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April 28th, 2012
09:52 PM ET
My Faith: What does God sound like?Editor's note: Listen to the CNN podcast of this piece: Karen Spears Zacharias is author of A Silence of Mockingbirds: The Memoir of a Murder (MacAdam/Cage, 2012) and is on Twitter at @karenzach. By Karen Spears Zacharias, Special to CNN I hear the audible voice of God. No, not in the same way that the Bible’s Eve did when God asked her outright and out loud: “Woman, what in my name have you done now?” Scriptures don’t tell us specifically, but I suspect at that particular moment in eternity God must have sounded a lot like Perry Mason: “C’mon, tell the truth. You know I’m a specialist on getting people out of trouble.” Bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry is a pastor’s daughter in Alabama. You’d think if God spoke to anybody, it would be a pastor’s child, but Patti swears she has never heard the voice of God. The only time God speaks to her is through the written word. I find that odd since God talks to me all the time.
Certainly God knows I’m an auditory learner, so if he wants my attention he has to talk to me. When God speaks to me, he sounds a lot like Garrison Keillor, host of the radio show “A Prairie Home Companion." In other words, he’s engaging, often very funny, and almost always an absolute joy to be around. Even when God’s mad with me (more often that I care to admit), he’s fairly good-natured about it. Theologians who study this sort of thing say that our image of God is formed by our relationships with our fathers. That image is formed in part by how our fathers speak to us. If they bark orders at us all the time, we might hear God as a crank. But if our fathers speak to us in instructive, encouraging tones, we may hear God as our best coach. My father died when I was young, so I don’t remember his voice, but I’ve listened to Garrison Keillor pretty regularly for 25 years. When my husband and I were raising our children, we banned television from our household. "A Prairie Home Companion" was our primary form of entertainment on Sunday afternoons. With Sundays as our Sabbath, I suppose it is natural for me to associate God with Garrison. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Many people don’t even speak to God, much less listen to what he has to say. I imagine for some the thought of a God as Garrison Keillor would be pure hell, what with all that Guy Noir Private Eye nonsense and those saccharin sweet ketchup commercials. Perhaps like a good mother, though, God resorts to a variety of different voices to reach all of her children. Do you identify any of the following? - Spock, from “Star Trek,” is the defining voice of God. Spock is half-mother (human) and half-father (Vulcan). Who could be more egalitarian, more Godlike than that? Anyone who thinks of God as arbitrary and capricious needs to have a chat with Mr. Spock, who once so rightly noted, “Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans.” Amen. Amen. - James Earl Jones. If I heard that baritone voice calling to me from a burning bush, it would stop me in my tracks. Who cares that Jones couldn’t cut the muster at Fort Benning’s legendary Ranger school? That’s nothing more than boot camp for a bunch of hellions anyway. There is something about the thundering power of Jones’ voice that naturally evokes trust from us. And if we can’t have a God in whom we can trust, what’s the point? - Surely, Jeff Bridges is the voice of God for all the remnant of Jesus Freaks now seeking refuge as Episcopalians. “I am not Mr. Lebowski,” Bridge’s says in Coen Brothers’ “Big Lewoski,” in one of the oft-quoted lines in that cult classic. “You’re Mr. Lebowski. I am The Dude, so that’s what you call me. That or His Dudeness or uh, Duder, or, El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing.” Of course, aging Jesus Freaks and Episcopalians alike are all about that brevity thing, so they happily go along with “the Dude abides,” another classic line from the film. - Yoda, of “Star Wars,” is the voice of God for Zen-seeking, yoga-loving Emergent Christians. Emergents are the melting pot of Christianity, the place where hipsters who want to be spiritual but not religious go for community - typically a local brewery or Starbucks. “Luminous beings are we,” says Yoda. “Not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere!” - Writer C. Terry Cline Jr. says when God speaks to him, it is in the scolding voice of Pee-Wee Herman - “What did I tell you?” In Cline’s latest book, "The Return of Edgar Caycee," Cline claims he was channeled by the previously deceased reincarnation guru, whose fan club has rivaled that of God’s. Is it any wonder God is miffed with Cline for conjuring up Caycee again? - Your momma. Sonny Brewer, a Navy veteran and my editor at San Francisco’s