Why Must They Lie?

I have spent part of the morning reading about the use of bogus statistics by the various opponents of "gay marriage" and something they call, "the homosexual agenda" in articles, interviews papers and even legal actions. A great deal of the "data" presented by various groups comes from publications by one Paul D. Cameron PhD. a self-accredited expert.

Cameron holds a real doctorate and was licensed as a clinician at one time in Nebraska. He held various faculty positions until he became a full time political voice. Cameron's reputation in both legal and academic circles is not good. He has the interesting distinction of having been publicly
disavowed or expelled from the American Physiological Association, Canadian Physiological Association, the American Sociological Association and a US District Court.

In his own right, Cameron is perhaps not important, his work is completely discredited, his ethical standards are dismissed by trial judges and my own reading of his work makes both things seem reasonable. Unfortunately it is not that simple in our world.

Dr. Dobbs, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, various politicians and a good number of campaigners routinely ignore the nearly unanimous academic and legal judgement of Cameron's work and quote at least his less silly conclusions. Much of his work comes from a "survey" done in 1983-84 with a methodology so flawed that I laughed out loud reading it. But it is not funny when otherwise reasonable folks are misled using his "conclusions."

Why do they lie? I do not find then persuasive but there is a case that can be made against homosexual conduct based on the Hebrew Scriptures, another based on some Pauline verses and certainly another traditional one based on legal history.


I think I see two answers to my question: one is that the courts and public simply will not move because of weak theological arguments and the other can be found in this fascinating quotation from Cameron.

"Marital sex tends toward the boring," he said. "Generally, it doesn't deliver the kind of sheer sexual pleasure that homosexual sex does." If all one seeks is an orgasm, he said, "the evidence is that men do a better job on men, and women on women. Homosexuality," he said, "seems too powerful to resist."¹

Now there is a revealing fascination and jealousy!

Does the lie matter? Yes. The debate in Uganda over a bill that would make even a dinner discussion of "homosexuality" a crime and actual conduct a capitol offense was shot through with pseudo science quotes from Cameron. His work is arguably a motivator for the murderous legislation.

Why must they lie? Maybe they do not want to admit how attractive they find gay sex? Maybe they are not competent theologians, historians or lawyers. In some sense at the end of the day, why does not matter. What they do is evil.

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1. Rolling Stone Magazine, March 1999, as quoted at Article in paragraph 9.