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52 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Warning: Can Cause Open-Mindedness and Other Defects, April 7, 2001
By A Customer
John Peteet, M.D., of the Harvard University and the Brigham and Women's Hospital called this book "Courageous, clear and practical." It is that and more. As a research scientist trained in genetics and having published in neuroscience, the chapters on genetics alone are worth the cost of the book. (Another review notes that the book easily could have been two--see below)Because of Satinover's deft hand with language, the book is nonetheless easy to read. But I especially appreciated the fact that there is scarcely a statement the author makes that is not backed up by numerous peer-reviewed research studies from prominent scientific journals written by researchers with long-established track records. Even if one disagreed with Satinover's overall position, the genral public would be very well-served indeed to absorb his exposition on behavioral genetics in general. That would go a long way to innoculate us against the terrible distortions that are now passed off on us by the press--and, sadly, by unscrupulous scientists with various agendas to press--concerning all matters, not just sexuality. (Incidentally, I decided to follow-up this book with Satinover's newly-released The Quantum Brain. If there were any doubts as to his scientific credentials and reputation in the scientific community, this book will surely lay them to rest.) Now on to the rest of the book. I'm not as big on religion as I was when much younger, but I've always been an avid student of history. While the first half of Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth is devoted to the science and psychology of sexuality, the second half is devoted to the western religious treatment of it. But it's not at all what you'd think: no bible-belt passage-rattling in the least. Instead, Satinover carefully explains--rather in the mode of a patient anthropologist who loves the tribes he's studying--exactly how the strange and archaic formulations of both Old and New Testaments, and surroundimg commentaries, make remarkably good sense when seen through "their" eyes. He shows how a biblical world-view anticipates a keen modern psychological understanding of human nature that in certain respects remains unsurpassed. I came away from these chapters with no greater desire to attend church (or synagogue) than before, but rather humbled even so: There's clearly alot more here than meets the jaundiced, oh-so-modern eye. There were certain claims that Satinover made, both in the first part and in the second, of which I was dubious: for instance, that no research study cited popularly as having found evidence for the direct genetic transmissibility of homosexuality ever made such a claim, and that the authors themselves acknowledged the weakness of their hoped-for-conclusions. But sure, enough, when I went to the sources, there it was, again and again. (A colleague pointed out some actual errors, but it turns out these were caught and corrected in later reprints.) In sum, let me second E.L. Patullo, former chair of behavioral sciences at Harvard in calling Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth "...must reading for the millions who, thinking themselves compassionate, have recently come to endorse homosexuality as a legitimate alternative expression of man's sexual nature."
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