publishing house MacAdam/Cage, says that the only voice he’s ever associated with God was his mother’s. Sonny’s mom has been nearly mute for nearly 20 years, the result of a stroke. “She can sing hymns but she can’t talk,” Sonny says. “When I think of God speaking to me, I think of my momma. Like God, she always loves me, even when I’m a bad boy.” Whatever the cause, nobody enjoys getting the silent treatment. It is a particularly troubling matter when God goes silent on us, when we can’t hear his voice at all, whether it’s a tender whisper of encouragement, raucous laughter, or a thundering rebuke, it is then that we are most keenly aware of God. Silence stills us. We pause and listen, ear pressed, waiting, anticipating, hoping for just a word of assurance that we have not been abandoned. We all have had days when we feel like we’ve failed God. If in such moments we would listen to the wind in the trees, the waves curling on the beach, feet crunching in sand, and the song of the mockingbird as the evening sun sets, we would surely hear creator God singing hymns over us, his creation. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Karen Spears Zacharias. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team. |
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@Alex Kro........Since it's obvious that most of you who question the validity of God's Word are atheists, then there's no need to have conversation with you.
Greyman,
In other words you pick up the bible and start reading it just like reading another book this just won't fly simply ask God to reveal himself in his word to you keep reading daily don't get discouraged when it does't happen over night. Keep reading Greyman
Anyone who can provide historical evidence proving of Jesus' existence would be an instant Nobel Prize winner.
So don't be shy, please share.
@Greyman, "Care to offer me viable evidence or proof, that snakes and the burning bush cannot talk; and that the flood of
Noah's day did not happen"?
I'm holding "my breath" as well.
What flood? Where's the water?
Right after you prove that there are no Unicorns or leprechauns.
Trying to prove a negative is a fools errand. Do you believe in magical unicorns or Zeus or Peter Pan? Why not? That is the same reason many people do not believe in your fairy tale/god.
Matilda,
The events you are speaking about were supernatural events it only happened once since the creation of man and woman.
Matilda u ask for proof about the flood how about the earth being 2/3 thirds surrounded by water coupled with the north and south pole frozen water melting, then apply raining for 40 strait days and nights.
If it rained were you lived for 40 days in a down pour i would believe there will be flooding.
The bigger question, humanity's natural ability to rebel against God word see how it has affected your thinking ?
I personally know attorneys, medical doctors, college professors and other professionals who believe in God and the son of God Jesus Christ. It is a historical fact that Jesus did fulfilled the biblical prophecies that were written thousands of years before his miraculous birth.
Claims asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Jesus said in JOHN 8 vs 31-32, "If you hold to my teaching, then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free." Since we are all civilized, let's agree to disagree. Karen,
you rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey religionists, ever wonder why the "God told me to do it" defense doesn't work in court?
Your argument is actually irrelevant. Plenty of times in scripture God doesn't show up to pardon a martyr. However, most who do use that argument are insane.
I'm reading all the comments from believers and non believers and the funny thing is the non-believer arguments sound completely idiotic.The points that believers are making seem orderly and make perfect sense.......imagine that!
Well then you are evidence that willful ignorance is alive and well. After all, religion depends on ignorance to survive.
I guess you must be on "krak", then, if delusions are making sense to you..
That is very unusual. Typically theists' arguments are fallacious and based on scripture.
It may be that you are a theist yourself and, as a result, have a desire to believe.
Never let yourself be diverted by what you wish to believe, but look only and solely at what are the facts and what are the truths that the facts bare out. Love is wise, hatred is foolish. When a "personal" god becomes a public one by individuals that sling hate filled rhetoric at people with good humanist intentions I'm then inclined to believe that you might not truly believe what you say, you may only wish to believe it. As for a voice in your head, I hear it too, it’s my internal monologue.
The WHO,
You can have your own opinions BUT YOU CAN NOT HAVE YOUR OWN TRUTHS.
