It really is the beginning of the end for the phonies at Exodus International and NARTH. It seems reasonable and intelligent Christians are starting to abandon this giant hoax in droves. According to CNN:
While many evangelicals once viewed conversion therapy as key way to deal with homosexuality, many of the religious movement’s leaders and organizations have cooled to the practice in recent years, as more science suggests that homosexuality may be innate and as new therapeutic approaches have emerged. “Evangelicals, in quiet ways, are shifting to this position to where there is just not a lot of support for the change paradigm,” said Warren Throckmorton, an influential voice in the world of Christian counseling, referring to so-called change therapy. “In the late 1990s, the debate was clearly, ‘Could gays change from being gay?’ and the focus was on orientation, and it was a big part of politics,” said Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College, an evangelical school in Pennsylvania.
Today, we learned that Willow Creek Community Church’s formal relationship with Exodus International has ended. The information was originally obtained by Ex-Gay Watch and reported by Christianity Today. While the decision to part ways dates back to 2009, news that the South Barrington megachurch had cut ties with Exodus, the world’s largest ministry addressing homosexuality, did not surface until late June. The wise decision and move towards honesty and integrity left Exodus President Alan Chambers a little bitter:
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus, disagrees. “The choice to end our partnership is definitely something that shines a light on a disappointing trend within parts of the Christian community,” he said, “which is that there are Christians who believe like one another who aren’t willing to stand with one another, simply because they’re afraid of the backlash people will direct their way if they are seen with somebody who might not be politically correct.” Chambers said he sympathizes with Christian organizations that deal with social, political, and financial backlash, but added, “Biblical truth is unpopular, and when you’re supporting unpopular truth, you are unpopular too; which means, some days, getting upwards of 10,000 phone calls and emails, and it can be overwhelming.”
Ten thousand phone calls and e-mails in one day? Really, Alan? Apparently he is more popular and in-demand than Barack Obama. Who would have guessed? The fact is, people are beginning to see through the charade — which was always a slick marketing campaign disguised as legitimate science. Time has not been a friend of these fraudulent groups, due to scandals, defections and science. Honest people look at Chambers and can obviously see he is still gay. And then we have degenerates and undesirables like former coke dealers Janet Boynes and Stephen Bennett (see video below) who allegedly find Jesus, but are really just lowlife hustlers exploiting Christians by peddling their tales of change to make a quick buck. As Australia’s “ex-gay” buster Anthony Venn-Brown points out, all the “ex-gay” activists share tired stories of distant parents, sexual abuse and transformation from pathetic loser to star preacher. Where are the normal so-called “ex-gays” that don’t have a job with Exodus or lived a normal life prior to their “conversion?” Why are these creepy groups only able to dredge up freaks from the bottom of life’s barrel?
Given the situation, it was only a matter of time before the Christian intelligentsia rebelled and stopped humoring clowns like Alan Chambers, Stephen Bennett, and Janet Boynes. Chambers and others of his ilk should strongly consider to tidying up their resumes so they will be prepared to look for real jobs. Recent trends show that “ex-gay” gig is coming to an end sooner than later. ….Of course, none of these con artists succeeded in the real world, so they will likely take their ridiculous roadshow to places like Uganda where these cowards can terrorize local populations with no one to stop them. Some people will do anything for some coin.
data=”http://www.youtube.com/v/lhm0JOYExHw?fs=1″>You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video










Hmmm I see no link for the youtube video
I believe they may have forgotten to attach it. Looking forward to watching it.
I love it when Chambers, in response to this news, laments that “there are Christians who believe like one another who aren’t willing to stand with one another.”
Baloney. Virtually everyone, including Christian churches who aren’t notably friendly to gays, have come to realize that the “ex-gay” stuff is nonsense.
Irene Bennett prayed for a husband, and got a gay guy. Clearly, God has a sense of humor.
… or maybe just a prankster.
You know whenever I hear stories about “ex-gays” and how they left the “gay lifestyle,” they always follow the exact same narrative: growing up I had a distant relationship with the opposite-sex parent, I came out after my first same-sex experience, I lived “the life,” (i.e. promiscuity, drugs, non-stop partying, etc.), then I hit rock bottom, someone brought me to Jesus and then I realized I could change and did. This seems to be all very Stepford Wife-ish, don’t you think? Sadly, these “ex-gays” falsely associate a life of addiction with being LGBT. They make the implied argument that being LGBT will eventually lead someone to a life of self-destruction. In reality, their problems were not from being LGBT but from being an addict. The two are not in any meaningful way linked. Maybe if someone would have pointed out to them that their self-destructive behavior was not caused by being LGBT, then they could have received the correct treatment for their addictions. Being LGBT in itself is not self-destructive. Addiction is.
