Confronted with evidence that homosexuality is prevalent within the animal kingdom a minister decides that, rather than being the natural order of things, these sinful creatures simply need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. All fixed!

Research scientist Vanessa Woods wrote about gay sex among Bonobo monkeys in Psychology Today:

I'll tell you this: I would swap every gadget I own - my car, my laptop, the potential to fly to the moon - if I could wake up as a bonobo. No bonobo has ever been seen to kill another bonobo. There is very little violence towards females. The infants get an idyllic childhood where they do nothing but hang out with their moms and get anything they want. There is plenty of food. Lots of sex.

Bonobos have gay sex. For bonobos, sex is a mechanism to reduce tension. And you can't talk about two females rubbing clitorises together until they orgasm in documentaries, intelligent design classes, or to right wing demographics who believe homosexuality is unnatural.

This rather provocative, yet well researched observation inspired a Baptist miniser to respond with this letter:

I believe that Scripture teaches that God created a perfect world. In this perfect world, man chose to disobey (sin), and brokenness and death entered into the world (Gen. 3, Rom. 5). We see it everyday on TV, newspapers, etc... You obviously alluded to a sense of brokenness in the article, as you mentioned violence & wars.

With sin, I believe what Scripture says, when it states that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Not only are there individual sins, but also a corruption due to sin. One of these particular sins listed in Scripture is homosexuality. I single it out, only because of the implications of your research. I don't think it's worse than other sins, but neither have I departed from the traditional understanding of what Scripture teaches (ex: Rom. 1).

Here's why I find this article so thought-provoking.

I have a four-year old son named Owen who loves animals. He stays up at night with a flashlight looking through books in his bed, and says things like, "I'm doing research on whales." You guys would instantly connect :).

When I read your article about bonobos, I of course, thought of Owen. He would love them. But, I had to ask the question, "Am I comfortable with him learning about bonobos and their behaviors?" It's a good question for me to ask myself. If I'm honest, I would say my first reaction was to shield him from these animals because of their behavior. This wouldn't be uncharacteristic for us, since there are lots of animal behaviors that are difficult for a four-year old to understand (i.e. mating, violence, etc...). However, what's different about this particular behavior is that in an orthodox biblical position, homosexuality is a sin... but animals don't sin. We don't typically place animals in a moral category. In other words, they don't do righteous acts or unrighteous acts. So...what am I to make of these animals that engage in homosexual activity?

It seems to me that this behavior reveals a sense of brokenness in the natural world. Paul spoke of the unnaturalness of homosexuality, "men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men..."(Rom. 1:27). So, what he says is unnatural, now looks to be natural! But, just as natural disasters aren't normative, neither is homosexual activity within animals. The creation itself is marred with the effects of sin (i.e. death).

I think bonobos are fascinating creatures and still point to the creativity and beauty of God. However, it leads me to Romans 8, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (vv. 20-23).

Okay does your head hurt?  Because mine sure does!

So rather than admit that evidence found in the natural world makes a literal interpretation of the Bible impossible, this minister decides that the scientist has simply misinterpreted her findings.  (You know because the Bible is the inerrant word of God, despite multiple translations and mistranslations.)

So, if I am understanding the reverend correctly, the reason we have animals having wild deviant sex with each other is NOT because wild deviant sex ROCKS and even animals know it, but because the furry little heathens have not opened their hearts to Jesus?  Or is his point that the animals are sinning like the residents of Sodom on a Saturday night at the Castro in San Fransisco, because we humans have not universally accepted Christ into our lives?

Well dammit I need to know who to blame here!

Are animals behaving like animals because they are....you know....animals?  Or is the reason I just saw a male dog licking another male dog's wiener because I am a horrible little Philistine who should be sitting in a church pew right now begging God for forgiveness instead of sitting here in my pajamas typing on this keyboard?

Well it is too beautiful of a day to spend it sitting inside so I am going for a hike. And if I happen stumble upon any same sex animals shtupping I am just going to blame it on those damn Hindus!

BTW  I need to give a hat tip to Andrew Sullivan which is where I found this story.