Your monologue can't rotate the planets around the sun cause it to rain create dirt for crops to feed the world getting the picture, your thinking is limited God's creative power is eternal.
I have a bible on my bookshelf. I use it for research. It has never spoken to me. My wife speaks to me, my dog speaks to me, my cat speaks to me, but god has never spoken to me. Yes, I have heard the wind blowing through trees, this morning actually. But rather than god speaking to me, it appeared to be an approaching storm. In fact, a weather website I visited predicted it.
One one,
How about taking your bible off the shelf blowing the dust off and read The Gospel of John
God talks primarily through his word the holy bible , just like your teacher at school taught you to learn and apply.
Do the same to seek God, but not through curiosity seek God to understand who he is what he excepts from mankind and his universal plans about sin, and its penalty and resolution through the Redeemer Jesus the Righteous.
Yes, thank you. Let's please keep these personal god stories off public web sites like CNN.
This is why I'm not cut out to be a psychologist. A few paragraphs in, and the vivid details of someone suffering from schizophrenic delusions and hearing voices...it's too depressing. I couldn't finish.
A similar experience with the Bible. When I actually tried reading it from beginning to end...that started the domino effect leading to atheism.
Really, you HAVE to finish it. That last book, especially is a trip (quite honestly, A LOT of opium must have been used on that one.)
Greyman,
This is the reason you couldn't understand the bible
1st Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
You read the bible for all the wrong reasons, The word of God is spiritually discerned the natural man (Greyman) receive not the things of the spirit of God . For they are foolish unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
God speaks to people all the time.
In 2008, He told Boyce Singleton Jr. to shoot and stab his pregnant girlfriend.
Deanna Laney heard God direct her to bludgeon her three sons, aged 9, 6 and 15 months. Only the youngest survived.
Blair Donnelly received instructions to stab to death his 16 year old daughter, Stephanie.
Christopher Varian was slaughtered with a cheese knife after God spoke with one of his employees.
God told Jennifer Cisowski to dash her infant's head on the rocks, so ""Just like Jesus raised Lazarus, I threw the baby on the stones by the pool."
Khandi Busby got a direct message from God advising her that the only way to save her 6 and 8 year old boys was to toss them off a bridge in Dallas. Fortunately, they survived.
Angel Rico says he received a divine command to strangle his 4 year old son, so he did just that and left him at the side of the highway.
Lashaun Harris threw her 3 kids – aged 6, 2 and 16 months, into the San Francisco Bay after God let her know that He wanted a human sacrifice.
All of these people have been found legally insane by the judicial system.
If you hear God's voice speaking to you, it's time to check in with your local psych ward.
No, that is not the "Truth", God the Father, Creator of the universe and all things within, does not "speak to mankind all the
time". According to God's Holy Word the bible, and what God's son, Jesus Christ told the religious leaders, the Pharisees,
"No man has ever heard the voice of God the Father or seen His form"( John 5:36-47); and long before God's son, Jesus
came to earth to die for the sins of mankind, God the Father told his servant Moses that, "No man shall see me( my face or my form) and live"( Exodus 33:18-23). However, their are many "lost souls", as mentioned in your post, heard the "voice of
the god and ruler of this darkened and evil world, Satan the Devil"( 1 John 5:19, 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:11-12, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:3-17, 1 Corinthians 8:5-7). Satan the Devil's entire "objective" and has always
been from the beginning( Genesis 3:1-24) is to convince mankind to oppose the "will of God the Father", if God the Father's
command is "thou shall not kill or shed the blood of another human"( Genesis 9:5-6, Deuteronomy 5:17), then mankind will
most assuredly, listen to the "voice of Satan the Devil", and take the life or lives of other human beings, even their family members. Judas Iscariot heard the "voice of Satan"( Luke 22:1-6), and plotted and conspired with the Pharisees to kill Jesus
Christ, God's Son, and was successful at it; and he was one of the "chosen 12". Before Jesus Christ was "murdered", he heard "Satan's voice", speaking through another one of his apostles, the apostle Peter, Satan was trying to convince Jesus,
that what God had said about his impending death or crucifixion would not take place( Matthew 16:21-23), of course, that
devil was telling a "lie", because that is what he does best( John 8:44, Genesis 3:1-24), he's a "Liar and the Truth is not in him". Satan the devil, is the "One, who has all kinds of ways and means to cause the death of human beings"( Hebrews 2:14-15), and he can and will "convince his children" to kill in his behalf( 1 John 3:8-12). Satan the Devil does not sleep, he is a "wicked spirit", he is constantly "roaming the earth and walking through it, observing those who desires to do what is right,
according to their conscience, even if they do not know God's word( Job 1:6-22, Romans 2:11-16). Satan the Devil knows that it is not necessary to "watch over his children, his slaves"( 1 John 3:6-14, John 8:44), because they are just as "blood-thirsty" as he is, he is their father, and desire to to his will.
