Mercury Poisoning and Homosexuality
The two important studies which are printed below pose challenges for
just about
everybody. What does it say if, as new research indicates, mercury
pollution directly
contributes to homosexuality ? And what does it say if "dopamine receptor
gene
called DRD4" contributes directly to sexual promiscuity and other related
behaviors ?
To explain the significance of the first case, here is a part of a report
from Illinois
prepared by stopmercurypollution.org on the subject of mercury poisoning
--
Mercury pollution is toxic to children
* Mercury is a neurotoxin that passes through the placenta and
poisons fetal brain development. Every day, thousands of developing fetuses,
newborns and young children are exposed to mercury when pregnant and nursing
women eat contaminated fish, or children eat fish themselves.
* Exposure to mercury in the early stages of life can cause
permanent neurological and brain damage, including reduced cognitive abilities
and
other developmental problems.
* Up to 10 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age are estimated
to have mercury levels high enough to put their developing children at
increased risk for developmental problems.
Mercury pollution is poisoning Illinois lakes and rivers
* Coal plants produce 60 percent of the mercury pollution in
Illinois. That pollution ends up in Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes, and in
Illinois' inland rivers, lakes and streams. Mercury contamination then works
its way up the food chain to poison fish that people eat.
* Fish in Lake Michigan and all Illinois waterways are contaminated
with mercury. The Illinois Department of Public Health has issued “fish
advisories” warning everyone – particularly pregnant women, women of
childbearing age and children – to limit their consumption of fish from
Illinois
lakes, rivers and streams.
The pervasiveness of mercury in the environment is not exactly something to
shrug off. If the
link between homosexuality and wild birds can be shown to also occur in
humans, which now
seems likely, not as THE CAUSE, but as one important cause, then claims by
homosexuals
are no less than partly --empirically-- false. The widespread post-AIDS era
contention that
"homosexuals are born that way" because of genetic predisposition would be
demonstrably
untrue with regard to all homosexuals whose condition can be accounted for
primarily
because of high levels of mercury in their bodies. Which would also mean
that all programs
either in schools or businesses or government which seek "equal rights" for
the perverted
are based, in part anyway, on the view that we should accommodate the
effects of mercury
poisoning instead of eliminating mercury pollution. Which would be absurd,
not to mention the
situation this would create, which journalists might well characterize as
"Greens vs Gays."
What should not go unmentioned is the dilemma this poses for Christians
and others
who object to homosexuality on moral grounds, especially religious
grounds. What it would
not do is in any way nullify comments in the Bible ( such as are found in
the first chapter
of the Book of Romans ) or in various Buddhist sutras which condemn
homosexual
behavior for its socially disruptive effects. Regardless, how do you
morally censure
someone when he or she is an unwitting victim of mercury poisoning ? You
can do so
but only on the condition that any judgement you make takes into account
the need of homosexuals to receive medical treatment --something that is
very unlikely given the current climate of opinion in many intitutions.
There is the argument that mercury contamination was not much of an issue
at the
time when the Apostle Paul wrote his scathing remarks about gross
misconduct
about homosexuals. Yet even there we may wish to consider whether lead
poisoning
was a contributory factor since lead-lined aqueducts were commonplace in
ancient
Rome and are known to have had major consequences on fertility rates.
Further
research may show another chemically related homosexuality link.
The reverse could also be tested, do people who live in the "cleanest"
environments
show the lowest homosexual incidence levels ?
The study about dopomine receptor genes suggests an "add-on" to the issue.
If this gene is more-or-less randomly distributed throughout the population
then all mercury poisoned homosexuals with the gene would be doubly cursed
with a condition which needs medical intervention no matter how much
they may argue and organize politically for equal rights.
In other words, as I have maintained for the past twenty years now, the
entire
case for "rights" for homosexuals is based on false premises, all of it,
whether
expressed by Robert Gates or Barack Obama or Bishop Spong or Barney Frank
or Arnold Swarzenegger or Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Laura Bush or the
editors
of the New York Times, is empirically falsifiable.
To repeat, science does not support the views of homosexuals.
We have known for a long time now, even if the mass media refuses to
acknowledge
the facts, that the best of all predictors for homosexuality in humans are
the effects
of sexual abuse on children when they become adolescents or young adults.
Unresolved psychological problems from such trauma often ( not always, but
very often ) result in the pathology known as homosexuality when other
conditions contribute to this outcome, like peer group pressures to accept
homosexuality as an alternative, like a near-constant barrage in the media
to accept homosexuality, like inducements in entertainment to try
homosexuality,
and so forth.
Another well known predictor is pre-natal health of the mother. A number of
dietary deficiencies can contribute to a child becoming homosexual, as can
trauma during pregnancy. If we add in mercury poisoning as a factor
it is easy enough to see where a tipping point could be reached in any
number of cases where it would not, otherwise.
Finally, Christians and others should be disabused of the notion that
the problem can be solved through moral preachments alone. What this
all says is that a major part of the problem of homosexuality, and other
behaviors like compulsive gambling and generalized dysfunctional
promiscuity,
have --in part, possibly a major part-- medical causes.
In any case, the entire argument that homosexuality is a "rights" issue
is preposterous on the face of it.
It is high time to re-organize opposition to so-called "homosexual rights"
primarily on medical grounds.
Billy Rojas
===========================================================
Pollution Causes Homosexuality in Birds, Study Suggests
Published December 02, 2010
| FoxNews.com
The nature versus nurture debate just took an unexpected turn -- thanks to
pollution.
