Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 181
181 APPENDIX 5 TALKING ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY We live in a culture where our children are exposed to a barrage of un-Islamic behavior in books, television and the Internet: one such area is homosexuality. “ Gay ” characters are now the fixture of mainstream television, and clubs catering to the social needs of “ gay ” students are to be found in college campuses nationwide. Many jurisdictions have enacted “ gay ” marriages, allowing homosexuals to legally get a marriage license. Homosexuality is seen as a norm, and any moral opposition to such behavior is seen as an old fashioned and bigoted viewpoint, since the claim is made that homosexuals are ‘ born that way ’ , taking a stand against homosexuality is akin to racism. An open, public display of same-sex relations as a show of pride is but one facet of a larger issue facing society today – a very public and visible sexual anarchy, featuring such adventurism as pre-marital, ‘ hook up ’ culture and extra marital sex with multiple partners. In one generation, homosexuality has gone from a private issue to public exhibitionism. With an over-sexualized society of ‘ doing what feels good ’ and free- rolling no-holds barred experimentation supported by an Internet industry to cater to every taste, it is clear our children are growing up in extremely challenging times due to this rapid coarsening of the culture. As our children need to confront these sexual mores around them, we need to have the conversation with them early and at frequent intervals as they grow in their own awareness and understanding. The biggest mistake is to assume your children do not know. Parents tend to underestimate the amount of knowledge their children may have