Satan spoke to Jesus, and offered him "money and power"(Matthew 4:1-11), he ignored his "voice".
@matilda Care to offer any arguments that don't rely on regurgitating garbage from a millennia-old hodge-podge of fairy tales, that says snakes and burning bushes can talk and geological impossibilities like Noah's Flood are fact?
I won't hold my breath waiting.
To Matilda:
"No man has ever heard the voice of God the Father or seen His form"( John 5:36-47); and long before God's son, Jesus
came to earth to die for the sins of mankind, God the Father told his servant Moses that, "No man shall see me( my face or my form) and live"
So no man (I assume women didn't exist back then!) can hear him or see him but Moses who came up with that quote could see him and/or hear him. Basically, everyone is crazy but me so believe me!
HEAR YE ! HEAR YE ! HEAR YE ! said the gods of rational thinking:
ONLY FOR THE NEWCOMERS
The Apostles' Creed 2011: (updated by yours truly based on the studies of NT historians and theologians of the past 200 years)
Should I believe in a god whose existence cannot be proven
and said god if he/she/it exists resides in an unproven,
human-created, spirit state of bliss called heaven?????
I believe there was a 1st century CE, Jewish, simple,
preacher-man who was conceived by a Jewish carpenter
named Joseph living in Nazareth and born of a young Jewish
girl named Mary. (Some say he was a mamzer.)
Jesus was summarily crucified for being a temple rabble-rouser by
the Roman troops in Jerusalem serving under Pontius Pilate,
He was buried in an unmarked grave and still lies
a-mouldering in the ground somewhere outside of
Jerusalem.
Said Jesus' story was embellished and "mythicized" by
many semi-fiction writers. A bodily resurrection and
ascension stories were promulgated to compete with the
Caesar myths. Said stories were so popular that they
grew into a religion known today as Catholicism/Christianity
and featuring dark-age, daily wine to blood and bread to body rituals
called the eucharistic sacrifice of the non-atoning Jesus.
Amen
(References used are available upon request.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Prayer changes things ..
Just reading the comments here, let's me know satan is on his J O B, and he ain't walking around in red tights with a pitch fork and a tail. Deception is his greatest weapon against mankind, plus if he can get you to believe he doesn't exist, then, it's easy to get you to believe God does not exist. Same old devil with the same old lies, just dressed up in a new clothes. Many prophecies from the Bible, are happening- let's see, one prophecy says knowledge will increase- technology today just blows your mind, another prophecy states people will tell you what to eat- scientists said don't eat eggs they're bad for you, then, their okay to eat.Yet comments here, don't have a clue, what's happeing to this world and the people in it. No awareness of the countdown of the events of the world- preparation for the Antichrist is on schedule and it's not a fantasy at all. Notice how it's becoming more and more to use a credit/debit card instead of cash..umm..An "Enhance Photo ID/Driver's license is actual "Retinal Identification"..ummm..but, I know alot of you here don't watch the world news or pay any attention as to how the world is getting worst and worst, but, you shuck it off...True Christianity is having a Relationship with God, when you have a Relationship with God, you hear Him in your spirit, not your with your ears and definitely not with your mind. Anybody that says they hearing voices, is definitely not hearing from God. God speaks to everyone. Have you ever had a moment when you knew something wasn't right and you did it anyway and it turned out to be the wrong thing to do, that was God telling you the right thing to do. God does speak to us in many ways.
