Homosexuality in the Film Latter Days and in Sexual...

From the assigned readings and film, I felt that I have gained a better understanding on one of the most controversial types of relationships, homosexuality. The topic of homosexuality isn’t easy to openly talk about but it is important as philosophy students, to have an open-mind about topics that we don’t partake in. Doing so allows us to promote new ways of thinking about the world around us and see them in a whole new light. In this personal response paper, I will discuss homosexuality in connection with the film Latter Days to determine why a homosexual relationship can meet Kant’s criteria for acceptable love as mentioned in Ruse’s essay, â€Å"Is Homosexuality Bad Sexuality?†, as well as why it qualifies as a complete and healthy†¦show more content†¦According to the utilitarian approach, one is allowed to inflict harm on another for the sake of happiness or the benefit of others (Ruse, 1995, pg.114). Basically, there are no immoral acts to the utilitarian. Bentham believed that it is acceptable for anyone who wants to indulge – that it produces no harm but pleasure. Thus, homosexuality is not immoral. In the end, having the basic understanding of the different ethical frameworks helped explain the reasons for why these people thought the way they did and how it influenced and shaped their views on topics such as homosexuality but that is not the focus of this paper. To put things into perspective, I will illustrate how the relationship that develops in the film Latter Days (Cox, 2003) can meet Kant’s criteria for acceptable love. The film revolves around the development of a homosexual relationship between Aaron, a closeted Mormon missionary, and his openly gay neighbor, Christian. After some initial resistance, Aaron slowly but surely begins to grow fond of Christian and discovers his homosexuality in the process. Meanwhile, what started out as a simple bet turns into something more as Christian also discovers something that was missing in his own life – true love. In the beginning, Christian would have casual â€Å"flings† with men he didn’t even know. There was no mutual love between them. It was all about the sex and he didn’t even remember their names.Show MoreRelatedWhy Homosexuality Is Abnormal And Homes11892 Words   |  48 Pages22 Michael Levin 1 Introduction This essay defends the view that homosexuality is abnormal and hence undesirable - not because it is immoral or sinful, or because it weakens society or hampers evolutionary development, but for a purely mechanical reason. It is a misuse of bodily parts. Clear empirical sense attaches to the idea of the use of such bodily parts as genitals, the idea that they are for something, and consequently to the idea of their misuse. I argue on grounds involving natural selection