GAY TRUTH

English: Jerry Brown's official picture as Attorney General and as Governor (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) October 10, 2012 ( Breakpoint.org ) - Recently, California governor Jerry Brown signed into law a ban on so-called “reparative therapy” for minors with same-sex attraction . In other words, counselors will not be permitted to help young people change their sexual orientation or behavior. Well, the law stinks on multiple levels. First, what if the minor wants to change, as many do? Doesn’t this violate the supposed liberal cardinal tenet of “choice”? And it’s a troubling precedent to nail an identity on an entire segment of the population with the stroke of a pen. Second, the law claims scientific consensus when there is none. Gov. Brown said the law would consign reparative therapies “to the dustbin of quackery,” banning “non-scientific ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide.” But the governor failed to note the high rates of depression a

An interview with Vaughan Roberts , Rector of St. Ebbes Church, Oxford, by Julian Hardyman, Senior Pastor of Eden Baptist Church , Cambridge, about same-sex attraction Julian: Vaughan, earlier this year your book  Battles Christians Face  was republished in a fifth anniversary edition. You added a new preface which included these words: This ‘is the most personal of my books, partly … because I wrote out of my own experience. We all face battles in the Christian life, some of which are common to each of us, while others are shared only by a few. Of the many battles I could have written about, I chose to focus on eight which, to a greater or lesser degree, I face myself’. What responses have you had? Vaughan: The fact that a pastor struggles with image, lust, guilt, doubt, pride and keeping spiritually fresh is not exactly a revelation to anyone who knows their own heart and understands that Christian leaders are weak and sinful too; and the admission of an occasional struggle

September 24, 2012 ( pjSaunders ) - Should people with unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction seek professional help? And if so what kind of help and what expectations should they realistically have? BBC Religion and Ethics recently published an article on this extremely controversial subject titled ‘ Ex-gay survivor’s tales of exorcism in middle England ’. I was asked to submit a quote for it yesterday but was unable to obtain any information about what angle the author would be writing it from. So I sent in four carefully drafted sentences of which they used only the one that most closely fitted with their agenda. The article relates the story of Peterson Toscano , who ‘after $30,000 for controversial conversion therapy, three attempts at exorcism and one failed marriage, finally resolved the conflict between his faith and sexuality - he was gay’. At the end there are some comments from Peter Ould and myself (see Peter’s take  here ). Toscano’s case highlights th

English: Gender symbols, sexual orientation: heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality. Česky: (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Religious writer Thomas Moore speaks about soul care: “A major difference between care and cure is that cure implies the end of trouble. If you are cured, you don’t have to worry about whatever was bothering you any longer. But care has a sense of ongoing attention. There is no end.”  Reparative therapy programs that try to cure homosexuals do more harm than good if “success” is narrowly defined as conversion of sexual orientation . (According to a longitudinal study by Christian psychologists Mark Yarhouse and Stanton Jones, only 15% of participants in reparative therapy experience conversion, 23% experience chastity, 29% continual same-sex attraction , 15% no response, 4% confusion, and 8% defeat.) Hill and Paris long for a church that focuses on care instead of cure because that will help same-sex attracted persons to live with fruitful ambiguity,

Exodus International (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In recent weeks the leadership at Exodus International , an international Christian ministry that reaches out to those struggling with same-sex attraction , has distanced itself from so-called reparative or "conversion" therapy. Now, a Christian theologian is calling for the removal of Alan Chambers , the president of Exodus. Professor Robert Gagnon, an associate professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary , recently said Chambers is offering false hope to gays and lesbians by stating that their salvation is assured. Gagnon cites a 2011 interview with journalist Lisa Ling where Chambers said "people living an active gay Christian life will be in heaven with me if they have a relationship with Jesus Christ ." Gagnon added that Chambers made similar remarks when he spoke with the Gay Christian Network Conference in January 2012. In a 35-page article on Chambers, Gagnon said, "Alan's approach of provid

E nglish: Gender symbols, sexual orientation: heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality. Česky: (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Homosexuality is not a genetically-determined ,unchangeable trait. Dr. Francis Collins , Director of the Genome Project , has stated that while homosexuality may be genetically influenced, it is “… not hardwired by DNA , and (that) whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predetermination[s].” He also states that “…the prominent role of individual free will choices have a profound effect on us.”1 Homosexual attraction is determined by a combination of familial, environmental, social and biological influences. Inheritance of predisposing personality traits may play a role for some. Consequently, homosexual attraction is changeable. Contrary to the “born that way” myth, the scientific evidence links homosexuality to social and parental influences… combined in varying degrees with biological predisposition in some people. Sexual orienta