Increased exposure to the toxic _chemical_
(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/pollution-causes-homosexuality-birds-studies/?test=faces#)
mercury can affect sexual preference in certain species of birds -- inducing
homosexuality, a new study has revealed.
Peter Frederick, an ecologist from the University of Florida, and Nilmini
Jayasena from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka found that male
American white ibises that consumed methylmercury, the most toxic and easily
digested form of mercury found in the environment, were _more likely to pair
with other males_
(http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/11/24/rspb.2010.2189.abstract?sid=4af1b3c8-d24a-4801-bba4-0e3860dae99a)
.
In wild ibis populations with no mercury exposure, same-sex pairing is
non-existent.
"We knew that mercury was likely to affect reproductive hormones from an
earlier _study_
(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/pollution-causes-homosexuality-birds-studies/?test=faces#)
," Frederick told FoxNews.com, "so
we suspected some aspect of reproduction would be affected, like whether
the birds came into reproductive condition or whether they were too
aggressive to pair."
"We had no clue that mate choice might be involved," he added.
Birds living in wetlands, such as the ibises, are most vulnerable because
the _environment_
(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/pollution-causes-homosexuality-birds-studies/?test=faces#)
is a breeding ground for
bacteria that convert the mercury spewed from coal-fired power plants into
methylmercury, which "is at least ten times as toxic as the stuff in a
thermometer," Frederick said.
Mercury becomes methylated only when it comes in contact with bacteria in
anoxic environments, those that use sulfur instead of _oxygen_
(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/pollution-causes-homosexuality-birds-studies/?t
est=faces#) for metabolism. And that process is common in wetlands and
shallow aquatic areas, Frederick said.
"The implication is that this is probably happening in wild bird
populations," _Frederick told Nature magazine_
(http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101201/full/news.2010.641.html) .
Frederick and Jayasena studied 160 white ibis nestlings over a three-year
period. They found that males with higher levels of mercury were less
likely to be approached by females and had a higher chance of being involved
in
a homosexual pairing. As the level of mercury exposure increased, so did
the degree and persistence of homosexual pairing.
Frederick believes that the methylmercury, a known endocrine disruptor, is
affecting hormone levels in exposed birds.
While the team hopes their findings _sheds light
_
(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/pollution-causes-homosexuality-birds-studies/?test=faces#)
on the effects of mercury pollution, Frederick
makes clear that people shouldn’t think that humans ingesting mercury will
suddenly become gay. "I want to be very explicit that this study has
nothing to say about that," he told _Nature_
(http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101201/full/news.2010.641.html) .
That said, mercury pollution is a danger to humans for a variety of other
reasons: It's known to affect developing fetuses and has degenerative
effects on many human organs.
"There are numerous reasons why cleaning up the environment for _birds_
(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/02/pollution-causes-homosexuality-birds
-studies/?test=faces#) also reduces risk for humans," Frederick said.
The results of the study are published in the current issue of Royal
Society B
Like to Sleep Around? Blame Your Genes
By _Stephanie Pappas_ (mailto:[email protected]) , LiveScience Senior
Writer
posted: 01 December 2010
Whether your roommate is Samantha Sleeps-Around or Paul the Prude, cut him
or her some slack: People's predilections for promiscuity lie partially in
their DNA, according to a new study.
A particular version of a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4 is linked to
people's tendency toward both infidelity and uncommitted one-night stands,
the researchers reported Nov. 30 in the online open-access journal PloS
One.
The same gene has already been linked to alcoholism and gambling
addiction, as well as less destructive thrills like _a love of horror films_
(http://www.livescience.com/culture/sensation-seeking-personalities-like-horror-films
-101028.html) . One study linked the gene to an openness to new social
situations, which in turn correlated _with political liberalism_
(http://www.livescience.com/culture/political-polarization-democrat-republican-101101.html)
.
In the new study, researchers gathered a detailed history of sexual
behavior and relationships from 181 young adults. They also collected _DNA
samples_
(http://www.livescience.com/culture/gene-linked-to-promiscuity-infidelity-101201.html#)
from the volunteers' cheeks and analyzed the samples for the
presence of the thrill-seeking version of DRD4.
"What we found was that individuals with a certain variant of the DRD4
gene were more likely to have a history of uncommitted sex, including
_one-night stands_
(http://www.livescience.com/culture/090811-one-night-stands.html)
and acts of infidelity," study researcher Justin Garcia, a postdoctoral
fellow at Binghamton University, State University of New York, said in a
statement.
"The motivation seems to stem from a system of pleasure and reward, which
is where the release of dopamine comes in," Garcia said. "In cases of
uncommitted sex, the risks are high, the rewards substantial and the
motivation
variable — all elements that ensure a dopamine 'rush.'"
People with the thrill-seeking gene variant were about twice as likely to
report a history of one-night stands as those without the gene variant.
Half of those with a love of risk imprinted in their DNA reported committing
infidelity in the past, compared with 22 percent of those without the
variant.
"The study doesn't let transgressors off the hook," said Garcia. "These
relationships are associative, which means that not everyone with this
genotype will have one-night stands or commit infidelity. Indeed, many people
without this genotype still have one-night stands and commit infidelity. The
study merely suggests that a much higher proportion of those with this
genetic type are likely to engage in these behaviors."
--
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