RE: Talk about science denial (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> Dungeon of Political and Religious Discussion



Message


Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 4:02:49 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen
quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

That's pretty glib, and certainly unfair.

Many Americans vote against their own best interests in a variety of ways on a variety of issues, especially economic.

We're not talking about voting against your economic self interest. We're talking about someone advocating for allowing a treatment whose only known effect is to cause negative outcomes in their own population.

In every case where an individual's formative environment is determined to be a factor contributing to an unwanted behavior, there is a reasonable possibility of ameliorating its effects. If previous attempts have shown very little success, clients should be advised so they can make an informed decision. But to ban even the attempt is politics, not science.

K.






dcnovice -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 4:12:47 PM)

quote:

In every case where an individual's formative environment is determined to be a factor contributing to an unwanted behavior, there is a reasonable possibility of ameliorating its effects.

As one of the few folks on the thread who's actually been a gay teenager, I find myself wondering a few things:

(a) Is a minor truly mature/experienced enough to determine whether his or her sexual orientation constitutes an "unwanted behavior"?

(b) What happens if the kid's sexuality is "unwanted" by the parents but not the individual himself or herself?

(c) What effects does it have on an LGBT kid to be told that his or her self/identity/orientation needs to be "cured"?

(d) What do we mean by a "reasonable possibility"? You mentioned earlier in the thread that you weren't aware of much science backing up reparative therapy.

(e) Many LGBT folks, including anyone I know, experience their orientation as innate/involuntary. So how does one set about changing it?

(f) If reparative therapy is benign or even neutral, why does every pertinent professional organization--psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians, other doctors, social workers--oppose it? Are all these groups serving "the homosexual agenda"?




DomKen -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 5:02:29 PM)

I know that places like this
http://www.howardbrown.org/hb_services.asp?id=50
Should not even exist. That it does and I'm sure there is something similar in every major city is just one of the reasons I oppose anyone saying gay kids can "change." When the suicide and homelessness rates for LBTQ teens are the same as for straight teens then get back to me.




Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 5:54:13 PM)


Hi dc,

The question of whether or not a minor is mature enough to make such a decision can only be answered on an individual basis. But as to whether the motivation is coming from the parent or the minor, that is the first thing any competent professional would seek to determine. The "pray away" crowd, not so much. Yet laws like the one in California do not apply to ministers and lay religious groups. So really, what is there to defend about such an empty and utterly useless piece of legislation? Pretty much zip. It's just political theater.

As to the question of the maturity of minors more generally, is an 8-year old girl mature enough to decide she's a "boy" and be put on puberty-suppression drugs in preparation for sex reassignment surgery? Is a 13-year old girl mature enough to evaluate and understand the potential emotional sequelae of having an abortion? The human brain is not fully matured until the early twenties, and the last parts to come online are those that mediate judgment and risk assessment, so the issue is fraught with uncertainties. But you can't even begin to make judgments on a case by case basis if you are blocked by a "one size fits all" law.

Elements of the formative environment are known to be factors in some cases of homosexuality, and those are precisely what a psychological approach will seek to address. In cases where an individual's history gives reason to believe that such factors may have been significantly determinative, an ameliorative outcome is not an unreasonable possibility to contemplate. It is one thing to acknowledge that most of the groups offering such "treatments" are selling snake-oil, quite another to ban for that cause any attempt whatsoever.

K.






dcnovice -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 6:09:36 PM)

Time, I think, for agreeing to disagree.




DomKen -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 6:23:26 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kirata


Hi dc,

The question of whether or not a minor is mature enough to make such a decision can only be answered on an individual basis. But as to whether the motivation is coming from the parent or the minor, that is the first thing any competent professional would seek to determine. The "pray away" crowd, not so much. Yet laws like the one in California do not apply to ministers and lay religious groups. So really, what is there to defend about such an empty and utterly useless piece of legislation? Pretty much zip. It's just political theater.

As to the question of the maturity of minors more generally, is an 8-year old girl mature enough to decide she's a "boy" and be put on puberty-suppression drugs in preparation for sex reassignment surgery? Is a 13-year old girl mature enough to evaluate and understand the potential emotional sequelae of having an abortion? The human brain is not fully matured until the early twenties, and the last parts to come online are those that mediate judgment and risk assessment, so the issue is fraught with uncertainties. But you can't even begin to make judgments on a case by case basis if you are blocked by a "one size fits all" law.

Elements of the formative environment are known to be factors in some cases of homosexuality, and those are precisely what a psychological approach will seek to address. In cases where an individual's history gives reason to believe that such factors may have been significantly determinative, an ameliorative outcome is not an unreasonable possibility to contemplate. It is one thing to acknowledge that most of the groups offering such "treatments" are selling snake-oil, quite another to ban for that cause any attempt whatsoever.

How many dead kids is your philosophy worth?




dcnovice -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 6:25:27 PM)

FR

Just saw this, and it seemed pertinent.

