How Religions Promote by Persecution
Here's my new theory, someone's probably already thought of it and made a million selling books but that won't stop me from claiming it as my own:
If there is a genetic influence on gayness then the long term persecution of gays by social institutions such as the church has probably worked to increase rather than decrease the proportion of gays in society. Why? If the persecution of a group gets serious enough they'll adapt their overt behaviour to avoid it. That is, a proportion of gay blokes rather than live a tasteful, well-decorated and probably childless domestic life risking beatings, stoning, inprisonment, torture or execution will take the less life threatening route of entering a sham marriage that bears kids - and pass on potentially gay genes if such things exist.
So the theory holds that if societies adopt tolerant and liberal social attitudes the net effect should be an increase in happy gay couples who either don't have kids or adopt some resulting, long term, in a relative reduction in the proportion of the population with gay tendencies compared to intolerant societies. The theory probably doesn't apply to girls.
Whatever. The thing I like about the theory is that I can go anger some religious nuts with it. Now where's that PhD?
Here's my new theory, someone's probably already thought of it and made a million selling books but that won't stop me from claiming it as my own:If there is a genetic influence on gayness then the long term persecution of gays by social institutions such as the church has probably worked to increase rather than decrease the proportion of gays in society. Why? If the persecution of a group gets serious enough they'll adapt their overt behaviour to avoid it. That is, a proportion of gay blokes rather than live a tasteful, well-decorated and probably childless domestic life risking beatings, stoning, inprisonment, torture or execution will take the less life threatening route of entering a sham marriage that bears kids - and pass on potentially gay genes if such things exist.
So the theory holds that if societies adopt tolerant and liberal social attitudes the net effect should be an increase in happy gay couples who either don't have kids or adopt some resulting, long term, in a relative reduction in the proportion of the population with gay tendencies compared to intolerant societies. The theory probably doesn't apply to girls.
Whatever. The thing I like about the theory is that I can go anger some religious nuts with it. Now where's that PhD?
posted by Paul Staugaitis at 3:21 PM
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