So a campaign which claims that Christians who hold the Bible to be authoritative practice “spiritual violence” has induced a Christian church to ignore the teachings of Christ…and this is a good thing?
“Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be.”
– Tennyson
[...] Mega Church Dumps Exodus–The Sweet Gig is Coming to an End. Read more [...]
JeremiahA, there are no teachings of Christ supporting the frauds known as “ex-gay ministry” and “reparative therapy”, and spiritual violence is spiritual violence no matter how many biblical texts are quoted in an attempt to justify it.
what a damn hoax! if shes straight im the frikken tooth fairy.
@ Jeremiah
Christ never said anything about gay people. If you think that the ex-gay industry has anything to do with Christ’s message, then you are certainly no Christian.
“judge not…” etc?
What Jesus did say, however, was “Whosoever believeth in me shall inherit eternal life.” Nowhere in the Bible have I found a footnote to say “except you gays.”
Yea, his choice is to not submit to his gay attractions. Fine, but to suggest that such a choice makes you “not gay” is a load. When you’re turned on by men or women, that’s your orientation. Whether you act on it or not is the f*****g choice. I do know that, in this video, their arguments are somewhat circular logic. What does his situation have to do with transvestites or others in other sexual situations. That’s a smoke screen. If they are happy together, fine. My brother was married for almost 20 years to a woman who knew and married him to help him. He was a true, faithful, and loving husband. After three kids, SHE ditched him because he was too faithful to the Bible and she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was thinking about men whenever they were intimate. It crushed him but opened his eyes to admitting the truth about himself. He couldn’t change his orientation and finally decided to live honestly with his nature.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch. Sad day for them when even fundie megachurches are realising that “reparative therapy” is a crock.
Wow, Gianni, what happened to your friend was pretty drastic. However, it opened his eyes which is a good thing. I understand probably a fair number of people in the “Ex-gay” movement are sincere but I feel extremely bad for the spouses of those who marry because they so often are hurt when the GLBT person finally realises that they have not changed,
This issue is such bunk and such horseshit. I’ve read Simon LeVray’s scholarly, indepth study: “Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why.” This exhaustive and very serious research is very clear that being gay is biological and obviously cannot be altered. Any of us who are gay know that we were born this way and no therapy, nor prayer, no electrodes on our dicks can change us in any way. HOWEVER…it’s a fabulous vehicle for raising money and keeping fags and dykes as the enemy for the white trash Southern Baptists and their ilk. Mega churches thrive on this concept of icky sodomites raising huge funds to keep the polyester pastors in their Rolls Royces, Armani, and Rolex watches…and in many cases…high end rent boys servicing their cocks on a weekly basis.
And Warren Throckmorton (and Mark Yarhouse?) is just fine with everyone bashing “reparative” therapy (the NARTH/Exodus) model while his “sexual identity” therapy gets nowhere near the scrutiny and criticism it deserves.
It is also “change” therapy – it uses the more subtle “identity” language over “orientation” to attempt to appear more legitimate. Sexual identity and behavior are part of “sexual orientation” – don’t be fooled.
Anyone else concerned about this?
Well Christine, I’m curious about it. It seems to me Throckmorton has toned down his anti-gay efforts quite a bit and in some ways become supportive of the LGBT community, would you say that’s not the case, that he’s just soft peddling the hate more subtlely?
Yes Christine…I think Priya stated that very well. From what I have seen, he has almost become an ally. It is beyond question that a lot on the far right see him as a traitor and turncoat now. Am I (and Priya) missing something?
Just saw the quote above. It’s not from me (I’ve been posting here a while).
I think Throckmorton has been very clear that he was wrong and that “change” doesn’t really happen as far as orientation goes. He believes in telling people the truth about that, but then letting them live their lives based on their own values. I don’t have any problem with that. I only have a problem when people lie and say that gays can turn straight if they really want to.
While I feel for his problem with internalized homophobia and consequent negative self image that led to drug abuse the answer is NOT to pretend to be “cured” of homosexual preferences. It is, instead, best to learn to find better ways to be gay – such as finding a long-term drug-free gay lover and proving to the bigots that love is not sex and vice versa. The truth is probably that he is still gay and accepting a faux heterosexual life as a compromise since he can’t escape his negative self image. I’d say that is far more sick than being gay!