Once Gay, Always Gay?
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I have a confession to make: I have prayed for many people who struggle with homosexual feelings, and I have asked the Holy Spirit to help them overcome those urges. According to the state of California, that makes me a criminal if the person I prayed for was under 18.
California has banned so-called “reparative therapy,” which is used to cure minors of their homosexual feelings. Upon signing the law in late September, Gov. Jerry Brown said such psychological counseling has led to depression and suicide among gay youth, and he added that any therapy aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation falls into the category of “quackery.”
The law states that no mental health provider can provide minors with therapies to “change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.”
Brown, the majority of California’s legislators and leaders of the gay community say it’s hateful to offer a gay person alternatives if they struggle with same-sex attraction. They believe if young people have gay feelings, they might as well embrace their homosexual identity and get busy acting it out. (Meanwhile, a formerly gay student and two therapists have filed suit against the law, claiming that it is a violation of free speech and freedom of religion.)
We all know homosexuality is a complicated issue, and it requires loads of compassion and sensitivity. I will readily admit the Christian community hasn’t always shown love to homosexuals. But as we develop genuine compassion there are three truths we must never compromise:
1. Homosexuality is not necessarily inborn. The prevailing view in the mainstream psychological community is that if a person feels gay attraction, those feelings permanently define him/her. Change isn’t possible, supposedly, because all homosexuals are “born that way.”
Yet any honest psychologist knows certain factors can trigger gay feelings. I have prayed for many guys, for example, who were haunted by unwanted gay desires because they were sexually abused as children or teens. I have also prayed for women who developed sexual feelings for women after being abused by men; for them, lesbianism provided protection from the men who hurt them.
Some boys develop same-sex feelings because they lack a father figure. A boy’s craving for his absent or distant dad’s affection can lead to sexualization of other men in his life. To ignore such environmental or developmental factors is a gross denial of the obvious. To tell a teenage boy that he must automatically embrace gay feelings—especially when his sexuality is still being developed—is a worse form of quackery than Brown has condemned.
2. The Holy Spirit can heal our broken sexuality. I have known many people who struggled with various levels of homosexual desire before they met Christ—and many who continue to resist those temptations as Christians. Some were in long-term gay relationships; some simply experimented with homosexuality; others got hooked on gay porn. But in every case they found freedom from those urges through honest confession, repentance and healing prayer.
If a young man came to me and admitted he was tempted to seduce women, I would not tell him: “You just have a strong sex drive. Go ahead and have sex with as many girls as you want! That’s just who you are!” That would be crazy. If this teen really wanted to change his behavior I would lead him in a prayer of repentance, deal with the root issues of his problem and encourage him to trust Jesus for the grace to exercise self-control. Why wouldn’t I do the same for a teenager who is attracted to the same sex?
3. Many homosexual strugglers want freedom. Supporters of the California law would probably say I’m being “hateful” if I prayed for a young person who wanted to overcome same-sex urges. But I could turn the argument around and accuse the psychological community of hate because they are not giving gay people any options. Wouldn’t it be more loving to ask a person what they want instead of imposing a lifestyle on them?
One of the most basic truths of Christianity is that Jesus gives us a new nature when we experience conversion. This is the miracle the apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (NASB). Why would we offer that freedom to those who struggle with other forms of sin or brokenness, but not to those who want to be free from homosexuality?
Let’s stop being naive. California’s tyrannical law is not based on science or solid psychological theory. It is mean-spirited intolerance, and it will become federal policy if defenders of religious freedom don’t challenge it.
Top Opinion
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irish -liberty or death! 2012/12/18 13:21:49
I mostly agree with the included text.
Before posting polls, it would be good to stop and look at them. Make sure that what you are asking, what you are explaining, and the answer choices are consistent. Then, after you've made necessary edits, hit the Submit button.
What's against the law is to market your prayer as a therapy for ANYTHING, and trying to turn gay people straight THROUGH PRAYER is quackery. It's absurd.
There's no law saying "Once gay, always gay," but what it does say is that you and any other group that thinks they can "pray away the gay" is nothing more than a scam and full of malarkey. I totally agree with that position.
Hey, if someone gay decides they aren't gay anymore... that's their decision to make. Why they need "help" to come to that decision is beyond me. Why they need "help" to "stay straight" is also beyond me. Is something inherently wrong with being gay? Should something be wrong with being gay?
You see, when you think it's WRONG to be gay and feel that those who are gay SHOULD want to REPENT for it, that's HATEFUL. That's what's against the law. The hatred of a group, based on sexual orientation IS AGAINST THE LAW.
If there was a group out there that used GOD to TURN PEOPLE GAY, you'd have a heart attack.
All in all, don't you think that GOD has bigger fish to fry? I do.
Sexuality can be fluid yes, but that is more true about women, than men. You can pray for them all you want, but "reparative therapy" is damaging, it tells you that you are wrong for being who you are, and if it works the person usually ends up in completely non-sexual relationships for the rest of their lives. They are who they are, and they wouldn't feel the need to change if they felt accepted.
