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It was reported throughout the news media yesterday and today that the 37 year old Christian organization "Exodus International" has decided to cease operations and disband. Exodus International was organized to convert homosexual and bisexual people to heterosexuality and live according to conservative Christian principals. Some has characterized their mission as "pray the gay away."
The decision was made by board members at their annual meeting yesterday. They acknowledged that actually reprogramming people whose sexual orientation is homosexual into becoming heterosexuals is a failing proposition. Exodus International was touted by conservative Christian churches and groups that sexuality is a "choice" and that gay people can turn away from their sexual orientation.
In recent years former leaders and members of Exodus International have joined the ranks of those who considered the organization a failure and a sham. Peterson Toscano (b. 1965), who sought to "convert" to heterosexuality years ago traveled throughout the US lecturing on his experiences in the "ex-gay movement" which he called "Doing Time In The Homo No Mo' Halfway House."
Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, wrote an open letter to the LGBT Community apologizing for the harm and suffering his organization may have caused.
It was reported throughout the news media yesterday and today that the 37 year old Christian organization "Exodus International" has decided to cease operations and disband. Exodus International was organized to convert homosexual and bisexual people to heterosexuality and live according to conservative Christian principals. Some has characterized their mission as "pray the gay away."
The decision was made by board members at their annual meeting yesterday. They acknowledged that actually reprogramming people whose sexual orientation is homosexual into becoming heterosexuals is a failing proposition. Exodus International was touted by conservative Christian churches and groups that sexuality is a "choice" and that gay people can turn away from their sexual orientation.
In recent years former leaders and members of Exodus International have joined the ranks of those who considered the organization a failure and a sham. Peterson Toscano (b. 1965), who sought to "convert" to heterosexuality years ago traveled throughout the US lecturing on his experiences in the "ex-gay movement" which he called "Doing Time In The Homo No Mo' Halfway House."
Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, wrote an open letter to the LGBT Community apologizing for the harm and suffering his organization may have caused.
I saw that, and I give that guy a lot of credit for admitting he's been wrong all this time. I think he's well and truly crushed by the weight of the damage he's done to people's lives. He said he can't change the past, but he'll do whatever he can to make up for the torment he's caused. Takes a big person to do that.
Hopefully people will take him at his word and stop all that pray away the gay nonsense.
It's good to see Alan Chambers admit the mistakes he and the organisation have made, he has to be given credit for that.
Will it stop the "Homosexuality is a choice" crap? Doubtful but I can hope.
In a statement entitled I Am Sorry and directed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, Mr Chambers, who is married, acknowledged "trauma that I have caused" and said he had kept quiet about his own same-sex attractions.
While saying he could "not apologise for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex", Mr Chambers said he was "sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized patients".
An interesting admission.. Closet Homosexuality and vociferousness against it? Surely there isn't a correlation?
Was Shakespeare right all along when he said? "Methinks thou dost protest too much"... quite possibly in some cases it seems.
Fear not, anti-gays! There could soon be a thriving market for lucrative "conversion therapy" programs in Brazil. How do you say "cha-ching" in Portuguese?
Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, wrote an open letter to the LGBT Community apologizing for the harm and suffering his organization may have caused.
Wow.
Quote:
While saying he could "not apologise for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex", Mr Chambers said he was "sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized patients".
This sounds a bit like the Catholic position. They offer (or used to offer) celibacy as the alternative, but AFAIK didnt go with reparative therapy...they said it was an "intrinsic disorder", but still a sin of sorts, but they never said you could actually change to being str8.
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I wonder how the evangelical/fundamentalist community is taking this. This disbanding is actually a very big deal.
"Praying addiction away" was understood to be largely a failed method long ago. The 12 Steps has had more success but even that is by and large a failure, so to speak, by any scientific method looking for a cure. As of today no cure for substance addiction has been found.
Addiction--which I regard homosexuality as a part of--is not a choice. The brain responds to fast. But addictions can be arrested. If by looking at the model given in falsifiablity that all one has to do is find one non-white bird to prove the hypothesis "All birds are white hypothesis" wrong.
Applied to this case the hypothesis, "No homosexual can become heterosexual," can be proven wrong if one case exists of that happening on planet earth. Just one case.
I don't know anything about Exodus International. But NARTH I would put more confidence in given so many of their board members are scientists and medical doctors. And they actually produce scientifically written papers. My major is biology and I've recognized they follow the rubrics of composing scientific papers. Others my disagree with their conclusions but that is neither here nor there. During the first half of the 20th Century Catholic scientists and intellectuals were composing material opposing eugenics and every secular liberal scientist and intellectual were mocking them as backwards, stupid, and wrong. But all these years later they were proven right.
I've read a psychiatrist (medical doctor that deals with psychological issues and prescribes drugs) in an essay having nothing to do with religion, state that one of the difficulties of treating pedophilia is that it resembles that so much of addiction. Orthodox heterosexuality itself can be addictive (and I suspect is for most people) if the heterosexuals claiming to be sex addicts are to be believed.
NARTH I would put more confidence in given so many of their board members are scientists and medical doctors. And they actually produce scientifically written papers.
NARTH is a religious/political advocacy group masquerading as a scientific organization. It has absolutely zero credibility. Its "research" has been thoroughly and comprehensively debunked on numerous occasions.
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