DNA, belief, and freedom

I've read some of Dean Hamer's The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes.

In 1993 Dr. Hamer also reportedly detected a DNA sequence linked to homosexuality.

I don't buy in to either theory. Reminds me of the story about the kid who comes home from school with a bad report card and corners his dad, "So which do you think it is, Dad: heredity or environment?"

Both obviously play an important role in our development. But I am a believer in ultimate human freedom. Regardless of the circumstances of our lives, we are free to choose -- including to abdicate our choice, to choose bondage, or to have our choices result in bondage.

And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.

He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.

(Helaman 14:30-31).

Reflecting on the premortal war that has carried over to earth, a modern prophet has put the President's Inaugural Address in context:

That war, so bitter, so intense, has gone on, and it has never ceased. It is the war between truth and error, between agency and compulsion, between the followers of Christ and those who have denied Him. His enemies have used every stratagem in that conflict. They've in dulged in lying and deceit. They've employed money and wealth. They've tricked the minds of men. They've murdered and destroyed and engaged in every unholy and impure practice to thwart the work of Christ.

The war goes on. It is waged across the world over the issues of agency and compulsion. It is waged in our own lives, day in and day out, in our homes, in our work, in our school associations; it is waged over questions of love and respect. of loyalty and fidelity, of obedience and integrity. We are all involved in it . . . each one of us.

(Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1997], 408).

I accept that liberty is the entitlement of all the inhabitants of the earth because I believe the words of ancient and modern prophets.