GAY TRUTH

While not yet enacted into law, the fallout from the expected passage of California AB 2943 has begun as a Christian youth ministry cancels its planned summer conference in Los Angeles .   The youth ministry made the heartbreaking decision because many analysts suspect that the state’s controversial legislation will effectively end up banning any Christian teaching – whether written or spoken – which suggests that homosexuality and transgenderism are disordered in any way.    Summit Ministries , which had planned a 12-day student training conference at Biola University outside Los Angeles, decided to play it safe, choosing to cancel the event because of concerns that California will forbid some of what it teaches. Jeff Myers , president of Summit, called AB2943 “the most blatant chilling of free speech in America in my lifetime,” according to a  statement  released by the organization.   “We are grieved that it has come to this, but we simply cannot put our students, st

South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier  went out on a limb on social media last week in commenting on the importance of the controversial subject of reparative therapy. The cardinal  tweeted  that he had begun reading " Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality : A New Clinical Approach," and he called the work a “challenging book on a subject of great importance.” The late Joseph Nicolosi  (1947-2017), a psychologist and pioneer of reparative therapy, wrote the book that Cardinal Napier has been reading. Nicolosi passed away in March. The book’s description reads: “This book explores a reparative psychotherapy based on an understanding of the development of gender identity, offering to help the non-gay homosexual, that is, one who is unhappy with his sexual orientation.” Reparative or conversion therapy  assists people to resist acting upon, to minimize, or change their same-sex attractions. The therapy  is contentious  among  the LGBT   movement  and  the l

The Rhode Island House voted Tuesday to unanimously approve a bill banning pro-heterosexual change therapy for minors, which LGBT activists derisively label “conversion therapy.” The bill’s sponsor, Democrat Rep. Joseph McNamara, used some of the most overheated rhetoric heard to date in the national debate on this topic, saying the bill “protects minors from this barbaric, dangerous, and discredited practice,” the  Providence Journal  reported . McNamara, chairman of the Health, Education and Welfare Committee, cited those who testified in favor of the ban, saying, “They spoke of depression, attempted suicide, substance abuse, and numerous negative outcomes from this so-called therapy,” according to the newspaper. The  Journal  echoed the rhetoric of LGBT activists who are now claiming to be victims of the Trump administration after being coddled for eight years under the most pro-homosexual and pro-“transgender” president in American history, Barack Obama.  Journal  repo

Dr. Joseph Nicolosi , a psychologist and a pioneer of “ reparative therapy ” to help people overcome unwanted same-sex attractions , died March 9 at age 70 from complications resulting from the flu. Nicolosi, a devout Catholic and the co-founder of  NARTH  (now the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice), leaves behind wife Linda and their son, Joe Jr. People from all over the world have  written memorial tributes  to him, with some thanking him for helping them overcome sexual identification problems or to understand the nature of homosexuality. A family funeral services for Nicolosi will be held Wednesday. In a field fraught with ambiguous terminology (e.g., “ sexual orientation ”), escalating — even  fanatical  — LGBT opposition, media cynicism and  misreporting , Nicolosi persevered. His  counter-cultural message  of “If gay doesn’t define you, you don’t have to be gay,” was outrageous and “hateful” to intolerant  homosexual militants , but it brought hope to people of faith

The freedom of people with same-sex attractions to exercise their civil rights is under siege by legal bullies who hate redeemed and restored lives. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and two other groups are out to crush the civil rights of those who desperately desire therapy. On February 24, the SPLC and other LGBT organizations filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission designed to silence People Can Change (PCC), an organization whose clients seek help in dealing with their same-sex attractions. Four liberal lawmakers added their names to the complaint in an all-out effort to penalize anyone who would offer therapies called “ reparative therapy ” or “conversion therapy” to anyone who freely asks for it. The legal filing demonstrates a visceral hatred not only toward these therapies but also toward people who don’t want to act on their same-sex attractions, and want to minimize or perhaps even change them. The legal filing aims to take away the fre

The best evidence seems to show that reparative therapy works for some but not all. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to predict when this type of therapy mayor may not be helpful. The evidence suggests that reparative therapy is most helpful for those who express the deepest desire for the therapy to work and for those whose same-sex behaviors were, as they themselves admit, more episodic than those who fully embraced a same-sex orientation. Forcing someone into reparative therapy, however, is likely to do more harm than good. Christians should never expect salvation from reparative therapy, nor should we offer the promise of sanctification by any mere therapy. Salvation comes only in the gospel of Christ and sanctification only in the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Word. Nevertheless, there are means we can use that help us grow in grace. We must make certain we never place our hope and trust in a therapeutic promise. Therapy will never save us. Only Christ can do

Image via Wikipedia The Role of Fathers and Mothers Introduction Nature?  Nurture?  The debate about what causes same-sex attractions in males is endless – and so far, unresolved.  This much is true:   we simply do  not  know for certain what causes it! In the last issue of  “Counseling Insights” , I discussed how “sensitivity” seems to play an important role – one that may have existed from birth (i.e., “nature”).  While there is absolutely no evidence of a “gay gene” that automatically makes males develop same-sex attractions ( SSA ), many such males express that they  “have always been extra sensitive”  (i.e., extra sensitive to physical aggression, to verbal critique from authority figures, and to the creative senses).  But is there a  developmental  (i.e., “nurture”) explanation of why young males might become extra sensitive?  Those who ascribe to “psychoanalytic theories” believe there is. Discussion By now, you have heard it stated thousands of times:  “ male homosexuality i