And Emily K, I also like that quote! If we were to translate that into English from the original Exodus-Speak, it would read, “The proof of my success is, uh, well… just take my word for it.”

She’s not responsible for this danger to Ugandan gays and lesbians to begin with!
And SHE is doing a great deal for them by exposing Richard Cohen and all the others associated with this outrage for the repellent people they are.

And in doing so, perhaps can keep them from doing FURTHER damage.

And M Smith,
There is no human being that should have to beg, or be begrudged something so basic and fundamental to human need and life itself.

Loving and being loved.
There should be no one (and especially organized religion and politics) denying that you deserve it or can give it.

Yet, I see this as an EXPECTATION for gay people at every level and for every aspect of life.

To say nothing of self reliance.

How is it ANY other person’s right to TAKE AWAY love and self reliance FROM another citizen?

That’s not in ANY religious book I can think of, and even if it were….SOMEONE would write a Constitution and Bill of Rights….

oh yeah…that’s right….

Hard core fundamentalists hate homosexuals. Sometimes it’s amusing to watch how Mr. Thomas, Mr. Chambers et al, try to please everybody in order to keep their careers intact.

You’re playing with the big boys now, Randy, but you can always fold your cards and walk away. Yea, we’ll give you a sympathetic pat on the back, but then some of us will tell you…”Don’t you ever do it again!”

When do you see that Randy is a front for powers who will not stiop until this kind of laws are enforced in USA too. Remember: Randy advocated for and supported sodomy statutes i.e. jailing people in US for being gay.

Any crackpot gaybasher or lunatic is worth defeniding if there is a chance to hurt gays who live their lives out and proud. The sole goal of randy is to hurt every single gay man and woman in this country as much as possible.

But no one knows what is going on in the mind. And amidst that confusion, evil is unleashed. Usually the most “content” looking beings end up the most dangerous.

Just like the man who killed Harvey Milk (apologies, forgot the name). No one, even Milk, knew what was coming on.

M. Smith: Gay people that stand up for their rights are not “militant gay activists”. We are people that want to love and be loved just like anyone else.

Thanks for that, M. Smith. I never really knew how to respond to the accusation of “militancy.” What you just said, brought it home for me—it shouldn’t be considered “militant” or “extreme” when on is fighting for one’s own life and the lives of others. It should just be considered the right thing to do, militant or otherwise, but it shouldn’t be used as an epithet.
—

John: Randy Thomas doesn’t care about Cohen. Randy cares about himself.

Emily

Randy Thomas: While I think it is clever to incorporate “come out straight” into his responses, I think it is distracting and doesn’t allow for the fact that people like myself reject the “straight” label as much as I reject a gay identity

Sidenote: My goal never was and never has been to be “straight” my goal is Christ Himself…

…But the proof of my success is my contentment in Christ regardless of any circumstance.

Any circumstance? Even if you are the one who’s responsible for the sin? Even if you have and continue to have ties to the sin? Even if you turn a blind eye to the sin? You base your “success” in ex-gayChristendom as contentment?

Where does your absence of responsibility end, Mr. Thomas?

Do you really think that your memories do not carry over into the next life? And when you do become aware of the consequences of your actions, do you really thing Christ can make you forgive yourself without interfering with your own free-will of thought?

You have many pennies to concede, Mr. Thomas. Number one being that this is isn’t about you, or your personal contentment.

You complain that we godless militant homosexual activists are doing nothing to help the Ugandan situation, but shouldn’t that mean that we shouldn’t be expected to know any better? Or worse, are incapable of being reached anyway?

Yet you plead ignorance when it comes to the wordplay and outright slander that your organization markets on a daily basis.

Just because the word ‘change’ means a transformation of identity into Christ—to you—doesn’t mean that your organization is marketing it that way, it isn’t. And if you wish for your complaints to be taken seriously, this is something you are going to need to acknowledge.

A relationship with Christ reflects a love without limit or arbitrary judgment. To say that “the proof of my success is my contentment” is to mock the very idea of such love.

The goal is to maintain connection with that contentment-in-Christ in the midst of contention with critics.

When you decide to wake up and acknowledge the pain that you and your organization has caused, there are a slew of friends you have here who would joyfully befriend you and be willing to talk cordially about differences of opinion. Including me.

Until then, I, and others here, will continue to watch and report—militantly.

At which point — at what sort of ugly point — could Randy ever bring himself to declare Exodus, and those they support, are in the wrong? I don’t mean the mealy-mouthed “I don’t always agree with X”, but a plain and simple confession.

Rachel Maddow didn’t create this situation Randy… your people did.

Sidenote: My goal never was and never has been to be “straight” my goal is Christ Himself. I have questioned, challenged and redefined my identity and worldview. I have opened my mind up to the possibility of sexual orientation change and 17 years later have experienced a large degree of it. But the proof of my success is my contentment in Christ regardless of any circumstance.

After all, Randy praised Exodus Board Member Shmierer’s involvement in the conference that set the stage for the death penalty for homosexuality in Uganda. Randy defiantly stated that he wasn’t going to be pushed by activists to take a stand on Uganda. Randy (along with Alan Chambers) sat quietly at Exodus as the Ugandan Death Penalty Bill moved forward in the Ugandan legislature.

Only after about 10 months of building pressure, particularly when the mainstream media started pointing out the connections between American Evangelicals and this death penalty for gays bill did Randy and Alan finally step forward and condemn the bill.

The interview that Maddow did with Cohen could have been done with Randy Thomas or Alan Chambers. Now, don’t get me wrong, nobody is quite as talented as Cohen in making a fool of themselves on national television. That would be a high bar to meet. But Alan and Randy would be suitably unable to defend their actions and inactions with regard to Uganda.

So, like I said in the beginning. Randy’s post about Cohen was really just an attempt to defend Randy.