Just believing in a "god" or "devil" or an "anti-christ" is delusional.
But Dorothy, there is no evidence to support the existence of Satan. Or Hades. Or Loki. Or any of the gods traditional as.signed the role of bad guy in mythology. Actually, there isn't any proof for ANY of the thousands of gods worshiped throughout the history of humanity, even your god. There is no proof of heaven, no proof of hell, no proof of reincarnation, nor proof of any type of afterlife.
Good people are good, bad people are bad, and religion isn't as much a factor as you pretend.
Prayer changes things
Prayer is talking with God
You are right...the things of God are spiritually discerned and heard. God bless.
That's smart. Berate people who don't believe in your invisible friend by whining about the mechanisms of your invisible bogeyman. That'll convince those who need things like 'evidence' and do this thing called 'critical thinking'.
Satan to Dorothy.....
I'll get you my pretty ...and your little dog too...f
I miss the rains down in Africa.
In biblical times God did speak directly to some but today he speaks to us by his word the Bible. He wants us to draw close to him because he truly cares for us and our well being. James 4:8 tells us; "Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you." We can do this by praying. Prayer is not an empty ritual, nor is it merely a means by which to gain something. A major reason for approaching God is to have a close relationship with him. Our prayers should therefore be directed to Jehovah God. "Jehovah is near to all those calling upon him," said the psalmist David. (Psalm 145:18) Jehovah invites us to come into a peaceful relationship with him. (Isaiah 1:18) Those responding to this invitation agree with the psalmist who said: "As for me, the drawing near to God is good for me." Why? Because those who draw near to Jehovah God will enjoy true happiness and peace of mind. (Psalm 73:28)
I've never heard any supernatural audible sound, but I have seen God's Shekinah Glory (just once). I became a Christian shortly afterward.
You guys are both nuts. You merely prove the psychological condition that people perceive what they expect to perceive. Grow up and learn discernment.
This article is completely asinine and this woman is crazy. Anyone who believes a mythical being talks to them audibly has a screw loose. She needs help.
Yes she does need help .....trouble is she will most likely turn to the sky daddy and the book.......as opposed to getting real
help by seeking competent mental therapy.
Prayer changes things .
GOD is most merciful but as well most punishing..
GOD aka Allah – time to eliminate some myths in that regard:
From the studies of Armstrong, Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, Richardson and Bayhaqi----–
The Five Steps To Deprogram 1400 Years of Islamic Myths:
( –The Steps take less than two minutes to finish- simply amazing, two minutes to bring peace and rationality to over one billion lost souls- Priceless!!!)
Are you ready?
Using "The 77 Branches of Islamic "faith" a collection compiled by Imam Bayhaqi as a starting point. In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true "faith" (iman) through related Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings." i.e. a nice summary of the Koran and Islamic beliefs.
The First Five of the 77 Branches:
"1. Belief in Allah"
aka as God, Yahweh, Zeus, Jehovah, Mother Nature, etc. should be added to your self-cleansing neurons.
"2. To believe that everything other than Allah was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah Most High created these things and subsequently they came into existence."
Evolution and the Big Bang or the "Gi-b G-nab" (when the universe starts to recycle) are more plausible and the "akas" for Allah should be included if you continue to be a "crea-tionist".
"3. To believe in the existence of angels."
A major item for neuron cleansing. Angels/de-vils are the mythical creations of ancient civilizations, e.g. Hitt-ites, to explain/define natural events, contacts with their gods, big birds, sudden winds, protectors during the dark nights, etc. No "pretty/ug-ly wingy thingies" ever visited or talked to Mohammed, Jesus, Mary or Joseph or Joe Smith. Today we would classify angels as f–airies and "tin–ker be-lls". Modern de-vils are classified as the de-mons of the de-mented.
