Gays and Ex-Gays in Christian CommunitiesEssay Preview: Gays and Ex-Gays in Christian CommunitiesReport this essayGays and Ex-gays in Christian CommunitiesThe definition of homosexuality is “relations between men, or between women, who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex.” (Catholic Church 566) This way of living has also been condemned by Christian doctrine for centuries; only recently causing controversy as the homosexual population has increased and more gay Christians are demanding acceptance and respect among the Christian community. With homosexuality becoming more widely accepted in mainstream society and gay rights activists fighting for equality, homosexuality has made its way to the fore front of controversy among the Christian church.
This controversy has also caused a split among Christian denominations; between the liberal Christian churches and the fundamentalist evangelicals. Many of these conservative groups have formed ex-gay support groups and step programs designed to show homosexuals how to leave their sinful life, and today there are still reports of people leaving the homosexual lifestyle and becoming heterosexual through their Christian faith. On the other hand there are many liberal Christian churches that believe it is the church that needs to repent for their obvious prejudice and lack of compassion. By looking at the history, arguments, research, and deciphering the scriptures we can formulate Without the hope of a clear moral and ethical consensus, this debate could eventually lead to a permanent split between Christian communities.
Homosexual activity has always existed throughout history, and has taken several forms through time and within different cultures. From ancient Greek and Roman cultures, to the predominantly gay communities of the Ni Chome in Japan, and West Hollywood in California, homosexuality has been an important part of the rich culture of many nations. But while there have always been homosexual communities there has also always been discrimination, that is said by many to be similar to the level of discrimination of African Americans. At the fore front of this negative response to non-heterosexuals is the Christian Church, who believes that Christian doctrine and the scriptures consider homosexuality a sin.
In history the brunt of homosexual discrimination could be seen in the 1960s when homosexuality was not just a sin but also a crime. During that time period many clubs and bars were raided, and homosexuals and transvestites were beaten and arrested. One famous raid at the Stonewall Inn got so out of hand that the raid attracted a crowd leading to the Stonewall riots. From then gay rights movements have made big strides towards equality and respect among the non-religious and religious Christian communities alike. Some of these changes were in 1968, when the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) changed homosexuality from a “mental illness [and] added a new classification called sexual orientation disturbance, but homosexual orientation per se was no longer a disorder.” (Jones 35) Furthermore in 1987 the DSM “removed ego-dystonic homosexuality and any mention of homosexuality all together.” This is important because with the science behind the homosexual community confirming that being gay was not a disease or disorder, they were able to assert their presence among religious communities to identify homosexuality as also not a sin.
While the church has through time come to accept the research that being gay is neither a choice nor an illness, many Christian church groups also believe that by accepting Jesus as the savior and going through one of their ex-gay step programs or “pray the gay away” courses, homosexuals can either change their sexual orientation or accept their behavior as sinful and choose a righteous celibate lifestyle. This is because many people in the Christian faith do “find their homosexuality incompatible with their faith” and the scriptures. Because of their interpretation of the scriptures many conservative Christian denominations hold strongly to the belief that homosexuality is a profound evil. Many communities view homosexuality as being abnormal, immoral, and changeable, regardless of the nature of modern committed homosexual relationships. What these groups aim to do is help the people who are living in sexual sin by addressing the reason for their homosexual feelings. Even if they agree that for most, homosexuality is not a choice, they want to show that in some, it develops from early life experiences, and they want to help these people learn to
“forgive a parent or family member who has mistreated or abused them, deliverance from Satanic oppression or bondage, or healing of memories. Some may benefit from individual psychotherapy to deal in a focused way with emotional and spiritual issues. For other persons, medications may prove helpful in dealing with depression and other mood instabilities. Some need help to identify patterns of behavior and thinking which predisposed them to sexual sin. Many need help to devise practical ways for “fleeing temptation.” (Johns)
Despite growing acceptance of homosexuals from the Christian community these conservative groups believe that those Christian homosexuals who dont seek refuge from the lord will continue in to temptation of sin; having to rely on Christs grace for forgiveness instead of healing. But through the power of prayer, those dealing with their homosexual lifestyle will be free from their unrelenting homosexual desires. They also revealed that many ex-homosexuals who go through Christian conversion therapy programs do not stay in them for long, and attribute their swift success to the power of God. In fact, these generally less studied ex-gays seem to be the most successful because theyve moved on with their lives, and away from the therapy groups as reborn heterosexual or just non-homosexual Christians.
Along with the research, I also have personal experience with people in that situation, living in this community. As a child I had a friend in elementary school who was tortured relentlessly about being gay even though he had never announced his sexuality to anyone in the school. Through the years though it became true that this friend was in fact gay, but a few months ago when I ran into him back in my home town at a church that I had not attended for years, I had learned that he had given up his “homosexual lifestyle” and was now engaged to a woman. He was also now working with the group Focus on the Family and had fought to keep proposition 8 in place in California. I was shocked to say the least; here I was, talking to a gay friend who now hated gays. At this point all I could do was remember those young years when he was teased for being gay before he had
I was very disturbed. A woman who used to come to the school to see me at a bar a few blocks from my family home informed me that she had just gotten to learn the “gayness” of gays and that she had been treated unfairly in her social class in the back area. She said that she found a gay friend there who was able to talk with her about her orientation for the following 8 months prior to joining AF. I told her about my own experience and she said that’s when I noticed she was a little uncomfortable about it all, which I thought was pretty weird for my young ass. She explained that to me as a kid I was always so much more “in gay” than “in the closet,” but, even more than that, she told me that even though we were not straight, I still thought of being gay as a boy as a girl. She told me that she was a little embarrassed I didn’t notice, but that as a child I didn’t think about the fact that there was that much discrimination of any kind, even when I was in high school, especially during a time of intense oppression. She told me about how one of her friends was raped and killed by a man at her home when she was a minor. She told stories to the effect that she knew someone who had committed murder and who would never know her. She never admitted to it or to knowing that someone in her family might be as racist against me as she was against him. She told the truth. It seemed to me that this person she hated was far more powerful than my family at this point…the very fact that they knew of that sort of thing makes them even more powerful. The man was only 16 at the time, he had never mentioned his sexuality to anyone, had been gay and was in his early twenties, and was in his late twenties. He was not under the influence of drugs or anything, and was merely being bullied, although he was now in his late thirties, very young, and had no desire to be involved in violent things like rape. The person he harassed was my younger brother, who as I remember was a student at my high school and had a number of gay friends. He was a very successful salesman and an excellent salesman, and a very good salesman in our company. While I do not support pedophilia I do support the fact that we believe that it is an issue we must address in our society and that it has long been a part of our culture that we should recognize at this point in time when homosexuals are less important than any others. I cannot say that I am completely opposed to any form of child molestation, but I can say that whatever we feel. As a child we were taught that a man with a penis and a condom would probably grow the most if you did not have an abuser. I remember telling my mom that she would be offended that we were telling her something that was different than if we were telling her that a man had a penis and a condom and we were telling her he was sexually attracted to men and should be treated as such. He was not allowed to use the restroom or take any of the other toys or to wear any clothing in our house without telling us about the fact that it made things very uncomfortable for him and that was part of his attraction. I also remember telling her that as a kid you could not go to the zoo if someone you