL communicable diseases. The scientifically developed and tested system that is in place to contain communicable diseases was bypassed with political muscle. As a result, the disease spread very rapidly and affected many innocent lives through blood supply and other preventable methods whose implementation was suppressed politically. AIDS, a communicable disease up to that point that mainly affected the homosexuals, was forced to become a political issue and became the exception to the rule. The innocent were put at risk and their lives made a living hell, some were even lost just for a political gain. The lie that is being promoted is that AIDS is equally rampant amongst the heterosexuals as it is amongst the homosexuals. Statistics contradicts this statement.
The homosexual movement has a strong network of support groups who encourage each other to “come out of the closet”, thus advancing and actively promoting this behaviour. They thrive on conflict amongst the family and/or community members. They have been known to provide moral, psychological, social, and financial support to any one of their own who is making the transition into their lifestyle or who is “coming out of the closet”, so to speak.
They use proven methodologies in changing social acceptability and behaviour towards themselves. Like the shows on television, they will introduce the radical issue which will provoke a hue and cry from all quarters the first time out, the second time there is less and in subsequent times the opposition will die out. They then discuss, or frame the issue as it is known, to convince us of their legitimacy and how wrong, narrow minded and bigots all these moralists are. The trick is to say it enough times, and what was once a taboo to even talk about is becoming normal, acceptable, and even desirable to more and more people.
They now have an annually “Gay Pride Parade” in many US cities with full-fledged TV coverage. A “Gay Pride Month” has been established in some school districts to remove bigotry and prejudice. Additionally, colleges and universities have a profound impact on the intellectual development of our young people. It is the time in their lives where new and independent thoughts are introduced, incubate, and develop. However, most of these institutions are a bedrock of secular extremism and promote all other values except the divine ones. In these circles, it is politically and socially acceptable to talk about, promote and experiment with all behaviors, homosexuality included, but to discuss and further divine values is considered being close minded and narrow. The argument from some of the elites of these institutions is that we need to adhere to the separation of church and state, which has historical merit. In fact, it is obvious to most observers that what is meant is to take God out of the equation and confine Him to the walls of homes, mosques, churches, and synagogues only. We, the youths and the parents, all need to be aware of these trends so as to enable us to develop an effective way to deal with these issues and inoculate ourselves against harmful behaviours. This is a summary of our study of the homosexual movement that we undertook to try and understand various movements, religious and those based on other various causes, that have succeeded to transform themselves from being the abhorred or persecuted groups to becoming key players in the American society. Homosexual movement is one of them, the others are the Irish Catholics, the Quakers, etc. The reason for providing the background information here is first to come to grips with the sophisticated nature of the problem, and know who we and our youths are dealing with. The second is to enable us to formulate an effective response to it.
Discussion here of homosexuality is a reflection of the success of their movement to force us to address this as an issue, even though we would rather not. We do not know how many can claim, with any degree of certainty, the pervasiveness of this behaviour amongst our community members. We are for sure affected by the society in which we live, however I think on this score, we as a community, have not yet been too adversely affected. I believe that any discussion needs to take into consideration the following:
We as Muslims need to state unequivocally and unambiguously that homosexuality is a deviant behaviour and that there is not even an iota of doubt that Islam condemns the behaviour.
* The most important thing for us as Muslims is that Islam is not our ethnicity, it is our religion which regulates our lives and from which we derive our values.
* Even though our religion allows us latitude, more than most, to ponder and reconsider some issues, homosexuality is clearly and explicitly condemned by the Qur’an (7:80-83, 11:77-79), the Prophet, and his progeny.
* When we have a conflict with the Qur’an, which is the word of God verbatim, we do not ask where the Qur’an went wrong but rather why are we, limited beings, in conflict with the wisdom of the absolute, God Almighty.
* As Muslims we do not make up our religion, but we receive it and we obey it.
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