Desire Must Be Tempered

Last year Hawaiian voters amended their state constitution to effectively ban the legalisation of same-sex “marriage,” sending a message to homosexual activists the world over.

While reasonable people of all races, ethnicities and religious persuasions are tolerant of homosexuality in society, we are not willing to grant social approval and blessings to aberrant, unnatural sexual behavior.

We are not willing to allow homosexual activists and their supporters to teach our children in schools that homosexuality is normal, natural and healthy, and that society should accept it on an equal basis to heterosexuality.

Recently I was invited to New Zealand to speak about the Hawaii election. Why did we win? Because people transcended their sectarian and prejudicial feelings and worked hand-in-hand to defeat the homosexual activists and preserve the sacred institution of marriage.

A deep underlying spiritual issue we addressed was the fact that all great spiritual teachers throughout history have taught that we are not our desires or cravings. They have taught that if we follow our material desires without any controls, if we don’t label some desires good and some bad, then this will lead to individual and societal suffering.

The world view of homosexual activists is one in which the identity of the individual is determined by their desires, that is, a person is his desires. But although a person may have the desire to enjoy sex with someone of the same gender, this does not make them a “homosexual.” That’s not their identity. Their real identity is that they are a spirit soul in a temporary material body and they have different material desires. They are not those desires.

A man may have the desire to enjoy sex with someone other than his wife, but he doesn’t identify himself as an “adulterer.” That doesn’t become his identity. He doesn’t claim, “I have desire to enjoy sex with women other than my wife, therefore this is my true identity. If I don’t go out and have illicit sex with other women, then I am not following my true nature, and I can’t be happy.”

Once we identify a person as his desires, then as individuals and as a society we’re completely spiritually lost. We’re no different from animals.
Every spiritual teacher throughout history has taught that in order to be happy we must temper our desires. The philosophy of homosexual activists is exactly the opposite. It identifies the person according to sexual desires, and basically claims that if a person doesn’t follow those sexual desires, they can’t be happy.

To legitimise this hedonistic viewpoint by legalising homosexual “marriage” or normalising homosexual behaviour would be to institutionalise this materialistic way of identifying who we are. This is completely unacceptable. We are human because we have the ability to say no to our desires.

Religious people in general have for a long time been extremely afraid to speak what they know in their hearts is right. It is sad that a country like New Zealand that appears to be democratic may not be as democratic as its image portrays.

When you have thousands of people who have deeply held spiritual and moral beliefs against the promotion of homosexuality in their schools and they’re remaining silent as mice because of fear, this says a lot about how democratic a society really is.

I challenge all New Zealanders, including the media, to try to change that climate, to make it so that people can speak freely what is in their hearts and minds on this issue – something that they have been afraid to do, without being called names.

We are not bigots, or haters. We are religious and spiritual people who care about others, care about their families and care about society.

Let us continue to debate this controversial issue, but let us do it with compassion and civility
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