By Mel Seesholtz, Ph.D.
According to James Rutz, chairman of Megashift Ministries and founder-chairman of Open Church Ministries, “A devil food is turning our kids into homosexuals.†It seems Satan is lurking in… soy.
Mr. Rutz claims that “Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That’s why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today’s rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products.â€
After you stop laughing, examine Mr. Rutz’s preposterous – not to mention totally unsupported – claims.
“Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality.†How does one even begin to respond to such nonsense? Since soy products such as tofu – which Mr. Rutz says must be completely avoided – have been traditional parts of the Chinese and other Eastern diets for over 2000 years, shouldn’t China be a totally homosexual nation by now? Similarly, since tofu is a staple in Buddhists’ vegetarian diets, shouldn’t all Buddhists be gay?
As for Mr. Rutz’s claim that soy “commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis,†one has to wonder how he came to that conclusion. Has he been conducting a longitudinal study? Has he been hands-on measuring the penises of men who got soy milk as infants or who eat tofu?
The second sentence makes as little sense as the first: “That’s why
most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today’s rise in
homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy
products.â€
Has there been “a rise in homosexuality� If so, Mr. Rutz seems to be
the only one who knows about it. What there has been is a rise in the
number of people who refuse to live their lives “in the closet.†Most
leave the closet willingly, but some – such as antigay evangelicals Ted Haggard and Paul Barnes – need a little push.
Mr. Rutz wants – indeed needs – something to “blame†for homosexuality.
How ironic that one who claims to be preaching “God’s truth†can’t find
it within himself to accept “God’s plan†as evidenced throughout human
history.
Homosexuals have existed in all cultures and in all times, even before
soy milk and tofu were invented or consumed. From prehistoric rock
paintings left by the San people in modern day Zimbabwe, to ancient
Greece and Rome and the “homosexual†Christian saints of the Middle
Ages who left a considerable body of love poetry dedicated to their
partners:
He was the refuge of my spirit, the sweet solace of my griefs, whose
heart of love received me when fatigued by labors, whose counsel
refreshed me when plunged in sadness and grief... What more is there,
then, that I can say? Was it not a foretaste of blessedness thus to
love and thus to be loved?
– Saint Aelred, from his eulogy for his lover Simon
...to Native American berdache who were venerated for their “two-spirit†nature, homosexuals have always
been present. One would naturally conclude, therefore, that
homosexuality is part of “God’s plan†and the specific nature the
Divine ordained for some individuals.
Blind to history, Rutz continued his apologia by claiming that women
who give soy milk to their babies are turning them into future
homosexuals because of the estrogen content of soy. He proclaimed that
“most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and
one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!†If one-fourth get soy milk,
using Rutz’s “reasoning†shouldn’t one-fourth of the population be gay?
Not surprisingly, Mr. Rutz offered no studies to support his “medicalâ€
claims about the effects of soy on human sexuality and men’s penis
size. Could that be because there aren’t any?
Reality check. A part of the gay community as well as an
ever-increasing part of the straight community are vegetarian or vegan,
which means they consume a lot of soy products including the dreaded
tofu.
Common sense. If, as Mr. Rutz claimed, soy “commonlyâ€
leads to a decrease in penis size, don’t you think the diligently
voyeuristic media would have picked up on the worldwide stampede of men
seeking medical help for their shriveling penises?
Undaunted by reality and common sense, Mr. Rutz continued his argument providing a telling look at its motives:
Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because “I can’t remember a time when I wasn't homosexual.†No, homosexuality is always deviant.
But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time
when excess estrogen wasn’t influencing them. [italics added]
This sounds a lot like what the defenders of slavery and segregation
once said: doesn’t matter if they were “born that way,†they’re still
inferior and, therefore, “deviant.†Rutz should have a look at “When
religion loses its credibility,†a USA Today article by Christian writer Oliver Thomas:
What if Christian leaders are wrong about homosexuality? I suppose,
much as a newspaper maintains its credibility by setting the record
straight, church leaders would need to do the same:
Correction: Despite what you might have read, heard or been taught
throughout your churchgoing life, homosexuality is, in fact, determined
at birth and is not to be condemned by God's followers. …
Christianity is in danger of squandering its moral authority by
continuing its pattern of discrimination against gays and lesbians in
the face of mounting scientific evidence that sexual orientation has
little or nothing to do with choice. To the contrary, whether sexual
orientation arises as a result of the mother’s hormones
or the child’s brain structure or DNA, it is almost certainly an
accident of birth. The point is this: Without choice, there can be no
moral culpability. [link added]
What there is, however, are self-serving “moralists†who concoct new,
ever more bizarre ways to demean and degrade their fellow human beings
while hiding behind “religion†and scare tactics like “soy is
feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis,
sexual confusion and homosexuality.â€
Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike.
– Oscar Wilde
Our society gives wide berth to obvious pathology when it is covered by religious language.
– The Right Reverend John Shelby Spon
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