Evolution. 3.5 million homeless. Global warming. Listen to the mainstream media, and you will believe these are facts. Yet there is no evidence to support any of them, and much to the contrary. How, and why, do unsupported assertions become “facts,” receiving nearly universal acceptance? The answer has nothing to do with truth, and everything to do with agenda. Some special interest group wants to achieve a certain end, and so the “facts” necessary to support their goals are simply manufactured. A sympathetic media plays along, and voilà, “truth” is born. For example, the “gay gene”:
On July 15, 1993, National Public Radio (i.e., NPR) reported a new study that was due to be released the next day. The tenor of the report suggested that someone had finally discovered a gene that causes homosexuality. NPR added a few quiet caveats at the end of their report, ignored by most listeners. The next day, the Wall Street Journal headlined their report, “Research Points toward a Gay Gene.” the subtitle says “Normal Variation,” affirming the opinion of the article’s author that homosexuality was a normal variation of human behavior. At the bottom of the last paragraph on the last page, deep within the paper, a geneticist offered his opinions that this gene might only be associated with homosexuality and not the cause of it. Regardless, for most of the world the discovery had been made and now the political wheels began to turn (leading to the push for protection of civil rights, laws against discrimination, civil unions, gay marriage, etc.).
. . .
All of the above research did not “discover” a gay gene, although many have suggested that. However, these studies that suggest some biological cause for homosexuality significantly influenced public perceptions. As Yarhouse [Mark A. Yarhouse, “Homosexuality, Ethics, and Identity Synthesis,” Christian Bioethics 10 (2004):241.] points out “The more people believe that homosexuality was a biological ‘given,’ the more likely they were to support a variety of issues deemed important to some in the gay community (e.g., ordination of practicing gay, lesbian, or bisexual clergy; gay rights legislation, etc.)”—Michael A.Grisanti, “Cultural and Medical Myths about Homosexuality,” The Master’s Seminary Journal (Fall 2008): 176, 185.
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