Have You Stoned An Adulterer Lately?

I had a short, but interesting conversation with a friend on the bus yesterday. He asked me what I thought about the defeat of Proposition 8 in California. I told him I'm not threatened by gay marriage and that we should leave those people (yeah, I can't believe I said that either) alone. He was silent for a minute. "Not the answer you were looking for, huh?" My friend responded that he considered homosexuality to be a form of mental illness. That surprised me because I hadn't heard that argument before. He asked me what I would do if one of my children was homosexual. I said I'd love and accept my child regardless. He tried to equate that with bank robbery. If I knew my child was planning to rob a bank, I'd try to talk him out of it, right? I saw no logic in that. I think some people are just wired that way which he disagreed with. It's not biological, he said, it's a lifestyle choice. Then he added that his faith would not allow him to accept it.

So it's a mental illness, a lifestyle choice to be dissuaded from, and banned by god. Sounds like the bases are covered.

I've often wondered if the best way for people with that mindset to recognize and accept the human condition is to have a gay son or daughter.