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|
 | What does the public believe? |
| God, prayer and reparative therapy |
| Recent change in the Evangelical Christian community |
| Short term future |
| Long term future |
What does the public believe?
There is an enormous difference between the beliefs of conservative Christians and the beliefs of others. which include more liberal Christians, secularists, Humanists, etc:
| Among the general public: During the week of 1998-JUL-17, the McLaughlin Group
1
conducted a public opinion poll via the Internet on the effectiveness of
"love, understanding and the word of God" in converting
a gay or lesbian to heterosexuality. The results are somewhat unreliable,
because only those individuals who were sufficiently motivated to take
part in the survey responded. The results were:
We expected that persons 65 and older would consider sexual orientation to be unchangeable. Many in that age range reached that conclusion many decades ago before information about sexual orientation was widely disseminated. We were surprised by the relatively high belief in the changeability of sexual orientation among young people, until we found a survey of beliefs among conservative Christians. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Among conservative Christians: Focus on the Family, a fundamentalist Christian group centered in
Colorado, conducted a survey of visitors to their web site. The vast
majority of their visitors are believed to be Fundamentalist or other
Evangelical Christian. During 2003-APR, Focus asked their visitors
an unusually precise question for such an informal survey: "Is it possible to change sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?
6 Results were:
|
Beliefs among conservative Christians appear to be a mirror image of those among the general population. Obviously, one group is mistaken in their beliefs.
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God, prayer and reparative therapy:
A common belief among conservative Christians is that God will answer all reasonable prayers from born-again believers. They feel that God frequently answers prayers that ask to cure an illness or disability. These beliefs are supported by passages from the Bible, and with verified claims of cures.
However, to our knowledge, God has never answered a prayer to convert a person from one race to another, from one gender to another or from one sexual orientation to another. Prayer and religious beliefs can apparently help a person:
| With a homosexual orientation to remain celibate. |
| With a bisexual orientation to confine their relationships to members of the opposite sex. |
Ex-gay ministries report enormous numbers of successes in these areas. But the percentage of persons with a homosexual orientation who have successfully changed their orientation appears to be much less than 1%, and may be zero. We personally know many devout gay and lesbian Christians who for decades have begged God to make them heterosexual. Their prayers have never been answered -- at least not in the affirmative.
Some reasons for this answer might be:
| God lacks the power to change a person's sexual orientation. This, of course, is incompatible with the general Christian belief that God is omnipotent. |
| God sees diversity as beneficial. God values different sexual orientations, just as he does different races, languages, genders, and perhaps even religions. He expects that heterosexuals, gays and lesbians will enter into committed, monogamous and supportive same-sex relationships. This belief is held by a growing number of religious liberals. |
| God makes a certain percentage of people with a homosexual orientation and then expects them to struggle for their entire adult life to remain celibate - longing for love, remaining lonely, and not permitted to achieve personal growth in a committed relationship. This point of view is sometimes called "ambush theology." |
| God said no because the prayers were not sincere or because the gay or lesbian had not genuinely accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Thus, she/he was not a born-again Christian. We have seen many references to this belief among conservative Christians. |
Recent Change in the Evangelical Christian Community:
There has been a noticeable trend in recent years among the more
progressive of the RT ministries. The very popular
Evangelical magazine, Christianity Today mirrored this trend. A 1981 cover
stated "Homosexuals
CAN Change." But by 1983, their editor Kenneth Kantzer, admitted
that "The evidence is clear that such a turn [from homosexuality
to heterosexuality] is often not very successful." He suggested
that gays and lesbians still "try to turn from your homosexual
orientation." If unsuccessful, he expected them to "exercise
self-control...refrain from homosexual practice...and live lives of sexual
continence." 2
Tony Campolo is a well known conservative Christian sociologist and popular lecturer from
Eastern College.
He stated in the mid-1980's that the claims of "ex-gay"
ministries "always fall through" when inspected
closely. He acknowledged that a "biological basis for
homosexuality" probably exists and that "cannot expect
such a person to change his orientation." Campolo also expects
that gays and lesbians should be encouraged to remain sexually inactive. He
interprets the
Bible as allowing only sexual activity between married spouses. Since gays and
lesbians could not marry at that time, he concluded that homosexuals should remain
celibate.
A conference in the winter of 1985/6 brought together leaders from a number of "ex-gay" ministries, including Love in Action, Homosexuals Anonymous, L.I.F.E. Ministries, and Mount Hope. They agreed that their goal was not to change gays and lesbians into heterosexuals. Rather, it is to persuade homosexuals to lead a celibate life. A second alternative would be a parody of a heterosexual marriage in which a man and a woman would live as friends with the possibility of sexual activity in the future.