A federal appeals court sided with California on Thursday and upheld the first law in the nation banning a psychological treatment that seeks to turn gay youth straight.

In a resounding, unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the state law barring the so-called gay aversion therapy legal in every respect.

The judges said trying to change a minor's sexual orientation through intense therapy appeared dangerous, and that California lawmakers properly showed that the sexual orientation change efforts were outside the scientific mainstream and have been rejected for good reason.

"One could argue that children under the age of 18 are especially vulnerable with respect to sexual identity and that their parents' judgment may be clouded by this emotionally charged issue as well," Judge Susan Graber wrote for the court panel.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/29/california-gay-conversion-therapy-ban_n_3837922.html




dcnovice -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 6:30:39 PM)

FR

And this almost literally took my breath away:

[New York State] Sen. Brad Hoylman, who sponsored the measure and is the only openly gay member of the Senate, said that he heard from a man who had electrodes attached to his genitalia to curb his homosexual desires.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/york-weighs-kids-gay-conversion-therapy-ban-24080767




Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 6:36:09 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

How many dead kids is your philosophy worth?
[image]local://upfiles/235229/530AE02E819C4F339D4EFD611E87D9F7.jpg[/image]
Image credit: http://www.engrish.com

K.







DomKen -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 7:37:25 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kirata


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

How many dead kids is your philosophy worth?

Why am I not surprised that you still have no answer?




Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 7:54:00 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

Why am I not surprised that you still have no answer?

Because trolls can't read. [:D]

K.








DomKen -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 8:10:07 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kirata


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

Why am I not surprised that you still have no answer?

Because trolls can't read. [:D]

That was no answer. That was an evasion. You continue to advocate for something that doesn't work and that the only known result is negative. Why?




Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 8:19:06 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

You continue to advocate for something that doesn't work and that the only known result is negative. Why?

You're making shit up again. If you could read, you wouldn't have to do that.

K.








tweakabelle -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/13/2014 11:54:55 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kirata


Hi dc,

The question of whether or not a minor is mature enough to make such a decision can only be answered on an individual basis. But as to whether the motivation is coming from the parent or the minor, that is the first thing any competent professional would seek to determine. The "pray away" crowd, not so much. Yet laws like the one in California do not apply to ministers and lay religious groups. So really, what is there to defend about such an empty and utterly useless piece of legislation? Pretty much zip. It's just political theater.

As to the question of the maturity of minors more generally, is an 8-year old girl mature enough to decide she's a "boy" and be put on puberty-suppression drugs in preparation for sex reassignment surgery? Is a 13-year old girl mature enough to evaluate and understand the potential emotional sequelae of having an abortion? The human brain is not fully matured until the early twenties, and the last parts to come online are those that mediate judgment and risk assessment, so the issue is fraught with uncertainties. But you can't even begin to make judgments on a case by case basis if you are blocked by a "one size fits all" law.

Elements of the formative environment are known to be factors in some cases of homosexuality, and those are precisely what a psychological approach will seek to address. In cases where an individual's history gives reason to believe that such factors may have been significantly determinative, an ameliorative outcome is not an unreasonable possibility to contemplate. It is one thing to acknowledge that most of the groups offering such "treatments" are selling snake-oil, quite another to ban for that cause any attempt whatsoever.


Sorry Mr K but this complete gibberish.

Especially so given that no so long ago you were posting links to papers dismissing all the orthodox categories in the entire matrix of sex/gender/sexuality. If we have the categories wrong, and there are very good reasons for thinking so, then what hope might any therapy have that relies on and operates wholly within those faulty categorisations? Answer: none at all.

I am relieved to see that you "acknowledge that most of the groups offering such "treatments" are selling snake-oil". Perhaps you can demonstrate the existence of one 'therapy' devised and offered by competent professionals with qualifications in the area, whose independently verified track record offers a glimmer of success? My understanding is that psychiatry tried for over a century to 'cure' 'homosexuality', an uninterrupted record of total failure until it dawned upon these 'enlightened' professionals that the problem was not the existence of 'homosexuality' but their own homophobia.

No responsible person with an understanding of the history of medical and 'scientific' attempts to redirect and refashion sexual preference and behaviour along normative lines would ever advocate a repeat of those historical horrors. Just one example to demonstrate this bloody history: Well into the 20th century medicine and psychiatry practiced clitordectomies on young girls and women who were diagnosed as suffering 'masturbation mania'. Nowadays such barbarity is recognised as 'Female Genital Mutilation" and (rightly) considered a crime in most countries

Do you really want to revisit those days? Can't you see that the problem here is not the existence of homosexual attraction and behaviours but homophobia and inevitably doomed-to-fail attempts to normatise sexual preference and behaviour? The good news is that homophobia is eminently curable, even in the oblique unintended form it occurs in your post.




Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/14/2014 1:09:26 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

Especially so given that no so long ago you were posting links to papers dismissing all the orthodox categories in the entire matrix of sex/gender/sexuality. If we have the categories wrong, and there are very good reasons for thinking so, then what hope might any therapy have that relies on and operates wholly within those faulty categorisations? Answer: none at all.

No, the answer is: It doesn't. The links I posted addressed the lack of a rational basis for the notion of "homosexuals" as a category of persons, most obviously because homosexual behavior is observed to occur among people who are not "categorically" homosexuals. A competent therapist does not see a "homosexual" sitting across from him, he only sees a troubled individual who has come to him for help with something that is causing distress.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

Perhaps you can demonstrate the existence of one 'therapy' devised and offered by competent professionals with qualifications in the area, whose independently verified track record offers a glimmer of success?

To cogently argue against allowing individuals to seek help in particular area you must demonstrate that no help is possible. Trotting out horror stories argues for regulation, not prohibition. In the present case, potential genetic factors as well as elements in the formative environment have been implicated in the etiology of homosexual behavior. Where factors in the formative environment appear to be contributory to an individual's discomfort, ameliorating their consequences is what competent therapists are trained to do.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

Do you really want to revisit those days?

Did Ken type that? [:D]

K.




tweakabelle -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/14/2014 1:21:41 AM)

If we are going to offer hope to troubled individuals, which seems to encapsulate your position in a nutshell, it stands to reason that we need to correctly diagnose the problem.

The problem is not homosexual attraction, desires, sex or 'disposition', the problem is homophobia. So the role of a competent therapist is to assist the client towards the realisation that there is nothing wrong with the way they feel. When 'reparative therapy' treats the actual problem and begins to help bigots put aside their bigotry, there will be a place for it.

Until then reparative therapy that focusses on adjusting same gender desires will be nothing more than institutional homophobia and unwelcome, unjustifiable regulation of sexuality. Not something any civilised society ought to tolerate let alone promote.




Kirata -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/14/2014 1:56:37 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

If we are going to offer hope to troubled individuals, which seems to encapsulate your position in a nutshell, it stands to reason that we need to correctly diagnose the problem.

The problem is not homosexual attraction, desires, sex or 'disposition', the problem is homophobia. So the role of a competent therapist is to assist the client towards the realisation that there is nothing wrong with the way they feel.

Who are you to decide for someone that the way he feels is "right" or "wrong"? Who are you to impose upon him your preconceived notion that his distress is just due to evil homophobes, without even listening to, let alone respecting, what the individual in front of you has to say? That is exactly the attitude taken by the religious "reparative" crowd. What I am seeing here is one side with a religious agenda, the other with a political agenda, neither of which really give damn about the person who is troubled, or even about bothering to find out why. After all, they both already "know." No need to talk to him! He's irrelevant. A pox on both your houses.

K.




tweakabelle -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/14/2014 2:28:54 AM)

Get off your high horse. Exposing someone suffering the ill effects of homphobia to more homophobia via 'treatment' that falsely promises a 'cure' to a problem that isn't theirs is the ultimate betrayal of that person.

This conversation is impossible without a differential valuation of sexual preferences. Remove that differential valuation - by declaring same gender object choices just as valid as other gender object choices - and the need for 'reparative' therapy disappears, leaving the real problem - homophobia.

Your position assigns a validity to punitive valuations of homosexual choices that is indefensible - you will have nothing useful to contribute to the conversation as long as you cling to this homophobic position. Stop dressing your homophobia up as 'freedom of choice' and recognise it for what it is.




SadistDave -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/14/2014 2:56:40 AM)

You really are naive, aren't you?

Your whole arguement hinges on the notion that all kids who think they're gay are 1. actually gay, and 2. happy about thinking they're gay.

Kids think fucked up shit for fucked up reasons. There has been more than one boy who thinks he must be gay because daddy abused him, or because boys want to have sex with him but girls don't. I'm sure there is more than one little girl who feels shame or regret because of "that one time at band camp", but doesn't know how to deal with it emotionally. Trying to convince kids who don't want to be gay that they are because they've experienced things they can't really deal with isn't doing them any favors.

Hell there are fucking adults who can't process their emotions when bad things that happen to their naughty bits without being suicidal. It's pretty stupid to take the position that the cookie cutter solution is to ignore the problems that children might have dealing with their sexuality and blame it all on homophobia.

-SD-




tweakabelle -> RE: Talk about science denial (6/14/2014 3:17:54 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: SadistDave



Your whole arguement hinges on the notion that all kids who think they're gay are 1. actually gay, and 2. happy about thinking they're gay.


I have no idea where you get this bit of nonsense from.

My argument is based on all consensual sexual preferences and behaviours are equally valid. If you want to disagree, you will necessarily be arguing that not all sexual preferences are equally valid ie that one or some are better than others.

If you wish to criticise my view feel free but at least get my position right for what it is - which is something completely different to what you have imagined it to be.




Page: <<   < prev  5 6 [7] 8 9   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Collarchat.com © 2025
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Spam Policy
8.203125E-02