"4. To believe that all the heavenly books that were sent to the different prophets are true. However, apart from the Quran, all other books are not valid anymore."
Another major item to delete. There are no books written in the spirit state of Heaven (if there is one) just as there are no angels to write/publish/distribute them. The Koran, OT, NT etc. are simply books written by humans for humans.
Prophets were invented by ancient scribes typically to keep the un-educated masses in line. Today we call them for-tune tellers.
Prophecies are also invali-dated by the natural/God/Allah gifts of Free Will and Future.
"5. To believe that all the prophets are true. However, we are commanded to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings
be upon him) alone."
Mohammed spent thirty days "fasting" (the Ramadan legend) in a hot cave before his first contact with Allah aka God etc. via a "pretty wingy thingy". Common sense demands a neuron deletion of #5. #5 is also the major source of Islamic vi-olence i.e. turning Mohammed's "fast, hunger-driven" hallu-cinations into horrible reality for unbelievers.
Walk these Five Steps and we guarantee a complete recovery from your Islamic ways!!!!
Unfortunately, there are not many Muslim commentators/readers on this blog so the "two-minute" cure is not getting to those who need it. If you have a Muslim friend, send him a copy and help save the world.
Analogous steps are available at your request for deprogramming the myths of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Paganism..
You do not know what you are talking about since you are taking all religions into one scale...
Some serial killers claim god talked to them instructing them to kill. Are we to believe their claim is as valid as the author of this article, or visa versa?
Are you implying that this woman is hearing voices in her head and attributing them to God? And that it's a little weird to call a part of your own conscious mind, "God"? If you are, I completely agree.
ONE1
If u'll notice de believers r not talking much about this. And this shud tell u that they r not bothered in de least. B4 u got on here u made a decision 2 come on as if u were multiple personalities. De "voice of God" is just 1 of those tho de most moral n emotionally satisfying. Very natural.
@Max Powers
You said
"Are you implying that this woman is hearing voices in her head and attributing them to God? And that it's a little weird to call a part of your own conscious mind, "God"? If you are, I completely agree."
So it follows then that people, inside their own minds, are the god character ......and it follows that ....people created god.....meaning of course that god does not exist.....except within the minds of the faithful.
Genesis 19:1-8 shows you what type of people jesus's followers are
Somehow you forget that in certain cultures to suggest a different course of action is actually to admonish cessation of the current course.
The rxn of the Sodomite men was obvious. My culture uses a similar concept n a typical Akan man will know this. However I thought u knew that no gay wud accept
There's a reason why the Bible was not meant to be a nice romantic novel with perfectly moral people. You somehow imagine yourself to be perfect. So why don't u teach us how to do it? We wud be happy to follow your insights. if u r just using a literalist view to discredit the Bible it doesn't work
@Nii. Are u saying we can't take the bible literally ? If not, who is to say what it really means?
1 ONE
Even if de Bible were literally false it'll still do its work of in.st.illing moral behaviour n emotional maturity in humans. Looking 4 de moral is more important than "truth" in de literal se.nse. Christ says de chi.ef moral is cha.rit.able love n de Bible makes se.nse read with this in mind.
The bible is little more than a collection of middle eastern myths. The most important lessons, i.e. not killing, not stealing, not lying - have existed as long as civilization. The bible is no more pertinent than the Iliad, (though not nearly as well written).
Sadly, the bible is still used to enforce arbitrary bronze age laws on societies. For instance, there is more proof that being gay is innate than there is proof of the existence of any god, yet churches are generally treated with respect while gays face discrimination. The bible gives ignorant people an excuse not to educate themselves.
TALLULAH
Most gays are not as bothered by the Bible, Christians or Jews as you wud make it seem. The WBC is a very tiny family church. Christians generally hate it when they are told that saying gay s.ex is wrong is hatred, when they have no such feeling toward being gay. De gay feeling isnt a sin.
If u do not understand then know that at least 10-13% of your American he.ter.ose.xuals claim they had h.o.mo.se.xual feelings at a point in time but converted. I think the innateness is not really supported. The "evidence" is rather weak.