Posted on 11/19/2005 6:57:53 PM PST by wagglebee
Ex-homosexuals and "reparative therapy" advocates recently gathered in Marina del Rey, California, for the 13th annual conference of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH. Reparative or reorientation therapy is designed to help men and women in conflict with their homosexuality attain the goal of reaching their heterosexual potential.
NARTH comprises more than 1,000 therapists, sociologists, and psychoanalysts who believe homosexuality is not inborn and can be changed. However, the organization's November 11-13 gathering in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles County) attracted an angry group of protesters, many of whom argued that reparative therapy is dangerous and encourages self-hatred in homosexuals.
However, one of the conference speakers, Exodus International president Alan Chambers, disagrees. "I myself was a homosexual man 15 years ago," he says, "and for over a decade now, I have been leading a heterosexual life. And it wasn't about me hating myself; it was about me wanting something different than what I found myself struggling with."
According to Chambers, the fact that ex-homosexuals exist invalidates the notion that homosexuality is biologically determined. And at the same time, he contends, those homosexual activists and other individuals who deny that hundreds of thousands of men and women have found freedom from homosexuality are, in effect, invalidating their own messages calling for tolerance and respect.
Among the protesters denouncing the NARTH event was homosexual L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, a practicing Catholic. According to an ExGayWatch.com blog, Rosendahl called the group's research and methods "unproven, unsafe and abusive," and described its persistence in viewing homosexuality as a condition to be corrected as "another form of rationalization for the continued persecution and prejudice against gay people."
But Chambers feels it is the councilman and the other protesters who are promoting persecution and prejudice. "It's the ultimate of hypocrisy among the small minority of the gay community and this local politician who is denying people the right to their self-determination -- denying the right for someone to choose their path in life," the Exodus International spokesman says, "and I think that's not only un-American, it's inhumane."
Chambers believes more people than ever are finding out that homosexuality is detrimental to an individual's physical, emotional, and spiritual health. And, he asserts that, as countless people -- himself included -- have demonstrated, same-sex desires can be overcome with the help of Jesus Christ.
That said, I don't believe homosexuality is inborn.
>>If homosexuality were actually genetic, homosexuality would have ceased to exist thousands of years ago due to the fact that the gene would have disappeared through the elimination of reproduction.<<
This isn't necessarily true. What if the carriers of the gene still engaged in heterosexual, pro-creation behavior either in addition to homosexual behavior or in spite of their homosexual pre-disposition, if applicable.
I don't think it is beyond the realm of possibility to have an ingrained (or is that spelled with an "e"?) predisposition to certain forms of behavior, including homosexual behavior. But the key is to think of homosexuality in behavioral terms, because that is what it is: behavior.
If you want on/off the ping list let me and little jeremiah know.
So, in that case, even if it is genetic, one still has to consciously decide to engage in the behavior. Which means that a person has the ability, through free will, to not behave in this way, or even to ask God to remove the desire to commit this sinful behavior. And all of this means that there is no reason for a person to remain a homosexual if they don't desire to.
actually the science fails to back up any claim of the homosexuals. There is no homosexual gene. period. That is not bias, that is just science.
They have mapped the human genome. Found the the six or so variants of the breast cancer gene, have found the location of any other number of inherited birth defects. HOWEVER this one sexual behavior has failed to appear in a gene.
Why have the homoadvocates not explained away the prison populations with their "gay gene" mythology? The reason is that the homosexual argument of "born that way" is a political statement in order to drive a political agenda. It has never had ANYTHING to do with science. Homosexuality is just another abnormal fetish.
That is my point, there is no objective proof for either group. Therefore deciding that one group is inborn and another is not is based on self reports by the members of the groups. The choice for believeing either group is based on personal bias.
I happen to think its not nature, but nurture and my view is not objective.
He doesn't speak for myself nor any other Catholics.
Does LA not have a Bishop?
I would agree with your post #20...I worked with a man, who was in his 30s, and was married and had a little 2 yr old boy....then there seemed trouble in his marriage, and he and his wife divorced...after a long time, he began dating...but dating men...he said he was a homosexual, even when married to a woman...I dont know if he thought getting married would have 'cured' him of his urges to be with men...
In any case, it did not appear to work out the way he thought it might, and he to this day, many years later, is still a practicing homosexual...
So you are right, many men, even today, ,do get married and produce children, just to conform to societys or their family wishes...but often have their men on the side...
The mind is like your hard drive.
If a program is faulty and a few dll`s are corrupt,
they can be repaired.
Physically homosexuality does not make sense. Why give men genitals designed to be used on woman genitals which the walls are designed to receive and handle the male organ? Yet the walls of the rectum is easilly torn if it receives the male organ, increasing the risk of blood borne diseases and infections. Liberals believe in evolution and yet they ignore this evolutionary design of the male and female sex organs, and advocate the misuse of it and do not see it as abnormal. Maybe liberal thought process is abnormal.
If homosexuality can be removed from the DSM thru
nothing more than moral relativism,
then how can anyone discriminate against,
polygamy,polyamourous,bestiality and even relations
with minors .
If somebody isn't sure where they stand on this issue, they may find this of interest: Dr. Robert Spitzer Interviewed In 'Christianity Today' Magazine. Read that very carefully. Take special note of who Dr. Spitzer is, what he used to think and what he thinks and says now.
Now couple the above with the very important results of the Twins Studies, a summary of what science has stated and the extremely important growing number of ex-gays. After reading the above links you should have a better understanding of the issues.
As you can see below, there are many more articles on the subject.
A list of 42 testimonials of ex-gays.
Just walked in the door a while ago - will be a-pinging what I can tomorrow. Thanks!
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