Flawed Logic from Marilyn Vos Savant

by Floyd Chappelear
Sentry Magazine, June 2002

I am accepting of people of all sexual orientations, but the following point was made to me recently: "Gay people cannot be normal. If everyone were gay starting tomorrow, the human race would die out, so being gay cannot be nature's intended way." I'm having trouble finding a logical counter-argument. Do you know one?

--Gordon, Herndon, Va.

Marilyn's answer: Yes. The original argument is defective. Substitute the word "male" for "gay," and you'll see the flaw: "Male people cannot be normal, if everyone were male starting tomorrow, the human race would die out, so being male cannot be nature's intended way" Or you could substitute the word "female." In either case, the argument makes no sense: Being male or female is perfectly normal. [Parade Magazine, April 7, 2002]

The reason the argument makes no sense is that the reasoning is flawed. "Gay" does not refer to gender, as such, but to a kind of sexual activity (homosexual: same-sex with same-sex). Homosexuals are both male and female. They could reproduce should their preference be in that direction. However, if all were males (or females) then it would not be possible to bear offspring. Hence, that which describes activity is made equal to that which refers to gender. If all were males it would be impossible to reproduce. If all were "gay" it would still be possible to have children. She compares apples with oranges.

The real problem is that homosexuality is a sin. "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:27). We need to be "accepting" of them in that we need to love them and reach out to them with the gospel. We do not, however, need to love the garment stained by sin. "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh" (Jude 23).

A further problem is that Marilyn has joined that large unwashed crowd that wants us to overlook sin in the name of tolerance. I, for one, might be more inclined to be tolerant if the "tolerance advocates" were more tolerant to views that do not coincide with theirs.

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email