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| Gareth Fenley is an activist and writer
in Atlanta. She can be reached at gareth@fenley.net.
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HOME > VIEWPOINT > COLUMNS
By: GARETH FENLEY
COMMENTS |
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The eight conservative Christians who gathered in Atlanta this fall to watch a
documentary on ex-gays didn’t know they had an intruder in their midst.
And in some ways, they didn’t.
I enjoy a faith-based gathering of Christians that is focused on a walk with
Jesus Christ because I am a born again Christian myself.
Of course, I disagreed with these folks about the matter of homosexuality,
but I stayed “undercover” — I just said that I had learned
about the screening from the Internet. And I was genuinely interested in seeing
the documentary to see if it had any merit.
Can gay people become straight people? Certainly they can. I have seen it.
It is done by falling in love. Love causes a lesbian who hosts the city’s
gay radio show to marry a man.
The show gets a new host, and Wanda gets a new last name. I suppose this means
Wanda was bisexual all along. People debate this all the time, but we’ve
all seen people who have changed from one identity to another.
But why should love for Jesus Christ cause a gay person to want to be straight?
Conservative Christians think Jesus condemns same-sex relationships. I can’t
find that in my Bible, but the two billion Christians on the planet disagree
about everything Jesus ever taught and even who he is.
Scattered grassroots ministries promote a diverse selection of discredited
psychological theories to change sexuality, combined with a bracing structure
of fundamentalism. People who have changed identity through this movement call
themselves “ex-gays” or former homosexuals.
I’m more worried about what happens to the ones who don’t change.
THE EX-GAY MOVEMENT is very dynamic. Ministries appear and disappear all the
time as the members and leaders tend toward becoming gay again. The meeting
I attended was over National Coming Out Day weekend, when the movement scheduled
simultaneous showings of a new documentary in 26 states.
The movie is called “I Do Exist,” and it makes no mention that
successful identity changes based on religious convictions are rare, nor does
it tell us the truth that ex-gay ministries cause great harm to many people,
including some suicides. It only talks about five happy people who say they
are now straight.
“I Do Exist” was created by psychology professor Warren Throckmorton,
who works at the conservative Christian Grove City College. He often teams up
with another psychology professor, Mark Yarhouse, director of the Institute
for the Study of Sexual Identity at Regent University.
Extensive interviews with Yarhouse present him in the movie as a neutral scientific
researcher. Throckmorton doesn’t tell you that Regent University was founded
by Pat Robertson.
Would you like to put Pat in charge of your sexual identity?
THE SCREENING I attended was hosted by the LifeLines Discipleship Program,
which enrolls African Americans and is headed by an ex-gay, Pastor Darryl L.
Foster.
The brochure for LifeLines declares that “homosexuality cripples and
distorts an individual’s relational, emotional and decision-making abilities.”
These lies are followed by discussion of “deliverance to restorative wholeness,”
but Foster is careful to make no promises. The purpose of the program, he says,
is not heterosexuality, but holiness.
Still, showing “I Do Exist” to the eight hopeful homosexuals who
attended the movie with me was false advertising. I asked another ex-gay ministry
leader in attendance if this really works.
He smiled and said it is important for all people to know that they can run
the race, and if even one makes the finish line, it is a great victory for God.
I don’t know about him, but I care about the people who can’t finish
this race. And I didn’t see any justification to get into it into the
first place, except a pack of lies.
I know from personal experience that Jesus Christ can transform your life.
I can also say it is plain as the nose on my face that he doesn’t want
every gay person to turn straight.
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