Posted on 09/22/2007 12:25:11 AM PDT by monomaniac
By Meg Jalsevac
NASHVILLE, September 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study, entitled the Exodus Project and conducted by two psychologists, has determined that, through "religiously mediated means", it is possible for homosexual individuals to leave their old lifestyle and embrace the heterosexual lifestyle. The study also determined that, contrary to mainstream scientific thought, the effort to change one's inclinations away from homosexuality does not appear to be psychologically problematic.
In the words of the authors themselves, "The study is the first on the subject of sexual orientation change to be done in accordance with rigorous scientific and ethical standards, and it is the first to produce reliable hard data on whether it is possible to change sexual orientation through the interventions delivered by religious ministry organizations."
The study authors are Mark A. Yarhouse, a professor of psychology at Regent University in Virginia and Stanton L. Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois.
All participants of the study received counseling through Exodus International, a Christian organization focused on ministering to individuals who want to or have left the homosexual lifestyle.
The final results of the study show that, by the study's conclusion, 38% of the participants had successfully left the homosexual lifestyle (either changed to a heterosexual lifestyle or embraced chastity despite their homosexual inclinations). Another 29 percent demonstrated only partial success in departing from the homosexual way of life but vowed to keep up their efforts. Of the remaining numbers, only 8 percent reverted to an active homosexual life.
The timing of this study's release is especially poignant as the American Psychological Association (APA) continues to appoint largely 'gay-affirmative' individuals to the newly formed Task Force on Appropriate Responses to Sexual Orientation. According to the APA website, the official position of the APA is that homosexuality is neither a choice nor a changeable characteristic.
Dr. Jones expressed hope that the results of the new study could at least spark scientific discussion on the matter. "We hope our research will say to people, 'Slow down. Let's have a civil dialogue. Let's talk about people who are making autonomous adult choices about what they do.... Let's give people the opportunity to exercise their religious freedom."
While the authors are adamant that no one can be forced to change their orientation, they claim that their study offers hope to those who do want to leave the active homosexual life.
"The study goes to the heart of a debate that is raging today and that is not being investigated fairly. Is sexual orientation utterly fixed and unchanging for all persons, or is change possible for some? The strident argument that change is impossible seemed to us driven more by ideology than by science. As scientists, we were excited to tackle such a big, important question."
According to the InterVarsity Press website, Dr. A.D. Byrd of the University of Utah School of Medicine commented on the work saying, "With this landmark study, Drs. Jones and Yarhouse have made a major contribution to a controversial area. The findings from their study support the importance of client autonomy and client self-determination as therapists provide a range of options to those who seek help for unwanted same-sex attraction. The book is required reading for those interested in the best practices and evidence-based care for this clinical population."
Some critics have expressed doubt about possible bias in the study results since both authors are Christians themselves - possibly leading them to highlight only the positive results of their study. Similarly, the website of the APA has previously dismissed all comparable studies that claim success in assisting homosexuals to leave the lifestyle for the reason, among others, that the results "come from organizations with an ideological perspective which condemns homosexuality[...]"
The authors of the Exodus study dispel such accusations by painstakingly explaining their research process and analysis within the book. "We pledged from the beginning to publish the true findings of the study regardless of how positive or negative (for Exodus) the findings might be, and the written report is scrupulously honest about positive and negative findings, as well as about the strengths and limitations of the study."
"This study is the most scientifically rigorous to date, focusing on ninety-eight subjects thought to be representative of those seeking change through Exodus, following them prospectively (from early in the process) and longitudinally (over multiple assessments), using multiple measures regarded as "industry standards," and reporting explicitly on all aspects of the findings. Previous studies have suffered from using idiosyncratic measures of change, from looking at selective samples and from looking at subjects only at one moment in time (a cross-sectional "snapshot"). No scientific study is perfect, but this study uses the most rigorous methods to date."
Former APA President and current President of the Cummings Foundation for Behavioral Health, Nicholas Cummings said, "This study has broken new ground in its adherence to objectivity and a scientific precision that can be replicated and expanded, and it opens new horizons for investigation."
The full results of the study will be published in the coming months by InterVarsity Press in a book entitled 'Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation.' According to the publisher's website, the professors "sought publication of their manuscript by nonreligious publishers, but found that those publishers would not consider the project due to ideological sympathies with the GLBT community and fear of negative repercussions of publishing a study that would likely be spun as 'anti-gay.'"
Jones and Yarhouse have indicated that they will follow the subjects of their studies to determine the long term outcome of their study. They have expressed the hope that the scientific community will pay heed to their study results as authentic, verifiable data.
