Just so you know, a majority of the inquiries to me from this blog's readers are regarding sexual addictions. I can't say for sure why, whether it is about raw numbers or the fact that they are the least understood of the addictions.
Frankly, I think we know very little about sexuality from biological and psychological perspectives, and modern Christianity has largely forgotten the Biblical narrative set in Genesis and continued in the New Testament. Gender and sexuality have become more about politics these days then about a common groundwork to humanity.
Nowadays, we have been divided and conquered on this topic.
As a result, we all tend to pile up our own little opinions on this topic. Then, someone comes along and pulls some of the erroneous ones out of the stack. Here's an opportunity to have that happen:
Why am I posting this? Because there are lots of helpful facts in it. For example:
“Neutral academic surveys show there is substantial change. About half of the homosexual/bisexual population (in a non-therapeutic environment) moves towards heterosexuality over a lifetime. About 3% of the present heterosexual population once firmly believed themselves to be homosexual or bisexual.”
“Sexual orientation is not set in concrete,” he notes.
Even more remarkable, most of the changes occur without counseling or therapy. “These changes are not therapeutically induced, but happen ‘naturally’ in life, some very quickly,” Dr. Whitehead observes. “Most changes in sexual orientation are towards exclusive heterosexuality.”
Numbers of people who have changed towards exclusive heterosexuality are greater than current numbers of bisexuals and homosexuals combined. In other words, ex-gays outnumber actual gays.
The fluidity is even more pronounced among adolescents, as Bearman and Brueckner’s study demonstrated. “They found that from 16 to 17-years-old, if a person had a romantic attraction to the same sex, almost all had switched one year later.”
“The authors were pro-gay and they commented that the only stability was among the heterosexuals, who stayed the same year after year. Adolescents are a special case—generally changing their attractions from year to year.”
Now, let's think about this: sexual 'orientation' and 'attraction' are synonyms. What do these facts tell us about sex addiction? We are dealing with a far more fluid area than something that can be dismissed as 'genetic' or 'hard-wired' (a.k.a. DNA-programmed) into us. If our attractions are subject to change, then they can be changed.
This is a helpful sign for treating sexual addictions. Now, perhaps some of you are going to get the message that I think homosexuals can be 'cured.' Well, that is silly: I don't think alcoholism or any other addiction can be 'cured,' and so I don't believe in cures to begin with. They are the modern man's "Nirvana"... reputed, but never actually witnessed. If a solid majority of addicts elude recovery despite years of treatment, I don't see why homosexuals should also have anything other than a low success rate of treatment, if they want treatment at all.
I certainly don't want to force anyone into treatment who does not want it, even pedophiles and the mentally ill. But, don't expect me to enable their behavior, either. I'm more than willing to chip in on a very large, high-security 'hotel' for those who want to harm others because of their disorders that they don't want to treat. Again, for clarity, I am not talking about gays.
So, what's the point? The point is that we are made to have attractions. Desires are part of who we are. But, they can become deformed because they are fluid. Turning them off is not really an option, but they can be reigned in, and they may also be steered to some degree in a healthier direction. However, once they become deformed, they can never be neglected.
There is no 'cure.' There is only treatment.
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