The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

So, I read a Columbus-Dispatch letter-to-the-editor today which revolved around gay rights and how it sickened her it was becoming normal for people to accept homosexuality. There have been 36+ comments made in response to the article. A majority of posters disagreed with the author. There were a few, however, who brought religion into the discussion and made claims (with no sources to back them up) that homosexuality cannot be in any way genetic, that it's an abomination in the eyes of God and that the increase of gay rights was slowly destroying the moral compass of our society. After I provided links to studies which showed that there's an increasing belief by scientists that homosexuality is at least partially due to genetics, one individual in particular dismissed the studies, continuing to clamor that there's been no proof of the orientation being due to genetics. I just had to laugh. Now, I believe in freedom of religion. I'm not a religious person, but a per...

Is it all in our head? A buzz after one drinks alcohol? Love? Misery? Seizures? Highs? Depression? Is everything controllable? What is possible and not possible is dependent upon our thoughts and beliefs? If one believes they can beat depression, can they automatically flip the negative thoughts to positive ones and go from misery to joy? If one battles seizures, can they beat and overcome the seizures through outwitting them? Is everything a choice? Can we ultimately decide everything that will or won't occur in our lifetimes and how these events will affect us? Some would like to believe this. I wish I could believe it. But there are some things in life that we cannot help. I didn't have a choice as to what gender I'd be, whom my parents would be, what language I'd be born into, where I'd be born, what skin color I'd have, what orientation I'd be, what religion I'd be born into, what political leanings I'd be surrounded by, what health issues I...