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   talk.atheism      Debate about the validity and nature of      89,766 messages   

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   Message 88,489 of 89,766   
   Andrew Dycke to All   
   Dr. Alfred Kinsey, dedicated SCIENTIST o   
   05 Jan 16 22:22:21   
   
   XPost: alt.homosexual, can.politics, soc.women   
   XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: adycke@gmail.com   
      
   The major motion picture "Kinsey", starring Liam Neesen and   
   Chris O'Donnell, opened on November 12th. It purports to be an   
   accurate portrayal of the life and work of Dr. Alfred Kinsey   
   (1894-1956), the famed sex researcher whose work has had an   
   incredible influence on attitudes toward sexual mores and   
   behavior.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com spoke about Kinsey, his work, and his   
   influence with Dr. Benjamin D. Wiker prior to the opening of the   
   movie. Dr. Wiker is co-author, with Dr. Donald De Marco, of   
   Architects of the Culture of Death (Ignatius Press, 2004) and a   
   Lecturer in Science and Theology at Franciscan University. He is   
   also the author of Moral Darwinism (InterVarsity).   
      
   WARNING: Some of the material discussed in this interview is not   
   suitable for younger readers.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: Who was Alfred Kinsey and what is he known   
   for?   
      
   Benjamin Wiker: Well, interestingly enough, who Alfred Kinsey   
   was and what he was known for are two very different things.   
   Let’s begin with the latter. Kinsey was known as the great   
   scientist of sex, the man who fearlessly and dispassionately   
   sorted out the true nature of our sexuality from the false,   
   unscientific beliefs that have for so long hidden the truth from   
   us. The standard picture of Kinsey depicted during his lifetime   
   was the dour scientist dressed in a lab coat, patiently sorting   
   through reams of data with his equally reputable and objective   
   coworkers.   
      
   That picture of Kinsey does not reveal who Kinsey really was,   
   however. In fact, such pictures were carefully staged by Kinsey   
   and his "research" team as part of their ongoing propaganda   
   campaign. Behind the scenes, we find the real Kinsey: a   
   homosexual and a sado-masochist, bent on using the trappings of   
   science to force his perversions upon society.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: Why do you think a movie would be made of   
   his life? Do you think there is a particular message or agenda   
   held by the makers of the film?   
      
   Wiker: We have just seen in the presidential election that the   
   culture is seriously divided. Part of the culture has been   
   pushing pro-homosexual, sexual freedom agenda. No one doubts   
   where Hollywood lines up on these issues. They have been using   
   their immense resources for some time, along with the other   
   liberal-dominated media, to compel Americans to accept every   
   sexual deviation as natural and good. Of course, in doing so,   
   they were only following Kinsey’s lead, and so we should not be   
   surprised that they would make a movie lionizing Kinsey as their   
   prophet and martyr.   
      
   We can expect the message of the movie to be something like   
   this: Kinsey the persecuted homosexual fights fearlessly to   
   throw off the chains of sexual repression, but dies a kind of   
   martyr who selflessly sacrificed himself for those who would   
   come after.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: What was the relationship between Kinsey's   
   private life and his influential studies?   
      
   Wiker: The sole purpose of Kinsey’s various studies was to   
   legitimate any and every kind of sexual activity, from adultery   
   and homosexuality, to pedophilia and bestiality. Kinsey himself   
   was, from his very early youth, a sado-masochistic homosexual.   
   His father, Alfred Sr., was a staunch, no-nonsense Protestant   
   who ran the household with an iron fist. Of course, young Alfred   
   hid his sexual perversions from his father, and the   
   contradiction between his outward moral uprightness and his   
   inward, hidden sexual distortions caused him great anxiety. But   
   by the time he went to graduate school, Kinsey was determined to   
   use science to eliminate this anxiety. How? By eliminating the   
   distinction between natural and unnatural in regard to   
   sexuality. He wanted to use science to "prove" that every sexual   
   desire, no matter how bizarre, is natural.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: What have been some of the more serious   
   charges brought against Kinsey's research, methodologies, and   
   goals?   
      
   Wiker: To take up on the last point, Kinsey began with the   
   belief that every sexual desire is natural, and that it is only   
   society that labels things like adultery, homosexuality,   
   pedophilia, and bestiality as unnatural. Therefore, he would   
   gather "sexual data" precisely from those people who engaged in   
   such practices. For example, rather than gather data from the   
   population at large, Kinsey preferred to interview prison sex   
   offenders. This method would be akin to interviewing convicted   
   thieves on what they think of private property, or serial   
   killers about the sanctity of life.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: In the trailer for "Kinsey" the researcher   
   is shown saying to an unseen research subject: "I've learned   
   that the gap between what we assume people do sexually and what   
   they actually do is enormous." Does this reflect the findings of   
   objective research or Kinsey's personal bias?   
      
   Wiker: First and foremost, Kinsey’s personal bias. As biographer   
   James Jones points out, Kinsey long believed that human beings   
   were naturally "pansexual," that is, they had no natural   
   goal–such as heterosexuality–but if left to themselves in a kind   
   of state of nature would satisfy their sexual desires in   
   whatever way happened to strike their fancies. Society restricts   
   this natural pansexuality, causing individuals all kinds of   
   anxiety. Kinsey therefore believed that while we assume that   
   people follow society’s sexual rules, they secretly want to act   
   upon their natural pansexuality, and very often do. This   
   deviation from social sexual rules–be it in adultery or   
   homosexuality–is really not a deviation at all, but our natural,   
   pansexuality reasserting itself.   
      
   Kinsey’s mode of argument was then quite simple, and the logic   
   of it went something like this: we assume that X is abnormal;   
   but we have found out that X occurs all the time; what occurs   
   all the time cannot be abnormal, therefore it must really be   
   normal; what is normal is also natural, and what is natural   
   cannot be wrong.   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: In another scene in the trailer, a   
   character (apparently sympathetic to Kinsey's work) exclaims,   
   "The enforcers of chastity are massing once again." How might   
   the movie try to make connections between the 1940s/50s and   
   modern day conflicts over sexual mores?   
      
   Wiker: We’ve all seen the recent surge to sanction gay marriage.   
   Kinsey is an especially useful figure to support this effort. He   
   has the status of a venerable scientist; he can be promoted as a   
   martyr. And the lesson Hollywood wants us to draw is quite   
   simple: the "enforcers of chastity" belong to the forces of   
   darkness. How long, O how long, must they rule over us   
   (sympathetic violins playing in the background).   
      
   IgnatiusInsight.com: A preview review of the movie on the MSNBC   
   site states: "For a movie so frank and explicit, 'Kinsey' has a   
   soft spirit. Violins swell. The warmth of the Kinsey's   
   unconventional marriage shines through. It's easy to imagine an   
   edgier movie, but 'Kinsey' is a celebration of diversity; it's   
   about the solace knowledge can bring." How does that compare   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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