Such is the conclusion of Douglas A. Abbott, PhD, a professor of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska. From Lifesite:
“Except for the rare physical abnormalities (such as Huntington’s Disease) at the present time, there is no evidence of a direct causative link between a single gene and complex psycho-social behavior such as sexual preference,” says Abbott.
In his July article for the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), Abbott explains that much of the public perception is misguided about the relationship between genes and behavior. Media reporting aids this confusion with headlines such as “Gene X Found to Cause Behavior Y”. Abbott, however, says this is a “simplistic” view of the science of behavioral genetics, which studies “how genes, operating within their complex environments, connect to human environments.”
“Environment” in behavioral genetics means any non-genetic influence, including internal biological factors such as nutrients, bacteria, viruses, and medicines, and external forces on a person such as parenting, family life, peers, the media, geography, war, calamities, etc.
The Professor is obviously right. Genetic influence, even if one exists, is a far cry from causality. We all know this, well everyone except for agenda driven scientists. All of us are born with a tendency toward sin. This can be manifested in myriad different ways and some of our bad pre-dispositions have a genetic basis. This is part of our fallen nature.
This type of scientist perplexes me. For people who generally do not believe in God or sin, they sure do spend a lot of time and energy coming up with excuses for sin.
Now if they would only find the genes that cause gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride, we could all be off the hook. Couldn’t we all use a genetic get-out-of-hell free card?
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