Gay youth do “wrong thinking?”

I read with interest the article by Keith Hay and agree with many of his conclusions.

The “gay” community and gay youth especially are more at risk for not only suicide but a wide variety of other illnesses and life-reducing issues such as the wide gamut of STDs, guilt, depression, shame, to name only a few.

With such a heavy life-load, why would anyone choose and pursue such a lifestyle in the first place?

I don’t want to open the “can of worms” about homosexuality being generic or the “I can’t help it” excuse, but I believe that we all are influenced by our upbringing, our genetic makeup and most importantly the choices we make.

Yes, we choose so much about our lives – we are not robots! We choose to want to do some things and not others to a large degree based on our moral compass.

And it is this aspect that I feel for so many who have made the choice that has lead to so much anguish in their lives.

As a society in general and especially as a society long established on moral rights and wrongs as is the Inuit society – we all need to encourage youth and especially gay youth to seek counsel from their elders and leaders – not to be condemned but to be convinced that there is a wonderful life to be had if we choose to embrace it.

We are what we think and we more often then not make choices based on “wrong” thinking.

I implore the elders and leaders and yes, the church, to pour into these youth: life and live more abundantly.

Ian Ridpath
Three Cord Ministries