A BLOG BY ALAN CHAMBERS

God and the Gay Gene: This month's feature column by Alan Chambers

New Man eMagazine Vol 15 NO 26

Coverage of Exodus Conference

Check out some of the stories on the Exodus West Coast Regional Freedom Conference:

ABC News 30 in Fresno and Again

KSee 24 NBC

KMPH FOX 26 and Again

The Fresno Bee

 

Is There a Gay Agenda?

It's no crime to have an agenda.  But it is unbelievable that every time someone mentions The Gay Agenda that it is laughed off by the activist gay community as if there isn't one.

Come on guys, you are smart, gifted, talented, unified, organized and often put the rest of us to shame because you are so effective in accomplishing your mission. Just admit it.

Or, is there such a disconnect between smaller gay rights proponents and activists that they really do not know what HRC, GLAAD, GLSEN, NGLTF, etc. are trying to accomplish? 

Those of you who read the following reprinted article can decide for yourself...the article was written in 1987 and appeared in Guide Magazine.  Looks like an agenda, smells like an agenda, it's an agenda.  And, as you read, you will see that this particular agenda has been accomplished.

(BELOW, YELLOW HIGHLIGHTS ARE NOT MINE--I COULD NOT REMOVE THEM.  THEY DO NOT HIGHLIGHT ANYTHING SPECIAL IN MY OPINION)

The Overhauling of Straight America

by Marshall K. Kirk and Erastes Pill

The first order of business is desensitization of the American public concerning gays and gay rights. To desensitize the public is to help it view homosexuality with indifference instead of with keen emotion. Ideally, we would have straights register differences in sexual preference the way they register different tastes for ice cream or sports games: she likes strawberry and I like vanilla; he follows baseball and I follow football. No big deal.

At least in the beginning, we are seeking public desensitization and nothing more. We do not need and cannot expect a full "appreciation" or "understanding" of homosexuality from the average American. You can forget about trying to persuade the masses that homosexuality is a good thing. But if only you can get them to think that it is just another thing, with a shrug of their shoulders, then your battle for legal and social rights is virtually won. And to get to shoulder-shrug stage, gays as a class must cease to appear mysterious, alien, loathsome and contrary. A large-scale media campaign will be required in order to change the image of gays in America.

And any campaign to accomplish this turnaround should do six things.

Bible Comic for Youth

Please head over to Mike Ensley's blog, A Sociospiritual Oddity, for some great thoughts and a critique of The Truth for Youth Bible.

International Day Against Homophobia

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia.  And, you might be surprised to learn that I support this effort.  Homophobia does exist.  Irrational fear of those who are gay or lesbian is a real problem in our culture.  While I believe we have come a long way, I still see true homophobia at work each and every day.

People often call me homophobic, which is ridiculous.  I am not afraid of gay people nor do I hate them.  I don't even dislike anyone based upon their sexual identity.  For that matter, I can't think of anyone that I even dislike.  Forgive me as I digress, I ran out of Ritalin last week.

One of the primary focuses of Exodus International and one of my missions in life is to help the Church come to see those who are gay -identified or who struggle with homosexuality  as people whom Christ died for and loves equally.  The Church should be more welcoming to these folks than the local gay bar.  Gay and lesbian identified people should be able to find more help within the Church than they can outside of it.  It has long been my goal to so impact the Church with the message of truth and grace that Exodus would be able to go out of business.

So, when it comes to the evils of  homophobia, bullying, name calling, hatred and violence where those affected by homosexuality are concerned, I stand with all decent human beings who are fighting and praying for an end to the ignorance and ungodliness that cause them.

Join me, won't you?

GLBTQ? Oh yeah, and I.....

I am not sure how many more letters the GLBT community is planning to add their list, but hopefully they think the next one through better than they did the last one. 

Q=Questioning.

Forgive me, but doesn't "questioning" imply that they are unsure whether homosexuality is fixed? That one who identifies as gay or lesbian might possibly be mistaken?  That gender is fluid?  That homosexuality is far from inate or immutable?  Changeable even? 

The activist homosexual community spends so much time, effort and energy trying to debunk stories like mine while seeking to convince the world that homosexuality is genetically fixed and unable to be changed. 

The letter Q for questioning seems to indicate that they aren't so sure homosexuality is what they have tried to convince our culture that it is.  Moreover, the "Q" is more like an exclamation point on the statement we use at Exodus: QUESTION HOMOSEXUALITY!

No Apology Necessary, General Pace

Unlike Ann Coulter's comments at the CPAC event earlier this month, General Peter Pace's personal beliefs about homosexual behavior as stated in an interview with the Chicago Tribune this week need no qualification or apology.  While I will defend Ann Coulter's right to say what she did to the death, I think our society needs to treat others like we'd like to be treated.  Ms. Coulter's remarks were rude and unnecessary.  General Pace's comments were true and firmly rooted in his upbringing and faith.

I am thankful for the fact that we still have leaders in high posts who are willing to be respectfully honest about their beliefs and opinions without regard for what is politically correct.  I am tired of our leaders caving into the intimidation that comes from the heavy handed gay activist community.  There is still room in the debate over homosexuality for the Judeo-Christian perspective.

Surgery to Prevent Homosexuality?

