Jones and Yarhouse on Homosexuality

Stanton L. Jones and Mark A Yarhouse's book Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate will fail to convince anyone that is not already of the same opinion as the authors. With all good intentions the scientific evidence reviewed is such that supports their own view and lacking in that which is contradictory.

Attacks on Kinsey's research are nothing new, but the continued flaws of those attacks should be pointed out. Treating Kinsey as if he were attempting to look more at prevalence than variance is one way in which the authors attempt to discredit the research. Mentioning that his original background was in entomology rather than human sexuality is another. The problem is that these are not flaws in Kinsey's research, rather they are a scientist focusing on one aspect and presuming that more research will be done on other aspects.

The attack on Kinsey's research for going after a variety of sources becomes more glaring when the sources Yarhouse and Jones approve of have such limitations in number. The authors, themselves, make many of the mistakes for which they criticize others. This book is neither balanced nor fair. It ignores the main thrust of scientific research - for example, I could not find one reference to the Journal of Homosexuality - in favor of side groups that have been discredited - such as members of NARTH.

The book looks good with a multitude of footnotes, but fails to provide such normal resources such as a bibliography, list of sources cited and more. It's an attempt to look profound and achieves banality.