In 1999-JUL, Exodus International told the Associated Press that not every homosexual can change their sexual orientation and that those who cannot should pursue celibacy. 3
One "ex-gay Evangelical", Michael Johnston, head of Kerusso Ministries also promotes this concept. He conducted a "Hope 97" cross-America tour, starting in 1997-MAR. Interviewed by Echo magazine, he said that when he left the "gay lifestyle", it "was about denying sinful feelings, whether the feelings ever went away or not, denying them and saying I am going to bring my life in accordance with the word of God, regardless of how I feel." (Attendance was so poor that the tour was canceled after the second stop).
What Does the Short-Term Future Hold?
Many of the original leaders and founders of "ex-gay" ministries were gays who claimed to be successfully sexually reoriented; they have allegedly dropped out of the movement. These include: 2
| Mike Bussee (EXIT) |
| Guy Charles (LIBERATION in Jesus Christ) |
| John Evans (Love in Action) |
| Jeffry Ford (Outpost) |
| Roger Grindstaff (aka Roger Dean; Disciples Only) |
| Jim Kasper (EXIT) |
| Rick Notch of (Open Door) |
| Greg Reid (EAGLE) |
Many of their replacements are, and have always been, heterosexual.
We can expect an increasingly bitter conflict between religious conservatives and secular groups and individuals:
| Most ex-gay ministries will probably continue to follow the theories
promoted by:
This is because reparative therapy is the only method which is compatible with the Evangelical Christian belief that homosexuality is learned behavior that can be changed. The vast majority of psychiatrists and psychologists believe that an adult's sexual orientation is unchangeable. | ||||
| The percentage of psychologists and other therapists who regard sexual orientation as a changeable disorder will continue to shrink. A main factor in this trend will be the continuing total absence of studies in peer-reviewed journals that show that sexual orientation can be changed. | ||||
| A growing percentage of psychiatrists and psychologists who are not religious conservatives will continue to accept that sexual orientation is unchangeable and that attempts to convert client from one sexual orientation to another is fraught with danger. | ||||
| Several state psychological associations in the US have passed resolutions which recommend the prohibition of conversion therapy on ethical grounds. Similar resolutions have been considered by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, but were not passed. The American Medical Association has stated that conversion therapy is no longer recommended for gay men and lesbians. This trend will probably continue. | ||||
| Of immediate concern are situations in which gay and lesbian adolescents are being forced into involuntary, religiously oriented, conversion therapies by their parents and pastors. Sometimes this involves being locked up in a mental institution. The Guardian newspaper from San Francisco studied a new underground railroad and string of safe houses that has been set up for gay and lesbian youth who are escaping psychiatric treatment. Many are being "warehoused" until their 18th birthday, when they attain full adult rights. 4 |
What Does the Long-Term Future Hold?
As knowledge of sexual orientation increases, we expect that a consensus will form that adult sexual orientation is unchangeable, and that only bisexuals can choose to direct their sexual activity to either men or women. Hopefully, the ministries which offer conversion therapy will eventually drop their attempts to convert people's sexual orientation. They will probably begin to focus on convincing homosexuals that God wishes them to abstain from all sexual activity, and to live a life of loneliness.
This will be a painful transition for conservative Christians. Much of their recent activity to deny equal rights for gays and lesbians has been based upon the belief that a homosexual orientation is a chosen and is reversible. They have feared that any reduction in discrimination against gays and lesbians would persuade more heterosexuals to decide to become gay or lesbian. As they gradually acknowledge that sexual orientation is not something that one can "catch," the theoretical justification for many of their discriminatory actions will evaporate.
References
- The McLaughlin Group's home page is at: http://www.mclaughlin.com
- "Open Hands" (Vol. 2, Number 2, 1986-FALL) Available at http://abacus.oxy.edu/qrd/religion/anti/exgay/
- "Christian Ex-gay ministry hosts Chicago conference," Charisma. Online at Maranatha Christian Journal, at: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3280.htm
- Thomas Mournian, "Hiding Out," San Francisco Bay Guardian, http://www.sfbg.com/News/32/27/Features/out.html
- Elizabeth Moberly, "Homosexuality: A new Christian ethic," (originally published in the early 1980's; reprinted 1997). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- "Hand count," focus on the Family, 2003-APR, at: http://www.family.org/
Copyright © 1998 to 2004 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Latest update: 2004-JUN-16
Author: B.A. Robinson
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