The 'Sheep Study' of 2005 has resurfaced.  For those of you who don't recall the 'Sheep Study' don't worry---I barely remember the details.  Suffice it to say, some researchers were trying to once again prove that homosexuality is genetic this time based upon a group of rams within the Corvallis herd that " consistently ignore females and bestow all their amorous attentions on members of their own sex".  This herd resides at Oregon State University.

Fast forward to 2007.  Not only has the study reared its baaaaad self  again, there are new questions being raised over whether or not in-utero surgery should be considered to manipulate a gay gene if it were found in a pre-born child.

WHAT?? 

Pardon me while I take a deep breath and try to remain calm. 

First of all, would we even be talking about this if a genetic link to heterosexual pornography had been found?  I think not.  There has been some credible evidence to support that there is a genetic link to alcoholism.  Have we seen any news articles discussing whether or not we should "fix" this problem in-utero?  Uh uh.

I am not sure whether or not homosexuality has a genetic link or not.  Frankly, I don't care.  What I do know is that I can logically look back at my development and understand why I struggled with homosexuality.  From my inborn personality traits to how I perceived and responded to the environment in which I was raised, I believe that most of my issues were developmental in nature.  Regardless of the roots, I believe that homosexuality is a sinful condition like so many others and my choice, based upon unchosen circumstances and feelings, was to pursue a life that lined up with my faith. 

I think that like everything else, homosexuality is multi-causal.  To simply pawn it off on genetics invalidates its complexity and my story.  To say that it is all developmental might invalidate your story and any sound genetic research that has or is being done.  To say that homosexuality is simply caused by a gay demon, in my experience and opinion, is ridiculous. 

I was asked this morning if I would have supported my mother's decision to fix any genetic mutation that might have caused homosexuality had she been made aware of the problem before I was born.  The answer is no.  And, I am sure that is what my mom would have said, too. 

In fact, as an almost 41 year old woman mom found out that she was pregnant with her 6th child about the same time she was becoming a grandmother for the 3rd time.  My mother's doctor told her that she was too old to go through with her pregnancy and that if she did she would most likely have a mongoloid baby.  My mom decided that this was her last pregnancy, she wasn't going to worry for 9 months and that she would love a mongoloid baby as much as a healthy one.

The truth is that we all have to take responsibility for ourselves.  When someone realizes that they have same-sex attractions they have to decide what to do about that.  Of course, I believe that homosexuality is changeable and I believe, based upon my own story, that it is preventable.  But, I don't believe that a pill or surgery or holding someone will provide the results that some hope for---there is no quick fix or formula to changing one's sexuality.  Instead, most successful and longterm change occurs when one decides to daily submit their mind, will and emotions to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Some find freedom from feelings and attractions while others simply find freedom from an identity that was incompatible with their faith.

Alan on NPR

The Fresh Air interview I taped in August with Terry Gross aired yesterday nationwide.  The Exodus office received numerous calls, emails and new hits to the website as a result. The majority of the feedback was extremely positive, but there was negative feedback, as well.  I listened to the interview yesterday afternoon and, prior to getting any feedback at all, realized that I said one thing that I wished I could have clarified.  Thus, I want to do so here.

Without listening to the entire interview again I won't be able to give the exact quote, but I said something like, "One of the greatest myths operating in our culture today is that the majority of the gay community is interested in anti discrimination laws."

I have to say that my experience is anecdotal.  The majority of everyday gay and lesbian folks I meet or hear from (a significant number) do tell me that they aren't interested in the gay rights battles for anti-discrimination laws, benefits for same-sex couples or marriage.  I have several activists friends who regularly tell me that they are angered by the majority of their gay friends because of their ambivalence to the gay rights issues and politics in general.

An activist friend (on the other side) emailed me some stats from a 2003 Gallup Poll that stated 9 in 10 Americans (88%) support "equal opportunities for gays and lesbians in the workplace."  I would like to see the questions that were asked, how many people were sampled and who those people were.  Depending on the questions asked that poll might have included me as one of those making up the 88%---but I am far from a proponent of anti-discrimimnation laws.

According to another poll conducted by the LA Times, 72% of Americans favor "laws to protect gays against job discrimination."  Again, what was the question that was asked?  Who were the people polled?  What area of the country were they from?  I know that a lot of Christian and conservative people might fall into the 72% depending on how the questions were phrased---like I said above, even I might fall into the category.

I also received an email with some survey results from a survey that was conducted by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force this year.  The results were that the two top policy priorities for LGBT people were 1) Marriage equality and 2)Non-discrimination laws.  In this survey conducted at 7 gay pride events, 1440 or so people were polled.

Unless there is more to the study than I saw, this information is much the same as mine: anecdotal. Those who attend gay pride events are ones who, for the most part, are politically and socially active.  They are a good representation of the activist community, but not of everyone who is gay or lesbian. What cities were these events in?  Who was polled?  The results aren't surprising given the events and the typical attendees.

Nonetheless, I wish I had stated clearly that the information I was giving was based upon my own experience and was in fact my opinion.

Thanks to those of you who weighed in on both sides of the debate.

THANK YOU, Mr. President.

Finally, someone addresses the fact that trust was breeched and that children were violated.  Why did it take nearly a week for someone to focus on our number one priority: the children?

Read the President's statement released this morning at 10:28 PDT.

Hopefully we will hear more of this from other leaders.