Foley and Self Control

Definitions and labels are good. They help us differentiate objects and concepts that otherwise might be lumped together and misunderstood.

When I hear that a person is gay, I figure he has same sex attractions and acts upon those attractions. When I hear that a person is a heterosexual, I figure that he has opposite sex attractions that he may or may not act upon. Why the difference?

From Newsmax:
Conservative gay columnist Andrew Sullivan wrote that he was among many in Washington who had heard that Foley was gay yet unwilling to come out.
"What the closet does to people - the hypocrisies it fosters, the pathologies it breeds - is brutal," Sullivan wrote on his Web site. "From what I've read, Foley is another example of this destructive and self-destructive pattern for which the only cure is courage and honesty."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/10/4/165630.shtml?s=ic

I disagree with Mr Sullivan. The answer to Mark Foley's dilemma was self control, which he evidently lacked. It's the same self control exercised by heterosexual men when they see a pretty little teenage girl and choose not to entertain inappropriate thoughts about her. A good man develops integrity, discipline, and standards that steer him through a daily minefield of opportunities to be a creep. These qualities work for heterosexuals, men with same sex attractions, and even old bachelors like me. I'm still attracted to young women - I like them - but part of growing up and being a man is developing a character that resides above the gutter. It's simply saying no to unworthy things. It's learning how to address an inappropriate thought by mentally changing the subject... a practiced discipline.

Historically, homosexuality has featured adult men with youths, just as inappropriate heterosexual encounters usually involve young women. Both scenarios involve appetites developed and characters underdeveloped.

Whether it's at work, on the street, or at church - every day we rub elbows with all sorts of personalities and all sorts and degrees of sexuality. We all have things hidden in our closets that never see the light of day- and we store them right behind our integrity, discipline, standards, and self control.