Exodus President Alan Chambers was interviewed by CNN’s religion blog following the recent court decision to overturn Prop. 8. Interestingly, it said that appears marriage equality is inevitable.
For 34 years, Exodus has told gay and lesbians that they can be “delivered” from homosexuality through faith in Christ, professional counseling and support groups.
But how will groups like Exodus fare if fewer Americans believe that homosexuality is a sin, and if gay marriage becomes an option?
Chambers acknowledged that “our culture is changing” and said more people are abandoning a biblical view of homosexuality.
Does he think gay marriage is inevitable?
“It certainly seems so,” Chambers says. “The jury is still out and there are certainly areas where I see a tendency for more rights for gay and lesbian people. But I also see that there’s still a fight among American people so it’s hard to know.”
Chambers went on to say that despite greater acceptance in society, business is booming for the “ex-gay” industry.
“Our calls are increasing,” he says. “Our ministries say we’re busier than ever.”
This, of course, is deceptive. Exodus is not growing or having a greater impact on society. The reason Exodus is getting more calls is because of the success of the LGBT movement. Young people are coming out earlier and desperate parents are seeking answers — sometimes in the wrong place, as in the case with contacting Exodus. However, Exodus conferences and meetings are not showing any genuine growth, meaning long-term clients who are changing their sexual orientation.
The other explanation for more calls is that more people, of all ages, are coming out in socially conservative churches. Indeed, Exodus has, for the most-part, quit trying to convert the masses. It has instead focused on ingraining itself in conservative churches, where more parishioners are coming out each day and pastors are desperate for answers. This effort is evidenced by Exodus’ new video geared for church officials titled, “Discussing Homosexuality in 18 Minutes.”
It must bother Exodus to see such amazing progress. Not only is marriage available in 5 US states and the District of Columbia, but both our neighbors to the north and south have marriage equality. Each year, it is going to get more difficult for Chambers to recruit vulnerable and desperate people to buy his self-loathing snake oil.
Don’t let the volume of calls fool you. Exodus is a business model that is in decline.
We need a Coming Out information campaign, an organized effort to provide insecure and isolated LGBTs support, a campaign that goes out to the people rather than wait for them to come to the all-too-often impersonal LGBT groups, a campaign that is louder than the bigots. I’m thinking of something like a DVD including high profile people that dispells the lies; supportive statements by inclusive religious leaders; national hot-line numbers for adults and kids at risk; information packs to secondary schools and colleges. This ought to be a grass-roots effort to reach people who might find connecting to the known gay advocacy groups impersonal. Virtually all the national gay organizations speak to those who are out and dedicated. It is great that so many folks are out and politically active, but there is a huge shadowy group whose members are wandering in darkness, fear, and loneliness. We need to be accessible in every nook.
Chambers acknowledged that “our culture is changing” and said more people are abandoning a biblical view of homosexuality. — Yes randy, just like they abandoned the ‘biblical view’ on slavery, women and children as property, stoning people for various sexual and religious offenses (like heretical speech), sacrificing animals, slaughtering the inhabitants of whole areas because ‘Yahweh said the land was ours and we should ethnically cleanse it before moving in’…and on and on.
Staggo, we already have much of what you seek, in the form of GLSEN, PFLAG, and the National Youth Advocacy Coalition.
pflag.org
glsen.org
nyacyouth.org
[...] by Exodus’ poverty plea. After all, on Aug. 10, the organization’s President Alan Chambers told CNN’s blog that, “Our calls are increasing. Our ministries say we’re busier than [...]