"The present study produces significant scientific evidence that sexual orientation is in fact changeable for some, and this should trigger a considerable re-examination of many of the presuppositions about sexual orientation and sexual identity that hold sway in contemporary Western culture."
On the InterVarsity website, Associate Professor of Psychology and Fellow for Psychology and Public Policy, Dr. Warren Throckmorton affirmed the significance of this new study. "While the authors fully acknowledge that change in sexual attractions did not occur for some individuals, they offer cogent and compelling reasons to believe that participation in religious ministry resulted in durable changes for others. The Jones and Yarhouse study will set the standard for all future work in this field and demands a serious reading from social scientists. For anyone interested in the study of sexuality, values and human change, this book is a must-read."
Read reviews and to order the book from InterVarsity Press:
http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=2846
Yes, but does this stop a love of shopping, showtunes, and leather?
even gay sex is driven by the basic instinct to procreate.
WHAT!! you say!
it be true!
now WHAT you have sex with(man, woman, animals, inanimate objects) is a personal choice. Even if the decision is based on phycosis, lust, fear, denial, hatred, or love. Social “rules” of right and wrong are secondary to the base instinct. so are you born gay? or is a choice? (even a unwanted choice? physiological trauma from rape, incest, molestation etc)
I say BOTH!!
Anadotially speaking. I have met men who are way to effeminate..and always where even in childhood. (to the dismay of the parents i might add) No perverted uncle marvin took em behind the woodshed or any such trauma.
Then A young lady I work with was severely beaten by men in here life. And traumatized. She started "hanging out" with some friends who comforted her...She has a nice "friend" now.
-Do believe that racists are born that way?
no...racism is socially taught.
-Do you believe that pedophiles are born that way?
Some people are born with mental problems that can manifest into sexual abnormal behaviur. And some pedophiles can created through rape, incest, molestation, trauma and denial etc.
:P I prefeer da long hair curvy sweet smellin, soft ladies myself...giggity!
People make bad decisions, based upon traumatic experiences all the time (i.e. an abused child can grow up to be a homosexual, or a criminal, or abuse pets, etc.). Those who truly have "their wires crossed" are a VERY small percentage.
JUst because I put these three examples in the same ( ), doesn’t mean they have any form of equivilance. They are only listed as examples.
Imagine that, Christians were right about homosexuals. Pretty much blows the born homo theory out of the water.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Dispised, where do you live. They are the High Priests of liberalism and are put on a pedastal.
This proves that they are not born homosexual and are recruited by aggressive homosexuals. Reviled and dispised Please!
Pray for W and Our Troops
Biology and genetics are pretty cut and dried.
Any gene that is counter to reproduction, for example, the exclusive preference for same sex intercourse (male/male OR female/female), dies out with the carrier.
Homosexuals aren’t generally breeders. It, meaning the homo gene, isn’t reproduced to continue on in the gene pool. So the anathema to “breeders” would, on its own, cause homosexuality to disappear. The “we’re just born that way” as an excuse doesn’t hold up.
So sorry.
I do not for a moment justify homosexual behavior by an means. I am only trying to point out that for some reason/whatever reason, some men and women choose to manifest their sin natures via homosexual acts. They are condemned by a holy God for these sins in just the same way the other people are held accountable for their sins. The man who expresses his sin nature by acts of homosexuality is just as guilty before God as the man who expresses his sin nature by acts of heterosexuality outside of marriage.
This why the writer to the Hebrews states that marriage is honorable in all and the bed is undefiled. The heterosexual can express his sexual capacity in marriage and be free from sin in that expression. While the homosexual cannot avoid committing sin in any expression of his sexual capacity.
Repentance and forgiveness is as available to the homosexual as it is to the heterosexual who is exercising his sexual capacity outside the sanctity of marriage. And of course, this points out the main reason that homosexuals are to be denied entering into marriage with another of the same sex.
Homosexual marriage is wrong because it is wrong to be homosexual in the first place.
Here's how the forgiveness thing works:
The offender realizes the action(s) they have committed are wrong and have violated God's character.
The offender then seeks forgiveness from God by asking for it. That's done by asking that the payment of Jesus Christ on the cross for sins committed by mankind be applied to their sin debt.
The forgiven offender then seeks to avoid the previous pattern of sin, and actively seeks to live as God shows us in the Bible. Turn away from the sin, turn towards God.
Forgiveness isn't just meted out willy-nilly. It's given when it's asked for, because the offender sees their actions as wrong. The principle applies to any sinful act, not just homosexuality.
The most despised and reviled minority in the world are white men.
If you had a TV with cable you'd know that homosexuality is actually celebrated pretty much everywhere the beautiful people meet. They even have their own channel.
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