...brain studies have also found that there is a biological basis for religiosity, maybe we should be working on some sort of pre-natal intervention that can cure pious stupidity and self-righteous dogmatism. You think?

Let's say that they come out with a drug that can adjust fetal androgen levels to try to ensure the baby comes out straight...

Should pharmacists be required to fill prescriptions for this drug? Or should they have a right to refuse to fill the prescription if it violates their sense of right and wrong?

*grin*

Regarding this days selection of subject matter:

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

I can't get past the headline.

Madness.

Sadly, this form of 'science' was always inevitable, no?

It's ironic that the religious zealots will happily side with science in order to eradicate the evil homos, yet try to prevent Darwinian theory from being taught in schools. If only hypocrisy was one of the seven deadly sins, they could finally eradicate themselves.

I'd rather screen for atheists.

It's all rather moot, though, because the science is completely bogus. You aren't born homosexual, or religious, or ornery, or not. You as an individual are responsible for the choices you make. And they are indeed choices.

I was born trans. I'm not quite sure what caused that, but I'm glad I'm myself, facing these challenges, and not some guy.

Altering fetal hormone levels is likely to create trouble down the line. Consider how DES often results in IS and/or TS in XY children, and breast cancer, vaginal cancer, cervical cancer, reproductive abnormalities, and infertility in XX children, as well as autoimmune diseases in both.

since the only men enthusiasitic about marriage are gay and since most women seem to think that all the worlds problems are due to men "objectifying" women it seems likely that this knowledge will lead to a HIGHER rather than a lower gay population.

Actually if they eradicated gayness they would probably eradicate themselves, at least if their public spokesmodels are any indication. Kind of puts their "it's all a choice" argument into context doesn't it.

One thing that scares me is the possibility that scientists trying to cure autism in the womb will end up wiping out Asperger's syndrome in the process, which would be a bad thing to do, because people gifted with this "disability" have contributed a lot to the world.

(which is what will/would happen if parents want the best for their children individually) won't there be something missing.

Both Price and Saletan suffer from a hetero-centric worldview. They think people are naturally heterosexual, unless something goes wrong. Hence, they feel free to pose the question of what "causes" homosexuality. This is demeaning to homosexual people.

Fact is, science has no understanding why a person is sexual at all, let alone why they have their particular attractions. There are lots of pop theories (fertility, fitness for food gathering and defense) but these are renowned for being vague and unverifiable. Furthermore, they require that one ignore the existence of homosexual people who inconveniently don't fit the data.

The utility of heterosexuality is clear (it makes babies on occasion) but that says nothing about WHY people have the attractions that they do.

I have always, always been mystified by the idea that gay guys should try to "reform" and go out and marry women and have lots of babies. Note to insane pseudochristians who need to control everyone else's sex life: ENCOURAGING THIS PROCESS PROBABLY MAKES EVEN MORE GAY PEOPLE.

Not that I mind personally, of course. But it is much nicer when the gays who procreate do so with the people they actually love, and then actually love their children regardless of their sexual orientation. Sheesh.

From the early 60's it's a dystopian dark comedy where an overpopulated world encourages homosexuality in order to keep the headcount down.

"gayness" is laid at the feet of women, the womb hostesses who fail to createte right amount of androgens? Great .....

Now that they have found out that homosexuality is not caused by bad mothering, they have had to "discover" that it's the womb ITSELF! Don't worry, dear. Just smile and take your pills. Ahh, isn't the yellow wallpaper lovely?

"Should" has nothing to do with it. Modern science has proven again and again that once we have a certain knowledge, we will exploit it no matter who it might harm. This holds doubly true for something like this, that gets under the skin of so many bigots. Of course the fundie community would support it - better thousands of children exposed to unknown risks than one gay kid born naturally. Imagine the population of physically and/or mentally afflicted children, suffering whatever consequences from being dosed with amounts of hormones they weren't meant to have running through them - I bet you anything the fundies would call them "little saints" or some such hypocritical horseshit.

Perhaps these people should read Brave New World. Cookie cutter babies coming off the assembly line, each exactly like the other. It would be the end of our humanity. There is so much for an individual to gain and contribute to the world that comes out of being different from the rest.

The Catholic clergy and Baptist preachers who so welcome a scientific means (science does come in handy sometimes) of stopping the production of gay people contradict their own theology that homosexuality is sin. They're admitting that people have no more control over their fundamental sexual orientation than their eye color (common sense and everyone's own life experience tells us the same thing but theocrats don't go in for that). Are some people born more sinful than others? I've read the Bible and that idea is definitely not in it. At any rate, we gays are pretty hardened to dehumanizing slaps in the face and it strikes me as unlikely that anything as profound as sexual orientation can be manipulated by something as simple as adjusting the levels of this or that hormone and any attempt at it is likely to produce some unexpected and nasty side effects. The siver lining to all this might be more examination of homophobia and if we humans shouldn't finally just chuck before it opens the gates even wider to designer babies. If modern Christianity weren't totally obsessed with the subject of homosexuality that might be something Christians were worried about.