What I want you to do is will yourself to be gay to prove that it is a choice, or go hang out with a bunch of gay people to see if you can "learn to be gay". You don't choose who to be attracted to, that's why love is so God damn hard, becasue you can't just decide "this person is good for me, even though I have no emotional or physical attraction, now let me fix that." and then you fall in love.
I think people are born gay. They do not wake up one morning and say ' I think I am gay'.
I also don't believe you can 'cure' someone from being gay. It is like saying you can cure someone from being female or male. They are Gods creatures, however flawed anyone may think.
1~Homosexuality IS a born in trait.
2~You mention the Holy Spirit, so I assume you are Catholic.
3~Contrary the Catholic Church does NOT consider being Gay is a sin.
It is the ACT of sexual relations that is sinful.
I suggest you read ccc (Catholic Catechism) 2357 through 2359
This CLEARLY defines the Catholic Chuch and it's position of homosexuality.
OK so let's go over a couple of "Abominations"
1~Do you meat a rare steak~Abomination
2~Do you eat shrimp? Abomination
3~Do you touch a pork chop before cooking? Abomination
4~Do you play the stock market to make money? Abomination
5~Do you store a steak in your fridge for 3 days before you eat it? Abomination
6~Does your wife or girlfriend wear a pants suit? Abomination
7~Do you wear a polyester shirt or pants? Abomination
8~Ever tell a lie in your life? Abomination
9~Ever been arrogant in your life? Abomination
10~Ever get a speeding ticket and wish he wouldn't give you one? Abomination
11~If you are "Christion" and marry a Jew? Abomination
12~You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
13~If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon the
Notice that it says if any male "lies" with a male as a women. It says NOTHING
about being Gay who abstains from sex.
Besides Jesus Christ said he came to fulfill the Old Testement
and HE HIMSELF ate with "Unclean" people and mixed fish with mi...
OK so let's go over a couple of "Abominations"
1~Do you meat a rare steak~Abomination
2~Do you eat shrimp? Abomination
3~Do you touch a pork chop before cooking? Abomination
4~Do you play the stock market to make money? Abomination
5~Do you store a steak in your fridge for 3 days before you eat it? Abomination
6~Does your wife or girlfriend wear a pants suit? Abomination
7~Do you wear a polyester shirt or pants? Abomination
8~Ever tell a lie in your life? Abomination
9~Ever been arrogant in your life? Abomination
10~Ever get a speeding ticket and wish he wouldn't give you one? Abomination
11~If you are "Christion" and marry a Jew? Abomination
12~You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
13~If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon the
Notice that it says if any male "lies" with a male as a women. It says NOTHING
about being Gay who abstains from sex.
Besides Jesus Christ said he came to fulfill the Old Testement
and HE HIMSELF ate with "Unclean" people and mixed fish with milk.
OK......GOT IT?
If you continue with your beliefs I would call you a cafeteria Christian.
One who picks and chooses what they want to believe and ignores the
things he doen't want to believe.
Without the sex act there is no sin.
so took what he wanted and discarded the rest ie. cafeteria Christian
Respecting doesn't mean agreeing. I don't have to agree with you, but I don't have to be a complete jerk about what you believe in either. Your choice, where you stand in that argument, not mine.
At best, the evidence for a genetic and/or biological basis to homosexual orientation is inconclusive. In fact, beginning with studies in the early 1990s, many attempted to establish a genetic cause for homosexuality and have not proven to be valid or repeatable – two important requirements for study results to become accepted as fact in the scientific community.
Because of this, the current thinking in the scientific community is that homosexuality is likely caused by a complex interaction of psychosocial, environmental and possible biological factors. And the two leading national psychiatric and psychological professional groups agree that, so far, there are no conclusive studies supporting any specific biological or genetic cause for homosexuality.
In sum, there is no scientific or DNA test to tell us if a person is homosexual, bisexual or even heterosexual for that matter. And since nobody is "born gay," it's clear that sexual orientation is, at its core, a matter of how one defi...
At best, the evidence for a genetic and/or biological basis to homosexual orientation is inconclusive. In fact, beginning with studies in the early 1990s, many attempted to establish a genetic cause for homosexuality and have not proven to be valid or repeatable – two important requirements for study results to become accepted as fact in the scientific community.
Because of this, the current thinking in the scientific community is that homosexuality is likely caused by a complex interaction of psychosocial, environmental and possible biological factors. And the two leading national psychiatric and psychological professional groups agree that, so far, there are no conclusive studies supporting any specific biological or genetic cause for homosexuality.
In sum, there is no scientific or DNA test to tell us if a person is homosexual, bisexual or even heterosexual for that matter. And since nobody is "born gay," it's clear that sexual orientation is, at its core, a matter of how one defines oneself – not a matter of biology or genes.
Most recently, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force spokesperson Roberta Sklar admitted in an ABC news story that today's young lesbians and bisexuals have a "more flexible view" about sexuality and see it as "a fluid thing," with many gays themselves rejecting the belief that sexual orientation is "fixed" and unchangeable.